“Wha?” he rasps, voice hoarse and gritty. “Who’s that?”
“Evan, it’s me, Matt Hansen. Look, I need you to open the garage for me.”
“The hell? It’s… not even five in the morning, man. What’s wrong with you?”
Lots is wrong with me, and right now I’m not in the mood to explain. “I’ll owe you a big one, man. Okay? Please help me out.”
He grumbles something unintelligible and hangs up on me, but soon after we park outside the garage, he appears walking down the deserted street like a grumpy ghost.
He unlocks the shop and scowls at me. “You gonna tell me what this is about?”
“We’re looking for someone,” I mutter, shoving past him and entering.
“Who?”
“That Adam guy.”
“Octavia’s non-boyfriend? You serious right now?” He follows me as I go searching the place, Zane and Rafe splitting to check the back of the shop. I start opening doors, checking the store room, Jasper’s office, looking behind cars. “Is this for real?”
“Yep.” Where would you hide yourself in a fucking car workshop?
“Why are you looking for him?”
“He took Octavia.” Damn, I wasn’t gonna talk about it.
“You nuts? What are you…?” He grabs me and I jerk my arm free. His eyes widen. “You are serious.”
“Like a death note,” I grind out.
“And how would he have entered? Only I have the key, and Jasper and—”
“Ross, right? Fucking Ross.”
Evan shakes his head. “But Ross hates the guy’s guts. He disliked him from the first look, not like…”
I stop. “Not like what?”
“Jessica. Jessica Moore, who owns the ice cream shop down the street?”
“Ice cream. He and Octavia used to go for ice cream in the evenings. You told me that.”
He blinks. “Well, yeah.”
And the owner of the shop likes that fuckface Jeff Adams.
“Zane, Rafe! We’re outta here.” I turn and head back out, not waiting to see if they follow.
Call it a gut feeling.
Call it a logical conclusion.
I’d bet my right nut that Jeff Adams is holed up in the ice cream shop, with or without Octavia, and I have just enough of presence of mind to send a quick message to John letting him know my suspicions before I sprint down the street toward the dark sign with the ice cream cone.
Zane and Rafe are right behind me as I reach the ice cream shop
and stop. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I glance at it quickly, finding a message from John telling me he’s on his way and not to do anything.
Right.