Page 46 of Walk on the Wilde Side
"Shit, I'm going to be depressed all day knowing that I will soon get to an age where a good fuck is no longer something to look forward to." Ronan swept the broom back and forth.
"Never said that but thanks for mucking. Think I'll go back to bed."
Ronan's phone rings. He answers as I'm leaving. "Yeah, he's here. Hold on. Z." He holds out his phone. "It's Jameson. He's been calling you."
I pat my pockets and realize my phone is still at the house. It figures. Never without the damn thing until someone needs me. "Better be about our paycheck," I say to Ronan as I grab the phone.
"Did the fucker finally pay us?" I ask.
Jameson ignores the question. "Is Nev with you?" His tone is urgent.
"No, why would she be with me? What's going on?"
"Mona, the girl who works with Nev, showed up for work this morning, but the shop was closed, and Nev wasn't there. She waited for an hour and then went back home. She called Nev's number, but there was no answer, so she called Kiki. Kiki said she talked to her this morning briefly, then went back to sleep, but she was sure she heard Nev leave the house. Kiki looked out the window, and Nev's car was still in the driveway. Her bike is still in the garage, too."
"Where the fuck is she?" I ask sharply.
"Don't know. Indi and Kiki are trying to call her, but she's not answering."
I head out of the barn. "It's that motherfucker Hoffman. He's hanging out with shady assholes. Obviously, his money isn't coming in legitimately."
"Hey, my phone," Ronan says, but I ignore him.
"What can we do?" Jameson asks.
"I should have asked her more details about the guy who was hanging out in front of her shop last night after closing. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I was so busy acting the fucking hero, I didn't get any details."
"What guy? Do you think someone's been stalking her?" Indi says something in the background. "Wait, hold on." Jameson pulls away from the phone and comes right back. "Kiki talked to the neighbors. Apparently, one of them said an old Camaro kept driving down the street last night." We both pause.
"Fuck, do you think it's Chug?" I ask. "Of course, it's fucking Chug, and I'll bet he was at the shop last night, too. What the fuck did Hoffman get her into? I'm going to fucking kill him."
"Let him pay us first," Jameson says wryly. "Never mind. I think that ship has sailed. Dad will probably know where you can find Chug."
"Already heading to the house. Let me know if Kiki hears from Nev."
"Yep. Let me know if you need me. I'd like a crack at Hoffman myself."
"No way, if Nev's in trouble because of him, then he's all fucking mine."
I take the front steps two at a time. My heart is pounding, and every muscle is taut with adrenaline. "Dad! Where the fuck are you?" I pound through the house.
"In here," Dad says.
I follow his voice to the front room where he likes to sit with his coffee and watch the news on television, "like a true old grandpa" we tease whenever we see him in that room. This morning, I catch him in his wire-rimmed reading glasses. I can almost look at him and think he was just a regular dad who wore a cardigan and slippers on chilly evenings and mowed the lawn on Sunday. But the fact that I'm coming to find out information on a known drug and gun-runner shatters that image fast.
Dad takes off his glasses and sits back with his coffee. He looks thinner and paler since the last health scare. It's always hard to see that kind of change because it reminds me that he's mortal, after all. "What are you all in a fucking fluff about, Z?"
"Chug, do you know where I might find him?"
His mind isn't nearly as sharp anymore either. His brows bunch together. "Who?"
"Chug, I don't know what the fuck his real name is. He ran some guns for you about five years ago."
"Don't know what you're talking about. Never ran guns."
"Don't act like an innocent old prick. We know you ran guns and drugs and any other illegal shit you could get your claws into. Nev's in trouble. I think Chug might have taken her."
He sits up straighter when I bring up Nev. "My guardian angel? What the hell? What would Chug want with her?"
