and explain. As I stand here, I’ve gone over what happened in my mind over and over again. I know what Angel saw, and I know exactly what it looked like.
I go to Jacob and pull him into a bro-hug. “Take care of your girl. I want tons of pictures. And for the love of God, let Trevor drive.”
He gives a huge grin and tosses the keys to Trevor. While they all pile into the G-Wagon, Jacob starts explaining why I’m not with them. I spin on my heels and get in my car. On the way to Insanity, I break every speed limit, but I don’t care. I need to explain to Angel what she saw and beg forgiveness for unnecessarily breaking her heart.
Communication.
It’s the key to success, and I vow to communicate the hell out of this situation. Only when I pull up to Insanity, there’s no sign of Angel. I race through our home, calling out her name, pounding on her door, then running back to the common areas. Nobody’s around. The place is a ghost town. No sign of Angel and no sign of anyone else.
I stop in the kitchen and pace, then return to the garage. Too focused on Angel’s agonized expression, I don’t remember which car she was driving. Noodles’ classic VW Bug’s parking spot is vacant. He’s probably out surfing the waves. Only one other parking spot is empty. It’s one of our black SUVs we use when traveling together, and the only car Angel would take out on her own.
My fingers tap the side of my jeans as I try to figure out where she might be. Twenty minutes later, after fruitless pacing, I decide to call in the big guns and march over to Forest’s place.
It takes a solid five minutes of banging on his door and smashing the doorbell before Forest answers the door.
“What the fuck you doing here?”
“I need your help.”
“My help?” He shrugs. “What for?”
As band manager, Forest helps out with all manner of things.
“I need you to locate the SUV.”
“Excuse me?” His lips press together, and the gears in his head start churning. “Why?”
“Because I need to know where it is?”
“Did you misplace it?”
“No.”
“Then how did you lose it?”
“Didn’t say I lost it. I said I need to find it.”
“And why might that be?” He leans against the doorjamb and crosses his arms while looking down at me.
“Don’t be an ass. Can you or can you not locate the vehicle?”
“Sure. I can most definitely do that.”
“Thank you.”
“Is that all?” He kicks off from the doorjamb and starts to close the door.
The way he’s acting sends alarm bells dinging in my head.
“Yes.” I look at him, trying to figure him out. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Are you going to tell me where it is? Can you do that from here?”
“Yes, I can do it from here. It’s a simple matter to activate the GPS and locate the car.”
“Okay, then let’s do it.”
“You misunderstand.”
“Misunderstand, what?”
“I said I could, not that I would.”
“What the fuck? Don’t be an ass.”
“Seeing as how you’re coming to me for a favor, calling me an ass isn’t really helping, is it, lover boy?”
“You’re a real tool, you know that?”
“Doesn’t matter. Yes, I can locate the SUV, but I won’t.”
“And why not?”
“Because I’m not getting in the middle of whatever fucked-up thing you did.”
“How do you know I did anything? It’s just a misunderstanding. that’s all, and I need to find her to explain.”
“Like I said, not getting involved in that drama. Whatever you did, or didn’t do, you made this mess, and I’m not helping you clean it up.”
“I’m not asking you to clean anything up. I’m asking you to find the damn car.”
“Spike, if Angel isn’t here, she isn’t here for a reason. Whatever you did to her, she’ll face you when she’s ready. I’m not going to lead you to her if she doesn’t want to be found.”
“And what if she’s crashed in a ditch or something?”
He pauses, and I think I almost have him, but he gives a sharp shake of his head as he comes to a decision.
“Nope. Not getting involved. Fix your own shit.”
“Fuck you.”
“No, thanks. Not interested.”
My fingers curl, but I turn around. If Forest won’t help me, maybe I can get someone else to help. The only other person I know who can track down Angel’s car is Mitzy, but no matter how hard I look, she’s not around.
In desperation, I call Guardian HQ, but she’s not there either. Evidently,