Page 57 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

Hailey

Wednesday

I reached out my arm and felt the empty sheets beside me. I rolled over to Tyler's empty side of the bed and breathed in the smell of freshly cut g

rass and mint. It was the only thing that could seem to soothe me recently. I had woken up in the middle of the night in tears, dreaming about my father dying before I got a chance to say goodbye. It was ridiculous. He had at least four months to live. Longer after I talked to Elena.

The closer we got to Pasadena, the less I wanted to get there. A small part of me was terrified of seeing her. It had been 15 years since we had last spoken.

But now that I had a glimmer of hope that Tyler might come back with me to Indiana, nothing seemed quite so bad. With him, nothing seemed as daunting. I slowly opened my eyes and smoothed my fingers along his pillow. He knew what it was like to lose a parent. He knew how painful it was. Josh had told me that Tyler hadn't been the same after the accident. His dad's accident had to be what Josh was talking about. Tyler had been close to his dad. Maybe as close as I was to mine. Five years didn't change that. He was healing from heartache and healing from loss. I could make it better. I wanted to. Because he made me feel better than anyone else had in a long time.

I closed my eyes tight and breathed in Tyler's scent. This didn't have to be the end. It could be the beginning of something wonderful. And today I wasn't going to worry about seeing Elena. Today I was just going to focus on having fun with Tyler. We were less than two hours away from the Grand Canyon. This was the part of the road trip that I was most excited for.

A buzzing noise pulled me out of my thoughts. I yawned and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. I quickly slid my finger across the screen, but the call had already ended. It also wasn't my phone. I had accidentally picked up Tyler's. Before I set it back down on the nightstand, I stared at his home screen. There were a dozen missed calls from a blocked number as well as six missed calls from a different number. I glanced at the hotel door. I wasn't sure when Tyler was coming back. But I couldn't help how curious I was to see who was calling him nonstop.

At the same time, if we were going to be more than a summer fling, I needed to trust him. I placed his phone down on the nightstand and turned on the TV. It was another broadcast about James Hunter's shooting. His fate still looked bleak. It had been over a week since he had been in a coma. They showed a picture of James and his wife at their wedding, smiling. Normally I'd be sucked into the story, but I couldn't seem to focus on the news. I bit my lip as I stared back at Tyler's phone. Yes, I needed to trust him, but I also needed to know that he was trustworthy. Who would call him so many times? And why would a number be blocked?

Fuck it. I picked his phone up and typed in the number that had called him so many times into my phone. The first result in Google was a precinct for the New York City Police Department. I swallowed hard as I scrolled through the rest of the results. It was definitely the number for the NYPD. Why would the NYPD be calling Tyler?

We had both joked around about how we were running from the cops. But I never thought he really was. I stared down at the blocked number on his phone as my mind raced. What had he done? I tried to think of anything he might have said that would point to something. God, is he really a criminal? There was absolutely no way. Tyler was the sweetest guy I had ever met. A bit angry at the cards he'd been given maybe, but not a criminal.

All that I could think of was the fact that Josh said he had been in an accident that messed him up. But Tyler had said the accident that killed his dad was five years ago. That couldn't have anything to do with this.

And then it hit me. There was one more thing Josh had said. In the conversation that I had overheard between him and Tyler, Josh had said, "So you only have a few days of freedom left?" And I couldn't really remember the rest, except for the fact that Tyler had said, "I don't regret it."

Oh my God. What did he do? What horrible thing didn't he regret?

Tyler's phone buzzed again, signaling a voicemail. It was from the blocked number. Without hesitating at all, I clicked on it, thankful that it didn't require a password. I put the phone to my ear to listen to the voicemail.

"Mr. Stevens, this is Officer Daugherty with the NYPD. Penny has informed us that she wouldn't like you to be a part of the investigation, but since you did not report for questioning, we are issuing a warrant for your arrest. You are now officially our lead suspect for the shooting and attempted murder of James Hunter." The line went dead.

James Hunter? I stared at the television screen. The James Hunter? The one that was dying in a hospital bed in New York City while the whole country held their breath? A picture of James with his wife flashed across the screen again.

My hand shook as I removed the phone from my ear.

The caption on the screen read, "Penny and James Hunter, minutes before the shooting."

Penny. My heart seemed to stop beating. The red hair. The blue eyes. That's Tyler's Penny?

I was hitchhiking with a murderer.

Chapter 30

Tyler

Wednesday

I walked into the hotel room to see Hailey throwing her clothes into her duffel bag. She immediately turned her head to me. Her eyes seemed to grow when she saw me. Her hair was haphazard like she had just rolled out of bed. And I'm pretty sure her tank top was on backwards. She looked adorable, like she was rushing to make sure she wasn't going to delay our departure. I knew she was excited to see the Grand Canyon, but now I just wanted to stay in the room as long as possible.

"Hey," I said. "Just let me take a shower real quick and we can get going. Unless you want to join me?" I walked over to her.

Her response was the harsh zippering of her duffel bag. She immediately pulled it off the bed and over her shoulder. "I actually have to go. I wanted to thank you for taking me as far as you did. I really do appreciate it more than I can say." She looked down at the ground as she tried to step around me.

"Hails, what are you talking about? We're almost there." I grabbed her shoulder before she could pass.

"Don't touch me, Tyler." She shifted her shoulder away from me.

I lifted my hand off of her. "What the hell is going on?"

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