Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

SHEP

Morning came, and it was chaos from the second I opened my eyes. Maxwell was arguing with Gabe and Angel in the kitchen when I walked in.

"My ex-wife said men came to the rehab facility looking for me. She said they claimed to be FBI, but I think we all know that's not true."

"It's not, Max, and that's why you need to stay right here," Gabe growled. "They aren't going to risk exposure by hurting your ex and your daughter. They knew she'd call you and hoped it would drag you out."

I left them to that mess and promptly exited the kitchen with my coffee in hand. In the living room, Four was watching some rom-com with Mason, who rolled his eyes at me the moment Angel's loud voice echoed through the house.

"I said no! You go, and we all get exposed."

I raised my brows and walked up to my room, where JJ was just coming out of the shower.

"Oh wow, you're up before eleven," I joked, earning myself a glare.

"Funny, thanks for the coffee." He grabbed it out of my hand and moved to the dresser for his clothes.

"Not yours."

He sipped it and winked. "Yum, is now."

I sat on the bed in a huff. "Well, I'm not going back down there to get another cup. Max is trying to leave again, and Angel and Gabe are trying to calm him." I explained what happened.

"I get why he'd want to go and see her, but he has to understand what they're doing." He pulled on a black shirt and jeans.

"That's what they're trying to make him see."

JJ whipped around. "Shit, I almost forgot. Lizzy texted last night. She needs you to call her."

I had seen her texts to me but they were all, "Hey, you available? Got a question." I hadn't rushed, but now with JJ saying to call her, maybe I should have.

"I'll call her now." I took out my cell and dialed her number.

"Hey, Bossman," she answered in greeting.

"Hi, Lizzy. Sorry it took so long to get back to you, it's been pretty crazy here."

She snorted. "I bet. I'm not gonna ask. Look, something weird happened."

With everything going on with us, weird was alarming. "What's up?"

"So I told Wes and Darby that the shop was going to be closed for a few days or a week, that you weren't sure since it was a family emergency. Let them know about pay and all that. They were cool about it."

"Nothing weird yet, Lizzy."

She sighed. "Right. I'm getting there."

There was a knock on the bedroom door. JJ whispered he'd get it but before he could, Nick stormed in.

"We found something."

"Lizzy, I have an emergency. Can you by any chance give me a sped-up version?"

"Nah, go deal with your shit. I'll figure it out. I'm likely wrong or misunderstood. Nothing life-changing, go deal with your emergency."

I got up and followed JJ and Nick down the hall, cell in hand. "Just tell me, Lizzy. Be quick—I could have already known by now."

We were led to the living room, where Nick had hooked up his laptop with the television.

"Fine, I was doing bookkeeping because I had all this downtime, and there was a discrepancy in an application versus the employment forms and stuff filled out, so I made a call," she explained at the same time Noel started talking. I did my best to listen to both.

"We got the MAC address, and were able to build a pattern of behavior." Nick tapped a key.

"We're talking about the cell number that texted Max, right?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, now quiet." Noel rolled his eyes.

"Shep?" Lizzy said.

"Sorry, what was the issue?"

"So the phone numbers were different, and it's not a huge thing, but they were vastly different. The one on the application was the one we called to set up an interview, but on the employment form it was different so I wasn't sure which to put in the system, so I called both."

The TV showed a view of a coffee shop a block from Harper Reese's building.

"Every morning at nine, there was a hit here and across the street at the deli. Like they got coffee, then lunch before going to work." Nick pointed to the TV.

Lizzy started talking again, but I'd missed the first part while I was listening to Nick. "And they told me they hadn't been home for a while and were worried and I was confused, so I said sorry my mistake and good luck, because what the hell do you say to that and after that, I called the second number."

"It took some time, but we got a face for the cell-phone owner." Noel hit a button, and three different angles of the same face came up on the screen…a face I'd seen before.

"And then that number was the one I needed. I fixed it in the system but weird, right?" Lizzy chuckled.

JJ and Mason gasped at the same time Gabe growled, "That son of a bitch."

"Lizzy…who are we talking about?"

"Were you not listening to me?" She giggled.

"Lizzy," I repeated louder, and everyone looked at me. "Who?"

And as I stared at the television at the familiar face, she answered me.

"Wes."

"Shep," JJ called my name. "Isn't that Wes?"

I nodded. "Lizzy, listen to me carefully. Text me the number of the first place you called. Do not let Wes know about the mix-up or anything."

"You're scaring me, Shep." Her voice trembled. "And I already told him about the discrepancy in the phone numbers, so I could find the right one."

"That's fine, he might not suspect. But keep the shop closed; act no differently."

She was silent for a minute. "He's bad news, isn't he?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll send you the number and keep the shop closed."

"Thanks, Lizzy."

I disconnected the call, and the text came through.

"What's going on, Shep?" JJ asked but I held up a finger to hold off, instead calling the number Lizzy sent.

"Hello?" a man answered.

"Good morning, is this Wesley?"

"No, it's his father. This is his phone, though."

"Sir, I'm Shepard Saint from Saintly Sweets. Did your son have an interview with me?"

"Oh my God, please, do you know where he is? He left to go to the interview, but I didn't see him again. I told the cops."

The cops never showed up, and I had a feeling that was all thanks to the consortium.

"No, sir, he never showed up. It's been over a week, and I was actually calling to find out if he was still interested, but I'm so very sorry for what you're going through."

The call was on speaker, and everyone was staring wide eyed…everyone except Four, who hadn't moved since Nick had commandeered the television.

"So you haven't seen him?" The father sounded wrecked.

"No, I'm so sorry."

He sighed; it was broken and full of worry. "Thank you. If you do, please tell him to come home."

"I will, sir, good luck." I disconnected the call and glared at Wes's face on the television.

"How?" JJ was full of disbelief.

"The second Four set one foot into the shop that night…they were a step ahead of us." I was furious and was feeling all sorts of dumb.

"Wait, this shit has been working at Saintly Sweets?" Nick shouted.

Angel stood from his seat and walked closer to the TV. He didn't turn around, but I could feel his rage from here.

"I think we need to have a chat with this Wes," was all he said.

And that was when Mason's phone rang.

"It's Alicia House."

Because of course it was. We'd gone for so long with no leads, and now they were falling into our laps.

I pointed to Mason. "Answer it. Nick and Angel, kitchen. We need to catch a rat."