agitated.
Grace: Cara hasn’t seen her. She wants to know if we need to form a search party.
Me: Not yet. I’m sure she’s fine. I just feel shitty.
Grace: Arguments will do that. If I see her, I’ll tell her you’re ready to grovel.
Me: Thanks.
I brought up Gram’s number and hit send. She answered on the third ring.
“Hi, Wolf. Everything all right?”
“Sort of. Is Fiona there?”
“No, she’s not here.”
“Have you seen her at all today?”
“I haven’t. Should I be worried?”
I took a breath. I didn’t want to freak her out. “Probably not. We argued and she left. Gavin saw her a little bit ago. I’m just…”
“Worried about her and feeling rotten?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, Wolf. If she comes here, I’ll make sure she calls you. And if you see her first, let me know.”
“I will. Thanks, Gram.”
I ended the call. Fiona still hadn’t answered my text.
What the hell? Where was she?
Sasquatch brushed past me, heading for the door. Either my mood was working him up, or his instincts were flaring as badly as mine.
She wasn’t just mad at me. Something was wrong. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.
“Let’s go find her.”
I went over to the house to grab the keys to my Camaro. I couldn’t take Sasquatch on the bike, and I wanted to bring him.
A car pulled up outside. I almost breathed out a sigh of relief, but my dog started barking.
He didn’t bark at Fiona. He never had.
“Stay,” I commanded so he wouldn’t rush out, and went to the front door.
A black sedan was parked out front. It wasn’t Fiona’s car. And it wasn’t Fiona.
It was her fucking father.
A hit of anger flared through my veins and I clenched my teeth. I checked the passenger seat, but he didn’t have her. She wasn’t in the back, either.
Shane Gallagher flew out of the car and slammed the door shut. “Where is she?”
“What? That’s what I was about to ask you.”
He looked rough. Disheveled clothes. Circles under his eyes. “She’s not here?”
“No, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Shit.” He stopped several feet away from me. “When was the last time you saw her?”
A wave of fear ripped through me. Something was definitely wrong. “This morning.”
“Fuck. I was hoping they were lying.”
“Who?”
“They took her. They took her to get to me.”
I reached for my phone.
“Don’t,” he shouted, holding up a hand. “No cops. They’ll kill her.”
I froze, every muscle in my body tightening. “Gallagher, you need to level with me right now. What the fuck is going on?”
“It’s not my fault. I needed money and I got in over my head.”
“Got in over your head with who?”
He looked away for a moment and let out a breath. “There’s a guy I used to work with back in the day, Felix Orman. Stealing cars, parting them out. No one got hurt. Cops broke it up, but he and I avoided charges. After that, I went legit. But last year I got into some debt and not with a bank, if you know what I mean.”
“Loan sharks.”
“These guys were serious, I needed to pay them off quick. So I called Felix. He set me up with some jobs, I helped him move some merchandise, no big deal.”
“What the fuck does this have to do with Fiona?”
“Felix is into more than stealing cars. A lot more. I didn’t want to know about his other shit. I didn’t want anything to do with it. I just wanted to pay off those assholes before they came after me and broke my kneecaps.” He rubbed his jaw. “But once you’re in with these guys, it’s hard to get out. I did what he wanted, but it wasn’t enough. I know too much. And now he fucking wants me dead.”
I took a step closer. “This Felix guy has her? How do you know?”
“He called. I’ve been hiding out nearby. I didn’t think he knew where I was.”
“You led them right to her, didn’t you? Jesus, Gallagher, what the fuck? Was it you who trashed my shop, or was that them too?”
“That wasn’t me,” he said. “It was them, trying to send a message. Scare me by going after my daughter. He doesn’t give a shit about her. He just wants to get to me. Wants to make an example out of me.”
I was a breath away from losing my temper. From pinning this fucker to the ground and beating his face to a pulp.
But that wouldn’t get Fiona back. If he was telling the truth, and someone had