gasps. "She makes you grounded?"
"Yep. Only woman in the world who stops the chaos in my head. Never thought I'd see the day. She had me showing up on time. I planned ahead. She was a good influence on me." Now I'm lost without her.
"Oh, you need to go get her." Sutton laughs.
"There's no miracle cure for who I am. You pin a tumbleweed in place, it still won't grow."
"You got some messed up thoughts in there, Mace." Cutter stands and checks the fire before walking to the door. "But I feel ya. You know I get that."
Cutter's words are hitting home. "I appreciate that you care, but please just leave me alone to sort this out."
"I'm not giving up on you." Cutter gives me his serious face. "I know you're capable of it. Remember those first few years with Mom and Dad, we all fought it. They didn't give up. You came around and let them love you. I think that was about the time you were with Loralei."
Oh man, Cutter's going for the jugular. Cass has him talking about his feelings and shit. He's right, of course. The first time I ever accepted someone's love was when I was twenty, shortly after I had my encounter with Loralei. "You got me thinking."
"Yeah, man. Don't let the messed up thoughts take over. Be open to possibilities."
I nod and he lifts his chin. Sutton gives me one last worried look before they leave.
I love them, and they know me. It's true I never asked Loralei if she would be happy by my side. Her inner lioness probably would, but will Lola let her loose? Only one way to find out.
Cutter walks back in alone. "Got news."
"What?"
"The FBI found three bodies on the island. Loralei reported Diablo as her kidnapper. They're still looking for Giselle, but they think Arthur might have been using that island to move drugs. The girls were the mules."
"And Diablo was the supplier."
"Possibly."
"Was one of the girls named Hannah Clark?" I ask him.
"Yeah."
"That's the girl Loralei was looking for."
"She can stop looking now." He nods and closes the door again.
"Shit."
***
The bloodied and bruised skip coughs as I drop him in a chair in Wayne's office. "Here he is. Failure to show. Pay up."
Wayne's handlebar moustache wiggles as he scans the guy. "He looks beat up."
"He fell."
"The last skip was beat up too, Volcano."
"I've been clumsy."
"Right." He stands and walks toward the skip. "C'mon, buddy. I got a place you can wait while I get the truck ready to take you in."
The guy grunts as Wayne walks him back to a room he uses as a holding cell.
It's been fifty days without seeing or hearing from Loralei. Every second of the holidays sucked without her there. I missed her yams at Christmas, missed kissing her on New Year's. Why? Why did I let her go? Beating the crap out of fugitives isn't helping. Nothing will help but seeing her again.
Wayne returns and gives me a disapproving look. "What's going on?"
"Guy's an asshole. Owes tons of child support. Doesn't show up for his hearings."
"I'm asking about you."
I sit down in the chair opposite his desk. "You remember Loralei Valentine from back in the day? Emrick's daughter?"
"The crazy bitch who kept coming back for revenge?" He's shuffling through the papers on his desk, reacting without thinking. Still, it pulls on my nerves hearing him talk about her like that.
"Since we go way back, I'm gonna let that one slide, but I'm giving you notice. Things have changed. She's a good girl. We've forgiven each other, and I'd appreciate it if you don't bring up the past."
He stops shuffling and folds his arms on his desk as he levels his gaze on mine. "I'm surprised to hear you talk like this, Mace. Not like you to take up a cause for a woman."
"She'd been kidnapped, couldn't remember what happened. I helped her retrace her steps to get it back. By the time she did, I was falling for her." I haven't said it out loud to anyone, but now that I have, I know it's true.
He nods and raises his eyebrows. This is not the way I normally talk, and he has a smile brewing under his mustache waiting to taunt me.
"Anyway, haven't seen her in over a month."
"Who's fault is that?"
"Mine. All mine."
"You might wanna go see the girl so you can stop assaulting people for skipping bail."
"Went to see her. No one there. Her car's gone. Not returning my