“Yeah, maybe.” Jonas tapped the steering wheel and tried to think where Deanna might be. The only place that made sense was her house. He thought about their night together. They’d only managed a few hours of sleep. Maybe she’d been tired and decided to take a nap. He flipped on his turn signal and said, “I’m going to head over to her place. Maybe she just fell asleep.”
He heard Wade groan. “Did she have a long night, you shit?”
This was the tricky part about dating your buddy’s baby sister, Jonas thought as the conversation turned awkward for both of them. “Uh, yeah.”
Wade cursed. “Christ, I never should’ve asked.”
“If it helps, I plan to marry her.” If I can find her, he added silently.
“Damn right you’ll marry her.”
Jonas rolled his eyes. “I should probably ask her first, don’t you think?”
“This is Deanna we’re talking about.” He snorted. “You’ll probably have to figure out a way to get her to ask you.”
Jonas chuckled, though it felt hollow. He was simply too worried about Deanna. “I’m going to call your mom, see if she’s heard from her.”
“Deanna did agree to turn down the Valdez job, right?”
“Yeah. She’d already called the bastard and told him to find a new designer by the time I’d gotten around to showing her the picture.”
“Good. Oh, about Valdez.”
“Yeah?”
“The only thing I got on that video feed was the guy getting a blow job from some girl young enough to be his daughter. He’s a real piece of work. Jesus.”
Jonas frowned. Something about Valdez was bothering him. “Where are you now?”
“Lunch with Gracie,” he answered. “So, with Ray’s son out of commission and Deanna far away from Valdez, do you still want to continue with the surveillance?”
He couldn’t think about that prick, not until he knew Deanna was safe. “I’ll worry about that after.”
“She’s probably just asleep or something. I’m sure she’s fine, dude.”
Jonas sighed, wishing the hairs on the back of his neck would get the message. “Yeah, probably.”
“Let me know when you hear from her.”
“Will do.”
They hung up and Jonas hit the gas pedal harder. He had a bad feeling, and his bad feelings were always spot-on. Twenty minutes later, Jonas turned down Deanna’s street. The first thing he noticed was the empty driveway. “Shit.”
When he pulled alongside the curb in front of her house, Jonas killed the engine. He leaned across the middle console to open the glove box and dug around until he found his lock-picking kit. Jonas tucked it into his leather jacket, then tore out of the car. He jogged up to the front door and rang the bell, then waited. When she didn’t answer, he unzipped his coat and went to work. A few minutes later, her lock turned and Jonas was inside.
“Deanna!” he called out, but there was no answer. He took the stairs two at a time, then stuck his head inside the first room he came to. Her bedroom. He recognized the blanket from their video chat. Unfortunately, her bed was empty. He looked into another room and realized he’d found her office. Still no sign of her. Jonas searched every room in the house with no luck. He tried her cell phone again, but nothing.
Jonas returned to his car and for the first time in years, he prayed. Visions of Deanna lying in some gutter cold, hurt, and alone bombarded him. It made him sick to his stomach to think of her like that. The worst part about being an ex-soldier was moments like these. He knew bad things happened to good people every day. It wasn’t just an overworked imagination. It was reality.
Jonas grabbed his cell phone off his belt and called Deanna’s mother. A few rings later, her delicate voice came over the line.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Harrison, this is Jonas.”
“Oh, hi, Jonas,” she said in a cheerful voice.
“Is Deanna with you by chance?”