Page 6 of Unmasking Secrets
“Her agent called this morning before emailing. They’ve tried, but this guy has connections.”
“Shit.” I sigh. “Those are the worst. I know the type; they’re always trouble.”
“Yeah.” He nods. “It’s not in the email, but apparently the guy attempted to kidnap her recently.” Tyler rubs his hand down his face. “It’s bad, Arch. The guy raped her before the cops could even get to her house, after she’d hit a panic button.”
“The fuck?” I roll my computer chair back. That’s seriously messed up. “I’m not saying no, but why are you asking me to take this case?”
“It’s a delicate situation that requires live in security. I know you like to keep busy, and this girl apparently has some work trips coming up.” He sighs. “I can ask one of the others to take the case if you really don’t want to mess with it.”
I groan and then lean forward to continue scanning over the email. My hands freeze when a picture comes up of the girl’s face. A face that hasn’t left my dreams since last weekend.
“Mine,” I growl out.
“Great, I’ll CC you in on the agent’s details so you can meet them this afternoon.” Tyler returns his attention to his computer.
Images flood me as the words Tyler spoke repeat in my mind, the worst mental pictures play in my head. It’s a nightmare.
Ex.
Kidnapped.
Raped.
What the hell is going on? I was just there. I just fucking saw her! She acted fine and happy. Why didn’t she tell me?
None of it makes sense.
I brush a hand down my face. Heat rushes to my head followed by ice. The urge to throw up matches my urge to murder her ex.
We’d spoken last weekend. What happened?
“I need to make a call.” I’m up and out of my office before Tyler can respond.
It rings once before my dad picks up the call.
“Arch.” He hesitates.
“When were you going to tell me?” I try to keep my voice steady.
“You heard?” His voice is gravely across the clear line.
“Our security company was just hired. I’ve been assigned the case. What happened? I thought she was happily married.” It was the last I heard.
Why didn’t I know? I think back to last weekend and replay every conversation in my head. I remember hearing someone mention something about a divorce, but they didn’t mention her by name. I just assumed. Why didn’t she fucking tell me? She acted as if everything was fine, as if she were fucking happy!
“She’s been fighting with him for months to sign the divorce papers, son. That bastard had his claws in deep. It took longer than we’d like to dig up enough to get her out of there. It wasn’tpretty, and it still doesn’t seem to be over. He’s pissed and has connections.”
I tense, my jaw tightens. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” She was my best friend. Didn’t they know I would want to know if something was wrong? I would want to help. We could’ve gotten her out of there sooner.
“Arch, you’ve barely been home. When you got out, you never wanted to come around. You didn’t want to patch in. The club was involved. What were we supposed to think?” Dad’s voice rises.
“This isn’t about me. This is about her.” I run my hand through my hair.
Dad sighs. “She didn’t want you to know.”
I freeze. “What?”
Sure, we weren’t as close as we were when we were younger. The big stuff matters, though. This isn’t the kind of secret we’d keep from each other. Especially with how close our parents are. I should’ve been one of the first to know something was going on in the first place.
