Chapter 24

24

Cole

" H ow would we know where Cass went on her date?" Mike asks when we're walking out of the sports bar.

"Because we're going to ask her guards, you dipshit," August tells him as his eyes scan the dark parking lot. His phone is already in his hand, as if he's ready to text or call them just as soon as we get safely to the SUV. The guy takes his job seriously, that's for sure.

"Uh," Mike starts. "Why do you care where they went?"

"It's complicated," I mutter.

"Are we going to need backup?" August asks seriously while holding the rear passenger door open for me. I'll never get used to being part of a rich mobster family even if I become the one in charge.

"I promise I won't interrupt their date. I'll just…observe," I tell him.

"Yeah, right," he huffs with a roll of his eyes before he slams my door shut. What I'm asking them to do is incredibly stupid. I know that. But then I thankfully hear August say to Mike through the door, "You drive. I'll see what I can find out."

Fifteen minutes later, I'm a little confused when we pull to a stop on a sideroad next to a strip mall of closed businesses near the outskirts of town. The only lights on in any of them is the office of Alistair James, Private Investigator. Cass's SUV is the sole vehicle in the lot, other than a black, classic Mustang.

"Is Alistair James the short guy Cass went on a date with?" I ask the two guards while wedging myself between their seats to stare out the window as if I'll suddenly develop x-ray vision or some shit.

"Yep." August nods from the passenger seat as we all stare out the front windshield.

"And he's a PI? That little guy?"

"Yep."

Why the hell would he invite her to his office for a date?

"Did they go to dinner yet?"

"They finished eating at Mizu Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar almost an hour ago," August replies.

"They've been in his office for an hour?" I exclaim while reaching for the door handle…that's locked.

"Let me out before I come over this seat and put your head through the windshield," I warn Mike.

August swivels in his seat to glare at me in the dark interior. "What happened to just observing?"

Before I can answer him, movement draws my eye back to the office. Cass and the shrimp are walking out the front door together, without a single guard. They stop right outside the door where she turns around and…hugs him. That's it, just a hug. No kiss. I can tell from the distance there wasn't even a peck on the cheek.

I knew it !

There's never going to be anything other than friendly vibes between the two. And if the shrimp is a PI, then he's probably working on Madison's missing person case.

"What's the play here, buddy?" Mike asks. "You gonna go rob the little PI at gunpoint like you did her last date?"

"Nah, he's not a threat."

"Then why was she here for an hour?"

"It looks like it's strictly business between them. Possibly…friendship." I don't even like to say that word or think about Cass enjoying spending time with a man who isn't me.

She thankfully climbs into her SUV, and it pulls away a moment later.

Before we can follow, the apparently very observant shrimp suddenly starts walking in our direction.

"Shit. He made us. Should we bail?" Mike asks.

"Nah." I press the button to roll down my window to find out what he wants.

"You're Cole Brooks, right?"

Whenever someone says my last name now, it feels like a lie, even if all my personal documents are technically legit. Brooks isn't the name I would've been given if my mother hadn't run away. Still, it's better than the alternative.

"Or should I call you Cole Petrov?"

"Brooks is fine," I tell the little guy. "Why did you bring Cass here tonight?"

Smiling at me pleasantly, he says, "If she wants you to know why she was here then she'll tell you."

"Do you have news on Madison?"

Sighing as if in defeat as he glances to the office's front windows, he says, "No updates on Madison, unfortunately. I gave Cass what I had on her mother Charlotte."

Cass's mother? Jesus. That's an old case.

"And what information was that?" I ask him.

"Since you're probably going to keep stalking me until I tell you, fine. I'll tell you what's not a secret. Charlotte Maye was a live-in nanny for Dante Salvato. She was twenty-one, the same age as Cass, when she disappeared. She didn't have any guards shadowing her, so wherever she was headed that day, she was alone, likely unarmed, and she wasn't seen or heard from again."

"Fuck," I mutter. I can't imagine how hard it must be on Cass to have the ghost of her mother haunting her after finding out all this new information tonight.

"Is this the part where you tell me not to see her again?" Alistair asks.

"Bingo. No wonder Dante hired you. You're very perceptive," I tell him.

"Have a good night," he says with a wave before he turns around and walks back to the office.

"Are you gonna tell us what this horseshit with Cass's dates is all about or not?" August asks.

"Not. And you both better keep your mouths shut," I warn them. "After today, I know a great spot in the desert to bury dead bodies."