[B.S. #3] Claiming Laura (21 page)

Cyn reached up and ran a finger over Angel’s lips, stopping him from carrying on with the subject. “I know you want him to be as happy as we are. It’s just natural that you want all of your family to be happy. But I think it’s going to take us all putting our heads together.” Cyn leaned in and gave Angel a quick kiss.

“But I think that can wait for tomorrow. You can call a meeting without Clay knowing and we’ll see what we can do. Now how about you show me what a happily married man does to keep his new wife happy.” Cyn got up off Angel’s lap and took his hand, leading him into their bedroom.

* * * *

Two days later, in the early morning, Clay woke up to his cell phone ringing. Reaching out he grabbed it off his nightstand and barked into it. “Clay.”

“Clay, I think we have a situation developing. Can you get to the office as soon as possible? I’m calling a meeting with everyone,” James told him in an abrupt voice.

Clay sat up in bed, his stomach giving a tumble from his abrupt movement and from the amount he had drank the night before. “I think I’ll let you guys deal with this if you don’t mind. I’m not feeling on top of my game today.”

James gave a sigh over the phone. “OK, I think we can handle it without you. I just thought that Laura still meant something to you. Feel better and get back to us when you do.” And the phone clicked off in Clay’s ear.

“What the fuck?” Clay hit the redial and James came back on the line.

“OK, Clay, what do you want? I don’t have time to talk right now, the guys are just arriving,” James replied bluntly.

“What the fuck, James? You can’t just drop a bombshell like that and hang up.” Clay now was sitting up straighter and running his hand back and forth through his hair.

“Clay, like I just said, I don’t have time for this. If you want to know what is going on, get your ass to the office.” James ended the call again.

Clay wiped a weary hand over his face and got out of bed. Reaching for his pants lying on the floor where he left them last night, he pulled them on. Then he dug in the dresser for a clean T-shirt.

Fuck, he hated being left in the dark, and damn, James knew he still had feelings for Laura. His heart started to pound as he tried to think of what could have happened to cause James to call a meeting. What if the General had come back and grabbed Laura? Snatching up his keys off of the hall table, he hurried out the door to the elevator and down to the parking lot.

He ran to his truck as his mind went through every possible scenario he could come up with. Turning the key impatiently he gunned the engine and tore out of the lot, almost clipping a car in his hurry to get to the office.

James put his cell phone down on the conference table and picked up his coffee cup before he sat back. He took a sip as he looked around at everyone sitting at the table.

Smiling he told them, “Clay is on his way. Now don’t forget to look worried when he gets here and we have to make sure we all have the same story.”

Twenty minutes later, Clay strode into the conference room of Braden Security. He had broken every traffic law getting here that fast. His mind on the drive over went over every minute he had spent with Laura and he knew he had given up too easy. Now he might not have another chance. His gut was clenching with the thought of losing Laura.

He knew then that he could never stop trying to get her back. He loved her. She meant everything to him, and he hoped to God that he had the opportunity to tell her that.

Walking to his usual chair, he barely spared a glance at the others sitting around the table. His attention was centered only on James, who just sat back and continued sipping his coffee.

Clay banged on the table and shot James a hard look after he had taken his seat.

“Out with it, James. I’m fucking here now.”

James sat up and put his coffee cup on the table. James was not going to give him a pass that easy.

“We”—James looked around the table at the men and the woman gathered around, even Jared and Stan with Janet sat at the table—“think that with all the runaround you received from Laura, you are determined to forget her. And think that we can handle everything when it comes to this business. In fact, I was just receiving flack from the women for calling you. The girls were just telling me that I’m not considering your feelings in the matter.”

Clay turned an
incredulous
look at everyone. He realized, finally, that everyone that had been at the cabin was now sitting around the table. James was right. When he had stopped trying with Laura, he had also stopped trying with his friends. He had left his unit behind, something that he had sworn he would never do. It was about time he put down the bottle and took up the fight alongside the men who had become as close to him as brothers. “You’re right not to consider my feelings. I can’t allow my feelings to get in the way helping with a job. If I’m needed, then it’s my job to help. Braden Security is a team and I’m still part of it.”

Janet, who had been sitting at the far end of the table between her men, spoke up. “Clay, I know I speak for most of us. We like both of you and wouldn’t want to put you through something that could be hard for you, and especially Laura.”

“What do you mean hard for Laura? Would she even care? She made it clear that she didn’t want me around. But if she is in danger, that’s another story. Why the hell are we even sitting around talking about this, when Laura might need us?” Clay turned back to James.

“OK,” James said to Clay. “Let’s get on with it, but I want you to tell us if it’s too much for you, Clay. We’ll understand and will handle it ourselves.” James picked up the folder on the table before him.

“James, when did you get so touchy-feely? You sound like one of the girls. Just get on with it.”

The girls in question huffed at his words and James gave them a small smile.

“It looks like Laura disappeared two days ago. Here are the pictures from the small camera that you installed just outside of her front door after we got back.” He handed a picture to Clay.

In it, Laura was being escorted to a black panel van. The faces of the men holding her arms on either side, couldn’t be seen. But they were large muscular men dressed in black hoodies, with them up hiding their faces.

Clay looked at the picture. “This doesn’t tell us anything. She might know these guys and is going willingly.”

James handed him another picture. In this one it showed them at the van shoving Laura into it. Her face looked terrified. Clay felt his stomach turn over. He wanted to reach into the picture and beat the shit out of the guys that were scaring her.

“You said this happened two days ago. Why are we just looking at these pictures now?”

“Well, Brad was just going to pick up the cameras as we all felt it wasn’t needed anymore. Nothing has happened in weeks and we all thought that Laura was safe and the danger was over. Brad, when he got the cameras back to the office, he noticed that one had went off a few times. So he thought it wouldn’t hurt to take a look and found these.”

“Well, we sure are a good security team, when we only check the cameras every couple of weeks.” Clay glared at Brad.

“Hey, don’t blame me. We’ve all been busy and Laura is not one of our clients. You didn’t seem to care, and there has been no word of the General being back on US soil, so it kind of got put on the back burner.”

Clay rose to his feet, his face becoming red with anger. “But this is Laura, that’s what’s different.” Clay looked ready to take a strip off of Brad and even moved toward him, but James reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

“Sit down, Clay, this won’t help. We have to find out who took her. You can beat on him later.”

Clay sat down but still glared at Brad before turning his gaze back to James. “So what have you found out?”

“Well, from the pictures we were able to get a partial plate number and it looks like it might have been an associate of the General’s. Grant found that it is registered to a private that used to work for the General years ago.”

“Well, let’s go and pick the bastard up,” Clay said, getting up, ready to leap into action.

“Not so quick,” James told him. “Grant had to dig to find that out and the guy vanished from sight a couple of years ago. The plates on the van are old and haven’t been renewed. So there is no current address for the guy.”

Grant took up their tale. “I looked into old records and the guy, from what I could find out, disappeared under very strange circumstances. One day he was working for the General, the next he was gone and nobody could find him. The General seemed upset at the time, but didn’t pursue it any further when they didn’t find him after a couple of months. That’s all I could find. Nothing new. No credit cards, no new address, nothing.”

“That’s all you could dig up?” Clay asked Grant with disgust. “We find more out on the people we do jobs for. This is Laura, for God’s sake. I think you’re slipping, Grant. There must be something you’re missing, you just have to dig a little deeper.”

“Don’t take it out on, Grant. The guy vanished. What do you think we should do? The girls think we should send everything to the cops and let them handle it.”

“Yes, we do,” Avery spoke up. “After all, she is not one of us anymore, just another missing person. I’m sure the cops can find her. I really don’t think it’s anything for us to worry about.”

Clay stood up and glared at the people surrounding him at the table. “Well, thanks for nothing. I’ll find her myself. You all go back into your little lives and don’t give it another thought.” Any sentimental feelings Clay had for his unit was gone. Laura was his priority and he wouldn’t just let her be taken.

“Hey, that’s harsh, Clay. We are doing our best. Do you want to go over everything we found? Grant can send it to your computer and maybe you can spot something we didn’t. But Avery is right. We all like Laura, but have not been keeping close tabs on her after you let it be known that you were done with her.”

“When do you ever listen to me, James?” Halfway across to the door, Clay glanced back at Grant.

“Send the stuff to me. I’ll see if I can find anything.”

Angel, James, and the rest smiled at each other, after Clay had left and slammed the door of the conference room. They hated to do this to their pal, but Clay with his stubborn nature, made them desperate.

“Well, I think he’s still interested, don’t you?” James asked with a sly smile around the table.

Chapter Twenty

Clay opened the door of his office forceful enough that the door hit the back wall and made a hole in the drywall. Clay knew that he had to get himself under control if he was going to help Laura. But God, the guys could be so dense sometimes. There had to be something that they missed. He knew if it was Avery or Cyn, they would be looking under every stone until they found something, not sitting in the conference room drinking coffee.

Maybe it was time to part ways with them. They seemed to have developed a very cavalier attitude. Maybe getting married did that to some men. If they were allowing their other heads to lead them, it meant they wouldn’t be paying attention to their clients like they should and giving them the service that they had become known for. Yes, after this was over, he would have to re-evaluate his position with them.

Clay sat down at his desk and booted up his computer. He hated the thing, but he knew that Grant would send all his information this way. Waiting for the computer to warm up and for Grant to send the pictures and information, he opened one of his desk drawers. He pulled out the one picture of Laura that he had. It was taken at Brad’s house by Avery, who wanted to have pictures of everyone to remind her of their escape.

In the photo, Laura looked relieved, but Clay could see the sadness in her eyes. Was he the one that put that sadness there? Maybe he was so used to being with the wrong women, that he hadn’t been able to understand one that was good when she came along.

A ping from the computer had him putting the picture on his desk and turning his attention to the computer monitor.

Printing out the pictures Grant had sent, he first looked again at the one that showed Laura being shoved into the van and the terrified look on her face. Next to the big bruisers of men, she looked so small and lost.

Clay put his finger to the picture and traced her face.
I will find
you love. Just stay safe for a little while longer
. Clay wiped the moisture from under his eyes and then picked up the printed pages of notes that Grant had gathered together.

Looking over the notes, he found that the guy was Private Jones and he’d done work for General Brown years ago. One day he’d gone home from work and never showed up the next day. The Feds, along with the cops, tried to find out where he had disappeared. His home was not touched nor ransacked and nothing was missing. His car was still in the driveway, but there was no sign of him. Neighbors had been questioned, but couldn’t tell them much. He was a quiet guy and kept to himself. Nobody really took notice of him.

After six months, the search was called off and he is still listed under the missing person file with the police. General Brown, after making waves for the first few months, also seemed to let it drop. No follow-up was done by the Feds or the government.

Clay brushed his hands through his hair with frustration as he read. Sitting back in his chair, Clay picked up the picture again. Nothing stood out. The van was just a plain black van with the side door partially opened, with Laura half in and half out of it. She didn’t even have a sweater on, Clay thought as he noticed the sundress that she was wearing.

Suddenly he sat up.
What was that?
Clay reached into his desk and pulled out his magnifying glass. The open door of the van covered most of it, but it did have some lettering on the side, it was faint on the old truck but it was there. He thought he could see the letters
WER
on the van’s side.

Grabbing the picture, he marched down the hall to Grant’s office and flung the door open. Grant, who had been talking to James, jumped at the noise.