Dare to Dream: The Maxwell Series (20 page)

A
fter seeing Lacey last night
, sleep was impossible. Every part of my body ached. I craved to have her in my arms again—to feel her velvety skin against mine, to taste her watermelon lips, to feel her fingers in my hair, to hear her soft mewls of pleasure as I kissed and licked every inch of her body. Fuck, I was torturing myself.

I got up and took a cold shower. By the time I’d dressed, a ray of morning light beamed through the barely open curtains. I buckled my belt as I padded to the kitchen. I grabbed a container of juice from the fridge and closed the door as my father walked in. His footsteps were heavy on the wood floor.

“You’re not working today?” I asked, snagging a couple of glasses from the cabinet adjacent to the sink.

Normally, he’d at least be dressed in his suit pants and not sweats. He rubbed his eyes as he straddled a barstool. “I’m working from home this morning, then I have a full afternoon of patients.”

I poured juice in both glasses then gave him one.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do after graduation?” He drank his juice, his gaze fixed on me.

Where did that come from? When something was bothering my father, he didn’t beat around the bush. I didn’t question him, and it was too early to argue with him.

“I haven’t. I was hoping Mom would come home, and I’d get to spend some time with her. With you working, I could help by taking care of her and the house.”

He scrubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw. “Son, I appreciate how dedicated you are to this family. I love the man you’ve grown into. It’s time to stop worrying about us. It’s time to let your brothers make their own mistakes. I know you want your mother home. God, I do too, more than anything. But live your life. Find something you want to do. It doesn’t have to be college, although I’d love it if all my boys went to college. But sometimes a year or two out in the world gives you time to decide. Has Lacey been accepted into Arizona State?”

“Dad, remember we’re not together anymore. I do know she submitted her application a couple months ago.” Lacey would be heartbroken if she didn’t go to ASU, and even more so if she didn’t get the baseball scholarship.

“Son, give it time. She’ll come around. In the meantime, why don’t you think about taking a year to travel? It would be a good experience for you.”

The idea of wandering around the country had a certain appeal—even more so if Lacey could join me. But that was unlikely. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good. Let me know how things go with Mr. Robinson and how Lacey does at her game.”

I trudged back to my room to brush my teeth. On my way, I noticed a faint light coming from the guest bathroom. I poked in my head. A cell phone sat on the sink, lit up with an incoming text message. Lacey’s phone.

I
jumped
out of my truck and hightailed it into school. I had five minutes to find Lacey and give her phone to her before the bell rang.

The smell of fresh cut grass hung in the air as the sun’s rays beat down. I hurried past a slew of kids and through the main entrance into school. The halls were jammed. Normally, I’d find Lacey either at her locker or hanging outside of her homeroom class, talking with Becca. But when I reached her locker, she wasn’t there. I went down two doors to her homeroom class. She wasn’t inside. Becca wasn’t around either.

I called Hunt. “Lacey at school yet?”

“She’s running late. I took extra time turning over my shift to the bodyguards. I wanted to make sure everyone was on their game.”

“I have her phone.”

“You were my next call. She realized it this morning. I’ll let her know.”

“The bodyguards ready then?” I asked, blowing out a breath.

“Chill, dude. I’ll check in with you after I get some sleep.”

I had no reason to worry. Up to this point, Hunt and his partner had done a great job on the night shift, and the dayshift bodyguards were great too. Given that today was the big day, I’d feel better when I knew Lacey was in class. With her running late, I anticipated she wouldn’t get into school until midway through her first period. The bell was about to ring for homeroom. Since she had English after homeroom with Kelton, I sent him a text.

Lacey will be late. Let me know when she comes in. I have her phone.

You got it.

By the time my first period class ended, I hadn’t heard from Kelton. So I dialed him. Kross came out of class behind me.

“Did Lacey show up?” I asked into the phone.

“No, bro,” Kelton said.

My body went ice cold. I checked the time. Even with traffic lights and stop signs, she lived—at most—fifteen minutes from school.

“What is it?” Kross asked. Lines were stitched in his forehead.

I was trying to stay calm while my system wanted to slam the panic button. “Lacey isn’t in school yet. I have her phone. Hunt said she’d be late, but I didn’t think he meant over an hour.”

A river of kids filed up and down the hall as Kross and I huddled against a bank of lockers.

“Call Hunt,” he said.

“Nah. He’s probably home sleeping by now.” I called Steve, one of the bodyguards on the dayshift. “Steve, where’s Lacey? She’s not in school.”

“Kade? What do you mean?”

“Where is she?” My hand gripped the phone like a vise.

“I’m not on her detail today. We have Pitt’s personal guards on her.”

I shut my eyes, praying so fucking hard he didn’t mean the steroid twins. “Not the one with a scar on his face?”

“Yeah. Jerry and his partner, Paul. I’ll call them then call you back.”

Motherfucker.

I counted to ten, my mind racing. “Let’s go,” I said to Kross. “Hunt didn’t tell me they switched out her normal bodyguards today.”

“Why?” Kross hitched his backpack on his shoulder.

Fuck if I knew. I’d specifically asked Wes not to put those morons on her detail. “No idea. Let’s check the parking lot. Can you call Kelton and tell him to call us if Lacey shows up?” I had to keep my line open for Steve.

Kross got out his phone and filled Kelton in.

A pain latched onto the back of my neck as Kross and I went in search of Lacey. We drove around the school’s main lot and the lot of the sports complex. No sign of Lacey’s Mustang. We phoned Kelton again. Still no sign of Lacey. Then Steve called back. He couldn’t get ahold of the steroid twins. I was resisting the panic button as best I could, but the stabbing pain in my temples made it hard for me not to smash the damn thing.

My stomach felt like Kross had used it as his punching bag as we drove through the streets of Ashford. I knew Lacey’s route from her house to school. I also knew she liked to stop at a coffee shop in town to get a latte beforehand.

“Red light.” Kross braced his hands on the dash.

“I see it.” I braked then scanned the street up ahead.

Shops lined the small town of Ashford on both sides. The coffee shop was up on our left. People were going in, and a girl with long brown hair hurried out. I did a double take, but when I focused, it wasn’t Lacey.

“Green, dude.”

Swallowing the razors I had stuck in my throat, I pressed on the pedal as gently as my nerves would allow.

A side parking lot cut a path in between the coffee shop and the local bookstore. I eased into the lot and circled around back. My blood froze, and a pounding beat in my ears.

“She’s here,” Kross said excitedly.

Somehow I didn’t think so. The scar-faced twin stood next to Lacey’s Mustang, talking on his phone and waving wildly with one hand. I jerked the gearshift into park and jumped out. My hands were balled into fists and my jaw was glued together as I stalked up to him.

Kross caught my arm. “Wait.”

“Kade just showed up. I’ll call you back,” Scar Face said.

“What the fuck is going on?” I peered inside Lacey’s car. Her backpack was on the passenger seat. “Where is she?” I was about to fillet him like a fish.

“What happened?” Kross asked Scar Face in a placid tone.

Thank God he was calm.

“Paul and I lagged one car behind her as she came into town. Out of nowhere a delivery truck stalled in the intersection, blocking us. When we finally got around the truck, she was walking out of the coffee shop. So we parked here, and Paul got out to make sure we had eyes on her. By the time he got around to the front of the building, she was gone. We’ve searched the area and talked to everyone inside. Paul is in the coffee shop now checking again with anyone who might’ve seen Lacey or anyone with her.”

“Steve tried to call you.” I got in his face. “Why didn’t you answer?”

“Back off.” He pushed me. “I was doing my job, trying to get answers.”

I lunged at him, pinning him against his vehicle. “You’re a fucking moron.”

Kross peeled me off him.

“She’s long gone, asshole,” I snarled. “You can’t even do your fucking job. Why the fuck does Pitt trust you two?”

“Bro, direct your energy elsewhere,” Kross said. “This isn’t helping to find Lacey.”

I shrugged off my brother and marched onto a side street, swearing. I called Wes. No answer. I called Hunt. No answer. I called Pitt. No answer. I was about to throw my phone when Kross drove up in my truck. I hopped in.

“That other dude, Paul, came back,” Kross said. “An employee in the coffee shop remembers waiting on Lacey, but she didn’t see anyone with her. No one did, according to everyone they spoke to.”

Nausea rolled in violent waves in my stomach, and I had the urge to puke up the orange juice from breakfast. “Head to Boston.” I punched the dashboard.

After a long, agonizing ride, I strode into Pitt’s skyscraper in downtown Boston like I owned the building. I didn’t stop at the security desk. I counted to three, waiting for the rotund guard to say something. As if I cared. I was on a mission. I wanted answers. Why did Wes change the bodyguards? Did they know where Lacey was? Did her father get the ledger? Did he know Lacey was missing?

With Kross at my side, I stabbed the button on the wall.

“Sir,” the guard said, his voice booming in the sterile lobby. “Do you have an appointment?”

I pressed the button again, willing the elevator doors to open. I was going up to Pitt’s office whether I had an appointment or not. Yeah, I was about to blow. I’d tried to call Wes and Pitt several times on our way in. I’d given up on Hunt. The guy was sleeping.

“We do,” Kross lied. “Jeremy Pitt is expecting us.”

I smiled over all the rage bursting free inside me. I could always count on my brothers to have my back. I was glad Kross had come with me. Of the triplets, he was the levelheaded one, and he was the muscle I needed in the event things got physical.

“I have to clear—”

The elevator dinged, and Kross and I jumped in. I hit forty on the panel, and as the doors slid shut, the security guard’s voice trailed off. Then the car started its ascent, a little too slow for my liking. I stretched my neck in all directions then rubbed the back of my head.

Since I couldn’t get ahold of Wes or Pitt, I didn’t know if they were in the office. I knew if everything went off without a hitch for Mr. Robinson that he was scheduled to meet Pitt in his office.

The floors ticked by.

Kross was as calm as if it were a normal day with the sun shining. He tucked his hands in his pockets. His blue eyes had a quiet intensity that usually helped to steady my nerves, giving me the strength I needed at times like this.

The car stopped, the doors opened, and the receptionist’s head bobbed up from her desk. She was the same lady who’d turned shades of red when Hunt had embarrassed her. Kross and I stepped out of the elevator. I barely acknowledged her as I hung a left. Kross didn’t miss a step.

When I reached Pitt’s closed door, I stormed in. Mr. Robinson was leaning against the bar, fear written all over his face. Wes had a red book in his hands, and Pitt said into his desk phone, “That’s okay, Sarah.”

I had every intention of punching Wes’s lights out first, but given the dismal atmosphere and what Wes was holding, I had to take a step back and regroup for a second. My rage wouldn’t help find Lacey, and Mr. Robinson now had the ledger.

“Where’s Lacey?” I asked no one in particular.

“They have her,” Mr. Robinson said in a despondent tone. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Who?” Every muscle in me cramped. I didn’t want to assume. Hell, a Mexican cartel could have her.

Kross made himself at home next to Mr. Robinson. I ponied up to one of the wingback chairs.

“Lorenzino,” Wes said as he placed the ledger on the desk. “James got a call soon after he arrived here.”

“Why didn’t you call me? And why are you guys standing around this office then?” I clamped down on the inside of my cheek, drawing blood, the metallic taste smearing my tongue.

“We just got the call ten minutes ago. We’re waiting for a time and place to meet to exchange the ledger for Lacey,” Pitt said. “In the meantime, Wes has a team of men in Ashford working with the police, and I’ve alerted my contacts at BPD.”

I couldn’t stand there with Mr. Robinson about to break down, Wes acting like it was another day at the office, and Pitt staring blankly. I had to keep moving. I had to do something. I assumed Lorenzino wouldn’t hurt Lacey as long as we gave him the ledger. Still, my stomach lurched with a bad feeling. After all, we were dealing with the mob. “How does Lorenzino know you have the ledger?” I dug my fingers into the leather chair.

“Lorenzino probably had a tail on James.” Pitt held his chin in his hand. “We always suspected they were watching.”

“How did they know today was the day though? And they kidnapped Lacey at the same time her father was getting the ledger?” I believed in perfect storms, but they were rare.

“Did anyone know Lorenzino was in town?” Kross asked. “Wasn’t the LAPD watching him?”

Another good point.

“I checked with Detective Fisher after I got the call from Lorenzino.” Mr. Robinson was frozen in the same position. “He tracked him to a private airstrip in LA yesterday morning but couldn’t get access to the flight plan.”

“And what about that Dennis Weeks guy? Is he involved?” I was about to poke a hole into the chair.