Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Owen

“Say that again.”

“Dennis is on the plane but Walter is MIA.”

Fuck! I pushed away from the desk and sent the chair flying backwards. The phone dropped from my hand as I raced out the glass door and through the reception area. I shoved open the front door and came face to face with Hendrix.

“Yikes, man. Where’s the fire?”

“Did you see Annalee?”

“Ah, yeah about fifteen minutes ago when I stepped into the diner to grab takeout.” He lifted the bags up. “She was walking into Wickedly Delicious.”

That’s right, she said that was where she was going. “I’ve gotta go.” I pushed past my friend and sprinted down the sidewalk.

“What’s wrong?” Hendrix yelled after me.

“Walter is missing!” I yelled back but didn’t care to check if he heard me or not. I only had one thing on my mind: make sure Annalee was safe.

I skidded to a stop just outside the bakery doors when a familiar sound filled the otherwise quiet street.

A gunshot.

I would know that sound anywhere. I’d heard it more times in my life than should be possible.

“Annalee.” I hissed her name while grabbing my gun from my hip. I could see inside the bakery. Maisie was on top of a bleeding Walter, and Annalee was huddled on the ground not far away.

“What the fuck?!” Hendrix joined me as I rushed through the door.

“Check on Maisie. I’ve got Annalee.” I swept my eyes over the bakery. Other than one of the glass cases being shattered, nothing about the shop was out of place.

“The shot went wide right. I think she just fainted,” Maisie was quick to tell me. I skidded along the floor and dropped down next to where Annalee was a crumpled mess. At first glance I couldn’t see any blood, but I ran my hands thoroughly over her body to make sure. Nothing was broken, and by the time I got to her arms, she was starting to stir.

“What happened?” Her eyelashes flickered in the harsh light before finally settling on my concerned gaze.

“Maisie thinks you fainted.”

Annalee shot up. “Maisie! Walter has . . .”

“I’m fine. Him? Not so much.”

“Do we need to call an ambulance?” I asked Hendrix who was kneeling next to both Maisie and Walter.

“I mean if you want, but this guy is dead. Dead. There’s nothing bringing him back at this point.”

Relief that Walter was no longer a threat to Annalee consumed me. I would worry about the mess that a dead body brought later.

“I’m so sorry.” I turned back to Annalee. “Lex just called me to say Walter was missing. He was so sure they were in the car together.”

She waved me off. Her hands were no longer shaking and some of her color was coming back into her cheeks. “It’s fine. It was probably a good thing he wasn’t. I got the answers I was looking for. Walter killed my father, or at least he ensured that the accident happened all because he was in love with my mother.”

I was so unbelievably confused by that but it didn’t matter right now. Annalee was safe.

“We need to call Mav to deal with this mess,” I said to no one in particular.

“I’ve already texted him,” Hendrix answered.

Thank God for my friend being on top of things. I was still trying to get my heart rate back down to a normal rhythm after seeing Annalee unconscious on the floor. I never wanted to see that shit again.

“Thank you.” I dropped on my ass and pulled Annalee onto my lap. That was exactly where the county detectives found us when they showed up.