Page 38 of After this Summer
She pauses at the sound of her phone vibrating on the coffee table, her lips parting as she sits up and grabs the device.
“Stunner?”
“It’s her,” she says softly, handing me the phone andoh, holy shit.
“Toni.”
“Your boss, Toni?” Jensen asks, his posture unchanging but his tone no longer casual. He’s her brother but right now, he’s also the sheriff.
“Knock, knock,” Wren says as she pushes open the front door, Merrick following behind her with armfuls of bags.
“What’s all that?” I ask, distracted by the sheer volume ofthings.
“Mom and I went shopping for the baby.” My lips twitch as I watch Merrick deposit everything on the carpet before dropping into the recliner. When he’d landed in Wintervale, he’d been solely focused on his career with one foot out the door, off to conquer the next big investment.
Then he met my sister.
“What’s with the face, Sheriff?” Wren asks, letting Merrick pull her into his lap.
“Waiting for my sister to tell me what’s wrong.”
All eyes swing to Indie as she pushes into a sitting position, her gaze cast down toward the floor.
“Toni was my business partner, I guess. She owned the salon I worked at in Bozeman and we talked about me becoming half owner in it. We made a plan and I gave her most of my savings for the buy-in and renovations.”
“I’m not gonna like this,” Jensen growls and my fists clench as Merrick’s eyes narrow—apparently the feeling is mutual.
“When the morning sickness hit, I had to take some time off. She was so understanding, reassuring me that everything was fine.”
“But it wasn’t,” Wren supplies.
“It wasn’t. She canceled the renovations, changed the locks, and skipped town. I filed a report but she disappeared—no one’s been able to find her.”
“And she just contacted you?” Jensen asks, holding his hand out for her phone. Indie nods and I hand it to him.
He scans the brief message, the classicstop contacting meverbiage a bit more colorful, but the lack of explanation igniting the need in me to fix it for her. I’d been so focused on Indie, I hadn’t looked past it to this piece that’s so obviously been hurting her.
“I’m going to—” I start before being immediately cut off by Merrick.
“No. You get to sit this one out. I got a guy in Chicago.”
Jensen turns to him with a raised eyebrow. “I got a guy in Chicago.”
“Lawyer?” Merrick asks but Jensen shakes his head.
“Private Investigator and deep pockets,” he says as Merrick makes eye contact with both Indie and me.
“It’s covered. We’ll handle it. Focus on the baby and we’ll take care of the rest.”
“That’s not—” I start but Merrick just laughs, the sound husky and amused and so unlike him.
“You and Harlan chased my father back to New York after Wren’s accident.No oneis willing to share the details about that and more than a few other incidents you handled for your family. You have a baby on the way; let us take this one.”
“What are you going to do?” Indie asks, her gaze bouncing between her brother and Merrick.
“We’re going to do everything,” Merrick says, his arms tightening around Wren. “We’re going to do it so you don’t have to.”
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