Bend, Don't Break

by Skye Callahan

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Getting ready to ask you the same thing.” Even a few minutes around her did strange things to my body and mind. It didn’t matter that we were in a public place, or that she didn’t seem particularly thrilled that I was crashing her evening.

  Trent leaned against the back of our booth bench and gave everyone a flip of his hand in greeting.

  Rose forced a smile and kept her eyes on me. “This is Charlene and her brother Elijah. She called and said she was in town so I came over to meet her for a ‘face your fears’ type evening.”

  “So you choose the busiest bar in town?” It wasn’t as if I was trying to spy, but the crowded room already had me itchy and paranoid, and her being here only multiplied the effect.

  Rose glanced to the man, then down at the drink in front of her. “May as well jump in at the deep end.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Although I would have preferred it, apparently I didn’t have any say in the matter.

  “You never answered me,” she said, straightening her back.

  I couldn’t tell if she was incredibly uncomfortable with the situation or truly pissed to see me. I nodded toward the center of the room, “Dance with me.”

  I didn’t want to discuss any of the details where anyone could hear me, even if they were Rose’s friends. At least on the floor, I had a reason to stay close, and fewer people would be paying attention to what we were talking about. The booth made us the center of attention.

  Her mouth flattened, and she rolled the glass between her fingers. “I’m not keen on dancing. Especially with stitches in my arm—I’d rather stay where people can’t attempt to run me over.”

  Fine. I wasn’t convinced it was the dancing part that deterred her as much as the possibility of walking away from her friends with me, but I leaned to her ear, “We’re following a lead.”

  Her eyes widened and she pulled her arms around herself, glaring at the glass on the table as if it had done something to offend her. That’s how they had gotten to her last time—even though she said she’d never left her drink unattended.

  “You’re fine,” I said. At least I hoped so. I could feel the accessing gazes of the two sitting across from us. Charlene didn’t bother me, but Elijah taunted the primal part of my brain.

  Trent tapped my shoulder and nodded toward the bar.

  I had no interest in the bar, a drink, or the lead. I wanted to drag Rose out to my car and get more than an answer, but I reigned in the internal storm.

  “Have fun, Sugar.” I lifted her hand to my mouth and brushed my lips against her knuckles.

  “You, too.” She nodded to Trent as we stepped away.

  He led the way to the bar, ordering us each a drink that neither of us would likely drink. “Leave her be. She’s allowed to have friends and go out without your permission.”

  “What do you know about the brother?” I glanced over my shoulder again. Rose was still staring down at the drink, but the other two were leaning over the table as if engaged in conversation with her. “I don’t like him.”

  “You don’t like any person with a dick going anywhere near Rose. You didn’t even talk to him, so keep your head on.” He focused on someone on the other side of the bar. “Our mark isn’t here.”

  “Then, we should blend in and chat.” I wanted to head back toward Rose’s table, but I resisted.

  “You going to be able to do this with her here?” Trent gave me a sideways glance before scanning the room again. “He seemed the awkward type, not romantically interested in her. Relax.”

  Sure, relax. I went ahead and took a swig of my drink—couldn’t hurt since we were just observing, but Trent still gave me a scowl.

  “Look man,” I said. “If we’re just going to sit here and stare at each other and our drinks, we may as well put huge signs over our heads to explain why we’re here.”

  “Right, you’re only drinking to blend in. Not because your girlfriend is sitting less than fifty feet away in a booth with her friend and her friend’s brother.”

  “I may as well have spent a year drinking while working. One beer isn’t going to kill me.”

  Something brushed against me and I tensed. Rose slid in next to me, planting her elbow on the bar. “I didn’t want you to worry,” she said. “But I guess I ended up with you here to check in on me anyway.”

  “That wasn’t our intent.” I glanced back at the booth that was now empty. “I wasn’t trying to crash.” I had to force the words out, knowing full well that was my reason for sitting at the booth with her. I wanted her with me, not her friends.

  “But overprotective you couldn’t resist.” Despite the glint in her eye, she dropped her cheek against my shoulder. Her body remained stiff, muscles tight and twitchy under her skin.

  “Everything okay?” I asked, rubbing her lower back.

  “Yeah, Charlene and Elijah are dancing with some friends, over there,” she nodded. “So, I thought I’d hang out here—if I’m not interfering.”

  Trent slid over, sniping the empty seat next to him and leaving an empty seat for Rose between us. I pulled the empty chair closer before she sat, so I could still keep her as close as possible.

  “The guy we’re waiting on is a no-show, so far,” Trent said.

  “Do I get to ask what this is all about or should I just sit here like a quiet decoy?” she smirked.

  “We don’t know. We’re unofficially trying to close in on some leads that may have to do with the missing girls,” I said despite Trent’s warning glance.

  She’d kept my secrets before—whether or not I was supposed to tell her, I knew they wouldn’t go any farther.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here?” I asked.

  Trent cleared his throat, took a swig of his own drink, then slid away from the bar. “I’ll be back.”

  Rose kept her eye on him as he disappeared into the crowd before answering me. “Charlene and Elijah were in town—they still have an apartment here, but Elijah is the only one actually staying there lately. I wanted to do this myself. Sometimes a girl wants to be her own knight in shining armor.”

  I squeezed her shoulder and smiled. That wasn’t in the least surprising, but with someone targeting girls associated with the Retreat, I had no guarantee she wasn’t on the list.

  “Girls from the Retreat seem to be disappearing, and we don’t know why,” I spoke into her ear, so no one else could hear. “It may have something to do with an escort company who’s been trying to recruit them.”

  “I came with friends,” she said, but her glare quickly faded, probably realizing like I had that the friend she was with had also been with her the first time she was abducted. “You said you believe it has something to do with the escorts—well, I’m not exactly going to volunteer.”

  “We don’t know—”

  “Stop it, James. I don’t need to be more paranoid.” She took a drink of my beer.

  “Sorry. I—”

  “I hope you’re planning to say you’re sorry for being an ass for no particular reason, but can we just drop it?” She raised her eyebrows and smiled, before sinking back into her shell as the voices of the frenzied room weighed down on us. Her small hands circled my forearm, and she laid her head against my shoulder again. “Maybe we can talk later. We’re probably not going to stay long—I don’t want to anyway. I was banking on a quiet evening with Charlene, but Elijah insisted in coming along.”

  “And bringing you two here of all places?”

  “Don’t be such an old fart. We do have friends who come here often.”

  “Sure,” I nodded, kissing her temple. Friends I believed, but knowing what I did about Rose, I couldn’t picture this being one of her top choices even before the Retreat.

  Trent returned and took his seat. “You two done having it out?”

  A blonde waitress behind the bar sauntered over and put a plate of fries in front of me. “Here you go handsome.”

  Rose st
raightened as if she was about to leap over the bar—apparently she didn’t need my protection quite so much.

  “Stand down,” Trent said bumping her arm as he reached across for a handful of fries. “She obviously meant them for me.”

  Before I could give him hell, Rose smacked him in the back of the head.

  “Hey,” he mumbled around a fry. “I figured something productive to fight about would keep you from clawing each other’s eyes out. Although I admit it could have backfired and exacerbated the whole thing....” He trailed off, munching down on another fry. “Our guy doesn’t seem to have showed up, and he’s usually here by now.”

  “So, Monday night wasted?” I swiped a few of the fries. I should have eaten something substantive when I’d gone home to change, but I just grabbed a quick snack. The music and clamoring people were giving me a headache—and the lack of dinner wasn’t helping. “Does that mean we can get out of here?”

  Trent went uncharacteristically silent, staring at something or someone across the room, before ducking his head. “Yeah, we should definitely get out of here.”

  “No shit,” I said. “What did you see?” I asked, barely resisting the temptation to tear through the bar to figure out what could make Trent look like he’d seen a ghost.

  “Your doppelganger. If he spots us—”

  It felt like all of the beer that sat in my stomach erupted into a fiery frenzy. Fuck.

  “You should come with us,” I whispered to Rose.

  “What the hell is going on?” She shook away my hand.

  I remained bent over the bar, keeping my head down. “I’ll explain later, but we can’t stay.”

  “Is it dangerous?”

  Trent paid the tab. “She might be better off going back to her friends.”

  I glared at him for having the nerve. There was no way in hell I wanted to leave her in a building with him.

  “If I’m leaving, I need to get Charlene and Elijah anyway,” Rose said. “I can’t just disappear. If you have to leave, go. I’ll meet up with you later.”

  A growl built low in my throat and I squeezed her hand. I didn’t very well intend to let go. To let her stay.

  There was too much to lose and more loose ends than I was willing to accept.

  She flinched and tried to pull her hand away. “You’re. Hurting. Me,” she mouthed, not making a noise.

  I jerked my hand away, fisting it against my leg, but her scowl didn’t fade, until she shook her head and looked toward her friends. “I’m going back to my friends.”

  Crazy. Obstinate.

  “You can message me later if you want,” she added. She didn’t even look back at me as she slid from the stool and into the crowd.

  My heart pounded in my chest so hard I couldn’t breathe without shuddering.

  “Come on,” Trent said—apparently he’d missed half of the previous conversation.

  “I don’t want to leave her—”

  “She’ll be fine—we won’t be if he spots us here. And we certainly don’t want him to see her with us. Out.” He pointed to the door.

  I knew he was right, but it didn’t stop the endless stream of expletives in my head. What if he had already seen us together? What if he targeted her? Kirk definitely had a bone to pick with me, whether or not he was living it up now.

  I managed to keep my head lowered as we headed for the door. As soon as the cool, fresh, night air hit my skin. My legs urged me to go back inside. “We could just arrest him.”

  Trent spun and glared at me. We both knew it’d show our hand. We didn’t have any reason to hold him, so as soon as we set him free he’d go off the radar. He’d evidently gotten smarter and gained new connections since our last encounter, but there was a missing girl on the line who’d last been seen with him.

  “Let’s wait in the car. I have a full view of the front, so we’ll know when he comes out, and in the meantime, I can call it in,” Trent said.

  Trent’s phone beeped and he took a minute to fish it out as he headed toward his car.

  I kept my eyes on the front door of the club. Where the hell was she?

  “James,” Trent said, a low grumble to his voice. “You’ve always been hard headed, but it’s getting infuriating. Stop fucking blaming yourself for everything that happened. Rose is with friends.”

  “I heard you,” I yelled louder than necessary. “I know she’s a strong girl. I know she’s capable. But if there’s any chance that something might happen to her—”

  “And if he comes out here and sees us waiting in the parking lot? Get in the damn car.” He threw up his hands and answered his phone. “Davis.”

  He unlocked his car, climbing behind the wheel and waving me toward the passenger seat.

  My foot twitched as I waited and willed Rose to come out of the bar. I had a sick feeling we weren’t going to be able to wait any longer. I listened as Trent explained our situation, but the conversation seemed to take a grave turn.

  “We have to go,” Trent said when he hung up the phone and slid it into the center console. “They found Elizabeth. We need to get to the hospital.”

  “She’s in the hospital and we’re leaving our top suspect inside?” I was incredulous, grinding my teeth together to keep from saying something else stupid.

  “Captain’s orders,” Trent sighed and turned over the ignition. “All we have is circumstantial.”

  I yanked on the door handle. “I’ll meet you there. I’m not leaving my car here for God knows how long.”

  “You’re not planning on waiting for Rose and standing me up, are you?”

  I didn’t answer, just slammed the door and crossed the parking lot to my own car, still staring at the front door to the bar. When I slid into my car and she still hadn’t come out, I sent a quick message.

  ME: Got called in. Text me when you get to your house.

  Her reply came back before I could put the car in drive.

  ROSE: Please?

  I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

  ME: Please, text me when you get home, Sugar.

  I got a slight kick out of picturing her blushing face as she read the message in the middle of the crowded room.

  ROSE: Will do. Elijah is finishing his drink and chatting with a friend. We’ll leave soon.

  The message soothed my nerves a bit—I wasn’t happy that she was going to be there longer than necessary, but at least I knew that nothing worrisome was stopping her. And that she wasn’t completely infuriated with me.

  A second message came in.

  ROSE: Whatever’s going on, be careful.

  And, she was still worried about me. I typed in a quick reply and dropped the phone in the passenger seat. If I didn’t do some serious catching up, Trent was going to be the biggest threat when he ripped me a new one for leaving him hanging.

  I arrived shortly behind Trent and we met one of the officers who’d responded to the call outside of Elizabeth’s room.

  “She hasn’t regained consciousness,” he explained. “They gave her naloxone and intubated her. They’re running an EKG right now—trying to determine her chances at this point, but it doesn’t look good.”

  “Where’d you find her?” Trent asked.

  “Near the viaduct. Looked like she’d been sleeping there, but we cleared that area Saturday and there hadn’t been a sign of her then.”

  Trent looked at me. The viaduct had been where I first took Kirk’s place to meet Miles, but what were the chances Kirk knew those details since he was locked up before the final instructions came in. It was a common gathering place for vagrants and criminals anyway, lots of places to hide and shelter from the finicky weather.

  “We gathered all of the standard forensics on her, and they’ve documented and collected all of the evidence at the scene. She was a Jane Doe until we got her to the hospital.”

  “Her photo should have gone around the department several times by now,” Trent said. The bulging vein in his neck indicated he was re
ady to explode.

  “Hers and about twelve other girls’ photos. Besides, it wasn’t immediately obvious since she’s dyed her hair—jet black, even got fancy with eyebrows to match.”

  I pushed by him and through the door, ignoring the tech and nurse inside the room. I just wanted to see her face for myself. The facial features were all right—perfect match for Elizabeth—but on first glance the hair would probably throw anyone off.

  Trent and I met the other detectives back at the station to go over the evidence found at the scene, but I just kept staring at Elizabeth’s picture. Usually by now, I’d be hyped up on adrenaline and ready to go, but sixteen hours after arriving at the station the first time, I was running on fumes.

  Detectives Winsor and Hudson picked up where we left off for the evening—fresh eyes and more rested bodies would give them an advantage for a few more hours. But we were chasing leads that were stretched thinner than dental floss.

  And I had a gut feeling none of them were where we were supposed to be looking—except I couldn’t quite put my finger on a better suggestion at the moment.

  “I’m getting old,” I said as Trent and I walked out of the building.

  “Mind over body,” he replied, even though he looked equally exhausted. He rubbed his forehead, then dropped back against a retaining wall flanking the parking lot. Aside from the sound of traffic, the city was quiet.

  “I think that’s my problem,” I said, “my mind wants a vacation. Particularly from all of this.”

  “And yet it won’t let you take one because you have this insane drive to set things right.” He scuffed the bottom of his shoe against the rough concrete. “Not that I can talk since I seem to share it. Over the weekend, I ran an idea by Richards—setting up one of our uniformed officers to get inside the escort company as a customer.”

  My brain clicked right to the first one I’d ask—Ryan Corell. He was new enough that he shouldn’t be well known among the ring, and even though I’d seen very little of his skill, his personality would be a good match. My only hesitation was putting the girls in the middle again—especially if it was one of the girls from the Retreat.

  They were already skittish around cops, so much so that they didn’t even trust our help, and that was a big part of the problem.