Page 10 of His to Love
Stepping inside, I felt my heart pounding in my chest.Something is very wrong here.“She left three days ago,” I muttered to myself. That meant she’d taken off somewhere the day she left work early.
He handed me the note. “See? She said that things weren’t working out here and she was going home to her family.”
“But she’s not with them.” I folded the note. “Can I keep this?” I wasn’t sure why I wanted the note, but something told me that if we didn’t find her, I’d want to have it. Maybe as some sort of evidence. “Thank you for your help, Deacon. If she contacts you, can you please let me know?” I pulled out my business card and gave it to him. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I will find out.”
“Check with her friends back home. Maybe she went to one of them, instead of her parents,” he offered his advice. “If I hear from her, I will let you know, Mr. Nash.”
“Thanks.” I left the house I’d been sure I’d find her at, dreading making the next call to her brother..
Getting into my truck, I tried to think hard about any friends that she might’ve mentioned, either in Austin or in Houston. But I couldn’t recall her ever saying anything about friends in either place.
Alexa was friendly and easy to get along with, but she’d gotten so used to keeping to herself that it had left her from forming any close relationships.
Or has it?
I remembered Luci complaining about the way the deacon’s son had looked at his sister.Could she have been seeing him in secret?
I knew he’d stayed home much longer than he’d planned to, originally. Five months longer. He’d left to go back to California only a month ago, and I did recall Alexa looking a little upset when she came to work the next day. When I’d asked her if something was wrong, she just said that Alejandro had left without letting her know he was going, and it bothered her that he didn’t think to say goodbye.
Could she have followed him?
Getting out of the truck, I walked back up to the door, ringing the bell again. The deacon opened the door. “Yes, Mr. Nash?”
“Your son.” I wasn’t sure how to put it, but finally came up with something. “Was Alexa seeing your son? As in, romantically?”
Laughing, he shook his head. “No—not at all.”
“Were they friends?”
“They got along, but I wouldn’t call them friends.” He ran his hand over his dark beard as he seemed to be thinking. “Would you like for me to call him to ask if she’s there?”
“I would appreciate that very much.” Even though her being all the way in California with the guy her brother didn’t like would bother Luci in many ways, at least we’d know where she was.
Taking out his cell, he made the call. “Good morning, Alejandro. I know it’s very early, but I have a gentleman here who is looking for Alexa. He wanted to know if she’s with you or if you’ve heard from her. We think she may have left here to go be with a friend somewhere.” He went quiet as his son gave him the answers I hoped would help me. Then he just shook his head. “I see. Thank you, son. Go back to sleep.”
“He hasn’t heard from her?”
“Not at all. He said she doesn’t have his number or his address, so she couldn’t be with him. And he said they weren’t close enough for him to even consider them friends.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll get going now.” I turned to go back to my truck, not knowing how Luciano would take the news that I hadn’t found out anything except that she’d left the Soliz’s.
Driving away, I made the call, gritting my teeth. I knew his reaction would be bad. “What did she say?” he answered my call.
“Nothing.” It wasn’t a lie.
“What do you mean nothing?”
“She wasn’t there, Luci. The deacon gave me a note she left for them three days ago. It said that things weren’t working out here and that she was going back home.”
“Son-of-a-bitch!”
“Yep.” I thought the same thing. “I had him call his son, too. He’s back in California. I thought maybe she and he had had a little romance going on in secret and maybe she went to him, but she isn’t with him.”
“Thank God,” he said with relief.
“He said they weren’t close enough to be considered friends. So, I guess that means she never let her guard down with the Lothario. I told you that you could trust her to use her own judgment.”
“Patton, her judgment where that rat is concerned may have been good, but what about what she’s doing now?” He had a point.
