Chapter 12

twelve

“I don’t understand why you have to leave?” Seth said, acting like a pouty little boy. It was actually kind of cute.

“Because I need clothes,” Autumn said for about the third time. She had said she would stay all day, but that was before she got the text about an early meeting tomorrow. Yes, she needed clothes, but she also needed space. It was fun to play with a man like Seth, but she also knew it would end one way or another. She just hoped he didn’t hate her either way.

“You look great in my clothes.”

“Thank you, but I need underwear.”

“You don’t wear underwear.”

She chuckled. He was sitting on his bed, trying to entice her back in for another bout of lovemaking. Stepping in between his legs, she took his face in her hands.

“We have work tomorrow. I need to get home and go over some case files. I have a meeting with the DA about that Ortiz case. I even think the FBI will be there.”

“Stop being responsible. It makes you irresistible.”

She was smiling when she leaned down to press her mouth against his. She expected it to be a slow kiss, but it soon got out of hand. She was tempted to stay but knew she had things to do.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. With a lot of regret, she pulled back.

“Let me guess, Ian.”

She pulled her phone out.

Ian: Where the bloody hell are you?

Autumn: I was resting after a lot of sex.

Ian: *throwing up in mouth gif*

She smiled and slipped her phone back into her pocket.

“Yep, but now he won’t bother me for a while.”

“Did you threaten him?”

“No. I told him I’d had a lot of sex. He’ll leave me alone for a few hours now.”

He chuckled. “You two definitely act like siblings.”

She wanted to tell him everything in that instant. This was a first for her. Sam and Ian were the only ones who knew her entire story. No matter how close she got to other people, she never could trust them with her deep, dark secrets. Seth was different. She wanted to tell him everything, but she couldn’t. It would endanger him, and she couldn’t allow that.

“What? Where did you just go?”

“Sorry, my mind just slipped back into work mode.”

Not really a lie because she had always seen her career as a means to an end.

“Okay.”

She could tell from his tone that he didn’t believe her, but he would let it go. She knew it was only a matter of time before he started to ask more questions.

“So, how do we play this tomorrow?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“At work.”

She sighed. “Can we keep it between us for now?”

He cocked his head as he studied her. “For now?”

She nodded. If she survived whatever was brewing with Joseph, she wouldn’t mind having something more with Seth—if he forgave her for lying to him.

“I want to ensure we know what we want before everyone starts weighing in. TFH is ‘ ohana , and they tend to be nosey—if you haven’t noticed.”

He chuckled as he rose from the bed, taking her hand. “Yeah, they are.”

He walked her out to her car. She was glad she always carried a go bag in her car, so she didn’t have to do a walk of shame.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, still pouting.

She leaned up and gave him a quick, hot, wet kiss, then she slipped into her car. She backed out of the drive and drove down his street. When she looked up in her mirror, she noticed he was still watching her, his hands in the pockets of those damned grey sweatpants.

Those damned butterflies were back. He made her feel safe. Sam and Ian did for the most part, but they had to since they were family. Seth saw her as something more than an obligation. And that made her feel almost giddy.

It was Sunday afternoon, so it didn’t take her long to get into Honolulu. When she pulled into the parking lot of her building, she was stopped by HPD, who had taped off the area. Her whole body went on alert. After parking her car, she approached one of the young officers.

“What happened?” she asked after showing the officer her badge.

“Druggie overdosed. Nothing that big.”

Her entire soul turned to ice. “Druggie?”

He nodded. “A guy named Freddy.”

A weird buzzing sounded in her head as if she were about to pass out. She knew it wasn’t a simple overdose. She had no proof, but she knew Joseph had something to do with this. Her phone buzzed, and she rolled her eyes, thinking it was Ian, but everything around her faded away when she saw the screen.

Unknown: I see you found out about Freddy.

He could see her. She knew he could, and that’s why she had been conscientious about people seeing her in public and why she had this stupid, gross apartment. But this was the first time he’d contacted her since she stole away that night all those years ago.

Autumn: What up, loser?

She knew that would anger him.

Unknown: You would think you would be more careful with your mocking, considering who I have here with me.

Then a picture came through of Sam, but it wasn’t really Sam. This Sam had a clean-shaven face and weighed about thirty pounds heavier than he was now. Sam had a beard now, so whatever they based it on was an old pic. But she didn’t want Joseph to know. If he thought she would be erratic that would be best.

Autumn: What do you want?

He sent her a pin on the map on the island’s other side. Was he really that stupid? Would he just give up his position? She looked up and over the rooftops. She knew precisely what camera he was using and where. She stared at it for a long moment, then drew her thumb across her neck. She turned and headed back to her car without responding to his text. There was a chance that he could read her texts if he had gotten into the CCTV around the area.

She was ready for this to be over. And hopefully, Ian, Sam, and Seth would forgive her for not calling on them. They would just have to understand she was doing this to protect them.

“Do you think that’s the smart move, sir?” Peter asked him.

The man known as Joseph Watters studied the idiot. He knew the younger man meant well, but other things were at play. In the end, Joseph didn’t care what happened to Peter. He was a minion, a man Joseph used to do his dirty work. Once he had what was rightfully his, he couldn’t care less what happened to the man.

“Yes.”

“She has to know that is a fake picture.”

“Does that matter? It’s your fault that we don’t have that druggie to use as bait.”

Once again, he was surrounded by idiots. He wanted his old friend Hank back, but he had been dumb enough to get arrested and think he could turn Joseph over to the police. Having Hank killed had been sad, but it had to be done.

“I’m sorry, sir. I tried, but he fought me.”

He had wanted to draw the game out a little longer, maybe get her on board, but he heard the promo for the Beyond Murder podcast. Summer Joy was spilling his secrets. People would start looking for him. Yes, maybe he had panicked and ordered Patrick to bring him Freddy. Who would have thought that stupid bastard would fight with Patrick.

Joseph had watched everything go down, but he refused to admit it. Instead, he wandered away, looking out the window. A True Believer had allowed him to stay at the house free of charge. It was in the middle of nowhere, and you had to have money to have a house like that on Oahu. Joseph had blown through much of the money he’d earned in his last venture in Malaysia. Now, he had no choice but to get his daughter’s money.

“Sir, are you sure this was a good idea?”

It was the second time in the space of a minute that this asshole thought he had the right to question Joseph. During his tenure as the leader of Joyous Wave, no one had questioned his authority. He had been in charge, and they had been his minions.

“She has no idea, and she wasn’t about to text or call him.”

“That’s what I find odd. Autumn?—”

He spun on his heel and took two large steps to grab hold of the boy. And that was what he was. Only in his mid-twenties with dark brown hair and brown, dull eyes…he was expendable. Joseph grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him forward.

“Her name is Summer Joy. Don’t call her by that made-up name.”

He held the boy until he nodded, then tossed him. Peter stumbled back against the wall, gasping for breath. He lowered his eyes. Fuck, Joseph wished he still had his members from long ago. The remaining idiots weren’t as well disciplined as the genuine cult members. These True Believers were wannabes. They didn’t understand how to deal with people like his daughter.

“We need my money to thrive. This newest drug is being pulled off the street left and right.”

Peter said nothing. Instead, he kept his eyes down and just nodded.

Good. The Summer arrived, the faster he would be rid of all these idiots.

It had only been a couple of hours, and Seth was at odds. He’d texted his mother, who said they thought they might be ready for lunch tomorrow. He understood it. The stress of moving and all of that was a lot. Besides, he didn’t want to spend time with anyone other than Autumn.

That was a little worrying. Due to his job in the Navy, Seth had only had a couple longer relationships. They didn’t last that long, but he also didn’t obsess about them like he had about Autumn.

He knew she could take care of herself, but something in him wanted to take care of her, too. He had a feeling she rarely let people know her that well. Yes, she supported the team members, but if you asked one of them if they’d ever helped her out, they wouldn’t be able to come up with anything. He was sure of it.

As Nikki had said, he had always been a protector. And the one person he wanted to protect was Autumn.

His doorbell alert went off before banging ensued on his front door.

“Open up,” a cultured British voice shouted out.

Seth frowned as he opened the door to reveal Ian.

“Where the hell is Autumn?”

“What do you mean?”

He pushed past Seth and stalked through his house.

“Come on in, Ian. Nice to have you.”

The former spy ignored him. “Autumn!”

His irritation faded when he heard the panic in Ian’s voice. Ice slid down his spine as he took in the other man’s appearance. His hair looked like he hadn’t combed it in days, his shirt was a wrinkled mess, and he wore jeans. Seth had never seen the man in anything other than dress pants. Ian even had a day’s worth of whiskers on his face. There was something really wrong.

“What’s going on? Why don’t you just text her?”

He stopped in front of Seth. “I did. That’s why I want to know what you did with her.”

“I said goodbye to her after lunch. She said she had things to do. Something about a meeting with the DA this week about the Ortiz trial.”

But as soon as he said it, icy fingers slid down his spine, leaving his blood cold and his entire body alert. “Fuck. She never texted me when she got home.”

He grabbed his phone and texted her.

Seth: Your brother is here, and he is freaking out.

Nothing. In fact, he was pretty sure her phone was off because it wasn’t delivered.

“Nothing?” Ian asked, his face actually looked hopeful.

Seth shook his head. “When was the last time you had contact with her?”

“This morning, when she sent me that horrible text, then she disappeared. Fucking hell.” He texted someone on his phone. “Letting Dad know. He’s worried.”

Seth nodded as he called Adam.

“Please tell me you have a good reason to call me the day after my engagement party.” Amusement laced his words, and Seth almost regretted doing this, but he had no choice.

“Have you heard from Autumn?”

“No, not since she left with you. Did you have problems closing the deal? I’ll give you some pointers.”

There was a murmur in the background, and he was sure it was Jin.

“It’s Seth. He’s looking for Autumn.”

There was a jostling of the phone, and then Jin came on the line.

“Seth. When was the last time you heard from her?”

“After lunch. She said she had to prep the Ortiz case.”

“I’m going to get hold of Sam.”

“We already talked to him.”

She paused, then sighed. “No. Not her father. Her friend Sam. She might be able to find out where she is or at least have an idea. I’ll tell Adam if we find anything.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Then she was gone, and Adam was back on the line. “So, you talked to her father? What about Ian?”

He clicked on the speaker. “He’s here with me, and I just put you on speaker.”

“Good. So, the last time you saw her was today?”

“Yeah. And Ian hasn’t heard from her.”

“Your father, Ian?”

“No. We’ve been texting her for over an hour. She hasn’t read the messages.”

“That means we might have a missing team member. All hands on deck, Seth. Call everyone in and ensure Maya and Ryan are on board because we might need your team to go out. I’ll call Del and my team in.”

“Gotcha.”

He hung up and sent a group text to the team.

Seth: We have a situation. I need everyone at headquarters ASAP. This is not an exercise. We have a missing TFH team member.

Kap: Roger that.

Ryan: On our way.

Nikki: I’m on the North Shore. Will get there ASAP.

Rami: Gotcha.

He looked at Ian. “I take it you want to come in with me?”

Ian nodded.

“Give me a second, and I’ll be ready to leave.”

As he rushed about getting changed and putting on his gear, he sent up a silent prayer. He wished he could say this was just a misunderstanding, but because no one could seem to get hold of Autumn, something had happened, and he was going to move heaven and earth to get to her.