“How does this apply to Mindy being hurt?” Mike asked.
“Turns out Cassidy ran away. I'm guessing so she wouldn't have to be with Doug. When she left, the Kitcheners figured her best friend Mindy would know where she went.”
Mike’s eyes widened. “Do you think this Doug character tried to get Mindy to spill the beans about Cassidy’s location, and when she didn’t cooperate, he harmed her?”
“That’s what we think, only I heard it wasn’t Doug. My guess is that he hired one of his men to do his dirty work. Doug is not the nicest person. When he comes in here, he acts as if he owns the place. He’s arrogant, rude, and doesn’t tip. No way he’d get his hands dirty if he could help it.”
Hope must be on team Evans. That was good.
“Since I’m friends with Mindy, you wouldn’t happen to have a possible name of who might have been her attacker, do you?”
Her face turned a rosy color. “I don’t want to say. If it got out that I blabbed, no telling what those Kitchener folks might do to me.”
That was telling. “We understand,” Zach said.
She stood up straighter. “What can I get you three handsome men to eat?”
They each picked something quickly. She nodded and left.
“That was a bust,” Mike said.
“Not totally. It confirms everything we knew. What do you think I should have asked her? Where can I find this scum bucket, Doug?”
“I supposed not. Even if we had his home address, I doubt it would be wise to knock on his door and demand he stop searching for our mate.” Zach turned to his brother. “Can you see if you can find Cassidy’s parents’ address now? I won’t have a problem telling them everything.”
“I’m on it.” It took him less than a minute to find the address that he then entered into his phone. “Without some work, I won’t be able to find their phone number.”
“We don’t need it. We'll stop by for a visit.”
“I hope she doesn’t go to her apartment,” Mason said. “If Doug has a lot of people faithful to him, he might have asked one of his men to watch to see if she comes back.”
“Let’s hope Cassidy is smarter than that.”
Mike snapped a finger. “Cassidy said that Doug works at a bank. I bet it’s that three-story bank building we passed.”
“Most likely. If we stop there and confront him, he might do nothing at that time, but by nightfall we could be surrounded by a lot of hisfriends,” Zach said. “No, thanks.”
“Nonetheless, we should learn all we can about the guy should we ever confront him,” Mike said. “It would be nice if we had a photo of him."
"I bet I can find one. Give me a second.” Mason typed in something and then smiled. “The bank has photos of its officers. Everyone, meet Doug Kitchener.”
He turned his computer around. As much as Zach didn’t want to admit it, Doug was a large, good looking guy. “Let’s hope his fighting skills aren’t as good as his looks.”
Mike grinned. “We’ll just have to make sure ours are better, should it come to that.”
“Amen.”
A different server carried over their meal. “More coffee, gentlemen?”
“Yes, please,” Zach said.
Once she poured their drinks and left, Mason located Cassidy’s parents’ home on his phone. “Her folks live less than fifteen minutes from here.”
Zach checked the time. “Let’s hope they are home.”
“I wonder if they work at a regular job when they are not farming,” Mike said.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Zach said.