Page 7 of Challenging Jayce

She’d always had a special relationship with her nephew. He would seek her out to talk, long before he would go to his parents. It was why when Jasmine announced two years ago that they were moving to Seattle, she was more than happy to come with. Shaun and Michael were the only family she had. It wouldn't have felt right to be so far away from them.

"No, I'll go. I don't want him to think anything has changed just because biologically he's not mine. No matter what, I will always consider him my son."

Kennedy watched her brother head up the stairs. Maybe she was a bit biased but Shaun was a great man. He always put others’ needs before his own.

Case in point, Jasmine.

He said over the years he fell in love with his wife, but Kennedy didn't for a minute think it was true love. She always got the feeling it was more of a “friendship” kind of love than anything else, but maybe that was enough for him.

Personally, she wanted the all-consuming kind. She wanted the man she married to love her so much that the thought of being without her was heartbreaking. And she wanted to feel the same about her husband. She refused to settle for anything less.

She headed toward the kitchen when she heard Shaun yelling frantically for Michael. Taking off up the stairs two at a time, Kennedy nearly tripped twice but managed to right herself. She crashed into Shaun just as she turned left on the landing.

"What's going on?"

"Michael's gone!” Shaun panted. "I checked all the rooms but he's not here. Michael's not here!"

Shit, fuck, and damn. This wasn't good.

CHAPTER5

The thoughtof day drinking at one in the afternoon was appealing. Except his gut was telling him something big was about to happen and he refused to have his reflexes dulled even a little bit.

"What can I get you?" the hotel bartender tossed a rag over his shoulder and asked.

"Just a Coke and a burger, please."

He didn't bother to look at a menu. Most bars had a burger on the menu and he wasn't particularly picky about what kind at the present moment.

He couldn't check into a room yet. The nice desk clerk explained there was a concert in town that was filling hotels up. He was lucky they had a room available at all, but he had to wait another hour for it to be cleaned before he could check in.

It was fine. Wasting the hour eating at the bar wasn't a hardship. Thinking about that letter and Michael, on the other hand? Well, that was an entirely different story. He couldn't get Michael's face out of his head. It was like looking in a mirror twenty years ago. The similarities were uncanny and there was no way Jasmine could hide his paternity forever.

One chance meeting and they both would've figured it out. Unless Michael believed in doppelgangers. He might not, but others did.

The bartender slid the glass across the bar just as his phone rang. As soon as he saw the name on the screen, he was tempted to reject the call. The only reason he didn't was because of what he just learned.

"What do you want, Shaun?"

There was no time for pleasantries. Not with his current mood.

"Michael is missing."

No way he could've heard Shaun correctly.

"I'm sorry, say that again, but much slower this time," he hissed.

"Michael's missing. He overheard us talking and knows that you’re his father. We talked a little about why Jasmine kept it from him and then he ran up to his room. I tried giving him some time to cool down, but when I went up to talk to him, he was gone."

Jayce pushed up from the bar and threw some money down before walking away. It would cover the meal he wasn't going to get to eat.

"You looked everywhere in the house?"

Shaun's home wasn't small but it wasn't that large either. It wouldn't take long to do a thorough search and it wasn't like Michael was a small child. He was a teenage boy who was barely two inches shorter than Jayce.

"I'm not an idiot, Jayce. Yes, I looked everywhere before I called you. I even reached out to his friends to see if they’d heard from him. No one has."

Shaun's statement had him stumbling for a second. Shaun knew Michael's friends. He knew who to call and who his son hung out with. Jayce didn't because Jasmine took that from him.

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