“Oh no, did he break up with you?” Jade asked.
Diane shook her head from side to side.
“He’s… dead,” Diane said with a sob.
“What?” Jade exclaimed. “How?”
“Heart attack. The maids just found him in his room…” she said as she sniffled.
Jade hugged the woman as she cried. How was this possible? In all the years she’d known Diane, not once had she been involved. Yet the moment she finds a man, he’s taken from her in a heartbeat.
She thought about Wyatt. About her feelings for him. Josie was right. Jade was falling hard and fast for him. She’d never felt so much for anyone before. Then she thought about Amber and how she already had a three-year-old daughter and Brock. She didn’t really know what her sister’s relationship was with the man, but she could tell that her sister was in love. She’d been married before too.
Jade’s longest relationship had been with Billy, if she didn’t count Elliott, which she didn’t. And for most of her and Billy’s year together, they’d been separated by more than a thousand miles.
How would she feel if Wyatt was taken from her now? Something told her that there would be a hole in her heart that could never be filled.
Josie was correct. Jade was in love. Damn it.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
For the rest of the workday, Wyatt waited to hear something back from Josie. After Jade had mentioned the couple, he’d sent a text message to Jamerson and had her look further into the couple since they hadn’t even been on his radar.
The couple had been away on their honeymoon when one of the teens had gone missing, so they hadn’t made his short list. Now, however, he figured they deserved a second look.
It was just past the dinner rush when Josie and Jade showed up at the bar. Tonight, he was out at the tiki bar. There was another event, a reunion of some sorts, out on the patio area, which meant he was too busy to stop and chat.
Josie jumped behind the counter and helped out, even though he’d rearranged her schedule so that she could have the entire evening free.
The moment things slowed down, he and Josie made their way to where Jade was sitting and sipping an iced tea.
“No wine tonight?” he asked her.
“No, I needed to remain sober to hear what Josie found out,” Jade said. “Well?”
“Not much,” Josie said. “I happened to let it slip that there was a rumor going around that she might know something about the missing teen. You should have seen her face go white. Then she lied through her teeth and told me that she’d thought she’d seen someone following the teen earlier that evening. That was all, but she said she doubted it was anything since she found out that it had been the teen’s father.”
“You’re sure that was a lie?” Wyatt asked. When Josie and Jade just looked at him, he added, “There is a chance this is just an old-fashioned murder case. One where someone close to the victim has done something terrible. Usually, the boyfriend, husband, or a family member.”
“You think Megan was… murdered?” Jade asked.
“Well, it’s possible. I was just thinking out loud. I think she was abducted. The chances of another teen being taken from the same place is too high. Not that I’m ruling it all the way out, but for now…” He shrugged. “I’m sticking with one theory at a time. Did she say anything else?”
“No, but she was really sketchy. She kept looking around and seemed worried that Tom would see us chatting. She’s never been nervous like that before. And she’d told Tom that we were going to catch up after lunch.” Josie shrugged. “The man didn’t like the idea of Carol getting out of his sight. He even tried to convince us to let him tag along. I had to tell him three times that it was a girl’s date only.” Josie shifted closer. “What’s our next move?”
“Our?” he asked shaking his head. “This is where the both of you get off the ride.”
“Nope,” both of them said loudly at the same time, causing several people around them to glance over.
“This isn’t a game,” he whispered. “Whoever is the mastermind behind the kidnappings won’t stop at hurting anyone who gets in their way.”
“Their?” Jade asked. “You don’t think it’s just one person?”
“Think about it,” Josie said. “You’d need someone to lure the kids away, someone to ship them to the States, then someone to… take them wherever they end up. It’s got to be a huge ring. I mean, didn’t they just bust like five hundred people in Texas for a huge online child-porn ring? Five hundred people,” she reiterated. “And that wasn’t just the creeps lookin’. Those were the asshats who helped create the porn and who hid and trafficked the kids.”
Jade was quiet for a moment as she glanced at him.
“She’s not wrong,” he agreed. “We’re not looking for a single person. When we find the person or persons leading them away, my job isn’t done until each and every person involved is behind bars.” He saw Jade’s eyes dull before she nodded slightly. “I… should get back to work,” he said when a couple of women stepped up to the bar.