Frey (19 page)

Dane smiled back. He liked that she was
attentive and knew what he wanted. “Yes, please.” She walked toward
the kitchen, tossing him an extra smile over her shoulder. Someone
cleared their throat. When he turned around, Katherine Fox was
standing beside his table.

“
Am I interrupting?” she
asked, a little snark in her tone.

“
Not at all, please have a
seat.” Dane stood, pouring on the southern charm as he pulled out
her chair. One glance at Julian was enough to have the new
half-blood rethinking this meeting. Julian’s fingers hovered just
above the keys as he glared at the news reporter. Dane knew if
Katherine was his mate, he would feel something in her presence. He
took in her long red hair, green eyes, the freckles that dotted her
cheeks. Was he feeling anything out of the ordinary?
Maybe.

“
Abbott, are you going to
stare all morning, or are you going to tell me why you asked me
here?”

“
I wanted to let you know
Gordon Flanagan is dead.”

“
You could have told me
that over the phone.” She leaned back in her chair, tossing her arm
across the top rung. Casually, she asked, “What’s this really
about?”

“
I…” He glanced around to
make sure no one was paying attention. “I need to ask you
something. You show up at crime scenes often before some of our
officers do. Who are you getting your information from?”

Katherine sat up,
gesturing for Dane to move in closer. A faint growl came from the
next table over.
Shit.
He did as she asked, leaning in. “You know I won’t give up my
source.” She leaned back, the smirk alive on her lips once
again.

“
If your source happens to
be someone inside my department, I need to know about
it.”

Sliding her chair back, she stood and
stepped to his side of the table. “I guess you’ll just have to keep
on wondering, now won’t you?” She turned to leave, and Julian all
but jumped from his seat, shoving his laptop in the sleeve as he
was headed to the door. That hadn’t gone as planned. He mentally
chastised himself. If he was going to be Chief, he would need her
as an ally more than an enemy.

Marley returned with his
latte. The nauseous feeling was back. Shit, could Marley be his
mate? She’d been present the last time he’d met with Katherine. He
glanced up into her face, a face that was no longer smiling. Not
even close to friendly.
Shit
.

Troy cracked open an eye. His second
hangover in a row, only this one was worse. He sat up on the sofa,
swinging his legs over the side. He leaned his elbows on his knees,
placing his head in his hands. “Abbi, bring me some aspirin,” he
yelled as loud as his head would allow. When his wife didn’t answer
him, he yelled louder, “Goddamnit, Abbi, bring me some fucking
aspirin.”

Where the fuck was she? He stood on wobbly
legs, pausing to gain his balance. He took stock of his clothes
which were rumpled from sleeping in them. They also smelled like
sex and booze. What a time he and George had last night. Again,
both women had been up for anything. When Debbie suggested he and
George suck each other off, that’s where he drew the line and
called it a night. He wasn’t a faggot and never would be. Girls
eating each other out was a huge turn on, but two guys sucking dick
made him wanna puke.

Troy plodded into the kitchen, looking for a
cup of coffee. The pot was empty. “Abigail!” He headed to their
bedroom, fully expecting her to be there. When he pushed open the
door and saw the empty bed, he lost his shit. Forgetting about his
headache, Troy stomped to the door leading to the garage. He knew
in his gut before he opened it her car wouldn’t be there since she
wasn’t supposed to park in the garage. He searched anyway. When his
instincts were correct, he let out a roar. “You stupid bitch, where
the fuck are you?”

He picked up the landline receiver and
dialed her cell phone. She was probably back at the fucking
community center instead of being there to cook his fucking
breakfast. The call went directly to voicemail. He hung up and
dialed it again. After the fifth time of receiving no answer, he
left her a message. “Abigail, I don’t know where you are, but I
suggest you get your ass home. Right fucking now.” He slammed the
receiver down and headed to the shower. He would have to go to the
coffeehouse around the corner until she decided to get her happy
ass back where she belonged.

As the water sluiced over his skin, Troy
thought back to the previous night. Both those girls could suck a
tennis ball through an exhaust pipe. He couldn’t get Abbi’s mouth
anywhere near his cock unless he shoved it there while holding onto
her hair. Thinking of Debbie sucking him off had his dick getting
hard. He reached down for his shampoo and found the bottle empty.
“Fucking bitch didn’t get my fucking shampoo.” Not caring that
Abbi’s smelled fruity, he reached for hers only to find the bottle
missing. “What the hell?”

His cock still demanded
attention, so he grabbed the soap and lathered up. When he’d shot
his load on the wall, he bathed his body and used the soap to
shampoo his hair. As he was drying off, he noticed a nice purple
hickey on his neck. “Damn, those girls were feisty,” he said to his
reflection. He opened the drawer where Abbi kept her minimal supply
of makeup. The only reason Troy didn’t throw the shit out was in
cases just like this one. He’d perfected the art of concealing his
infidelity. The drawer was empty. He shut it and opened the one
above it. No makeup. Her toothbrush and toothpaste were missing as
well. “What
the
fuck?” he spit as he noticed other items missing from the
bathroom.

Not caring that he was naked, he strode into
the bedroom and began opening drawers. At first glance, nothing
seemed amiss. It wasn’t until he opened the closet and noticed the
clothing that normally hung toward the back was missing. The
clothing that really fit her body, showing off her spectacular
curves. “You cunt. When I find you, you’ll wish you’d kept your
fucking ass at home!”

Troy threw on his clothes, swiped deodorant
over his pits, and shoved his feet in his shoes. He grabbed his
keys and headed out the door to his truck. The first place he would
look would be the community center. She was probably teaching some
stupid kids how to do the ballet shit she loved so much. First,
though, he stopped in the coffee shop. He had to have a jolt of
caffeine before he went searching for his wayward wife.

The line to the counter was almost out the
door. Why couldn’t the fucking place have a drive-thru? It was too
far to drive to a chain restaurant, and the convenience store’s
coffee sucked ass. Troy’s stomach grumbled, so he decided to have a
seat and order some breakfast. A cute little brunette stopped by to
take his order. “Good morning, what can I get you?”

Troy glanced at the
nametag attached to her uniform top. A top that was slightly
showing cleavage.
Marley
. “Good morning, Marley. You
can get me a large black coffee and the bacon, egg, and cheese
sandwich.”

Her smile faltered when she said, “Coming
right up.” Her ass swung from side to side as she sashayed off to
another table. A table where sat none other than the lead detective
at the precinct. Fucking pretty boy Dane Abbott. He was probably
gay like his partner. His eyes didn’t stray to Marley’s chest. No,
Abbott kept his eyes on her face, smiling his fake gay smile,
laughing at something the pretty waitress said. After taking Dane’s
order, Marley left for the kitchen, only she turned back, giving
him another smile. Bitch.

He did his best to keep out of Dane’s line
of sight. When Marley brought his coffee and food, she asked, “Can
I get you anything else?” She was being courteous, but she sure as
fuck wasn’t flirting with him like she had with Dane. He started to
ask for her phone number anyway when her eyes widened, then
scowled. He followed her gaze. When he saw the object of her ire,
Troy decided it was time to get the hell out of there. What the
fuck was Katherine Fox doing meeting with Abbott? She better not
let him know he was the one who always tipped her off when shit was
going down.

“
Here.” Troy pulled out a
twenty and said, “Keep the change.” He didn’t care if the tip was
way more than the girl deserved, he needed to leave before that Fox
bitch saw him. He grabbed his coffee and sandwich, making a hasty
retreat. Once outside, he juggled his food as he unlocked the
truck. Sliding into the driver’s seat, he placed the coffee in the
cup holder and started the engine. It was a little nippy for a
November morning. As he waited for the heater to warm up, he
devoured his sandwich and made short order of the coffee. He took
out his phone and called Abbi again. If it took him all goddamn
day, he was going to find the bitch.

Chapter
Eighteen

Troy drove over to the community center, but
Abbi’s car wasn’t there. From there he drove to the school on the
small chance she could be there but no luck. As his truck sat
idling, he dialed Matthew’s number. If the kid knew where his
sister was, he’d tell Troy if he knew what was good for him. That
call also went to voicemail. “Fuck!” he yelled as he smacked the
steering wheel. His next attempt would be going to the restaurant
where Matthew worked. He would have to wait until the kid went on
break. There was no way he could get away with harassing him while
he was on his shift. Troy had a reputation to uphold after all.

When he arrived, he didn’t
see the piece of shit the kid drove in the parking lot. Troy knew
he worked every Saturday morning, so maybe someone had dropped him
off. He circled behind the building hoping to catch the kid out
back goofing off. Just as he entered the alley, the back door
opened, and Matthew emerged carrying a large black bag.
Taking out the garbage, good job for a piece of
trash
. Troy threw his four-wheel drive in
park and angled out. He caught up with Matthew just as the kid
threw the bag into the dumpster. As soon as Matt turned around,
Troy was in his face.

“
Where is your sister? And
don’t try to lie to me, Son. You know I don’t tolerate
lying.”

“
I’m not your son,” Matt
seethed, trying to step around Troy.

Troy smacked Matthew with an open hand.
“You’re right. My son wouldn’t be as wiry and worthless as you.
Now, tell me where the fuck your sister is.”

Matthew touched his face where Troy slapped
him, but he didn’t back down. Where the fuck was the kid getting a
backbone from all of a sudden? “I don’t know where she is. If she’s
smart, she is getting the fuck away from you.”

Troy punched Matthew in
the gut. The teen doubled over, and Troy brought his knee up
catching the kid’s face. “I’m only gonna ask you this one more
time. Where…
punch i
s…
punch
your…
punch
goddamn…
punch
sister?” The kid was bleeding all over the place. Fuck! He
had to get out of there before they missed him inside. As Matthew
fell to the ground, Troy kicked him in the ribs a couple of times
for good measure. “Don’t bother trying to convince anyone I did
this. It’ll be the word of a punk kid against an officer of the
law. Besides, if you do tell Abbi, I’ll kill her.”

Troy kicked him one more time. If Matthew
was hurt badly enough, he’d have to go to the hospital, and Abbi
would show up to see to him. He’d find his fucking wife one way or
another.