Page 34 of Deserving Maisy
Brick didn’t have any answers. “I don’t know. But I promise you, Owl, we aren’t going to stop looking. No matter how long it takes or how much it costs, we aren’t giving up. Ever.”
“I’m gonna go talk to Ry again. She said she had an idea last night. I want to see if she’s found out anything new,” Owl mumbled.
Brick wished he could do more. Wished he could help his friend. Owl and Stone were as close as two men could be. They’d been to hell and back together, and Brick knew Owl was blaming himself for Stone’s kidnapping. Eventhough he’d been unconscious at the time of the abduction, he still blamed himself.
Ryan, otherwise known as Ryleigh or Ry, had been working at The Refuge for a while now, and apparently she was some sort of computer hacking prodigy. There was definitely a backstory with her, but with Owl and Lara both recovering from being kidnapped by a serial killer—an evil bastard who’d been hell-bent on making Lara his sex toy for a second time—and with Stone missing, no one had much time to get to the bottom of why Ryan was working at the lodge and what she was hiding from.
Brick put his hand on Owl’s shoulder and squeezed. “How’s Lara doing?”
“She’s good. No sign of any morning sickness yet,” Owl said. Talking about his new pregnant wife seemed to take some of the anguish from his eyes.
“Good. Let me know if Ry’s found anything.”
“I will. Brick?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For not giving up.”
“I willnevergive up. Stone’s out there somewhere, Owl. He’s strong. I have no doubt he’s hanging in there, just waiting for us to find him. And we will.”
Owl took a deep breath. “Yeah, we will.” Then he nodded at Brick and headed for the door.
Brick stood in the middle of the room for a beat after Owl left. He closed his eyes and took his own deep breath. He had no idea who would want Stone, or for what. Every day that passed with no word of where he’d disappeared to wasn’t a good sign. But he hadn’t lied to Owl, Brick wouldnever stop trying to find answers. Stone was one of his best friends, and he didn’t deserve what had happened to him.
The thought of him being held hostage,again, was like a ball of acid in his belly. The man had been through enough, and whoever was responsible for kidnapping him would pay. Brick would personally make sure of that.
Letting out the breath he’d taken, Brick opened his eyes and headed for the door. He wanted to call Tex once more, check on his other friends to make sure they were all hanging in there, and he needed to make sure the guests at The Refuge this week were having a good time. He had a lot of balls in the air and didn’t want to drop any of them.
But first, he needed to see Alaska. She was his rock, his light. Just being around her made things seem not so bad. She and the other women were just as worried about Stone as the rest of them, but because of her own experiences, she had nothing but confidence in his ability to get to the bottom of what happened and bring their friend home.
He needed that boost, because right now, it really did seem as if Stone had disappeared into thin air. There were no clues, no signs about where he could be. With every day that passed, the likelihood of bringing their friend home alive got slimmer and slimmer.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Maisy was uneasy. Not only because she had to go to the bank with her brother this morning, but because Jack was acting…different. And she didn’t think it was because of the words of love they’d exchanged last night.
Something had happened, but she had no idea what. He seemed wary this morning, on edge. When they’d gone downstairs to have breakfast, he’d flinched at every little sound. Maisy worried it was because his head hurt worse than before, but he’d denied it.
The last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere with Jason by herself, she’d gotten very used to having Jack around to run interference and act as a buffer between her and her brother, but it was obvious he was completely miserable. She’d convinced him to stay home and take some over-the-counter painkillers so they could go out and look for apartments when she returned.
The second she shut the door to Jason’s Land Rover—that he’d bought withhermoney, all the while telling herthat buying her a car would be a waste since she never went anywhere—he unleashed his nastiness.
“Not even a thank you for your brother?” he asked with a sneer.
“What?”
“I bought you a cock and you haven’t once said thank you.”
Maisy’s stomach churned, and she gripped the armrest on the door so hard her knuckles turned white.
“Seriously, sis, the sounds coming from your room at night almost make me jealous. Jack-o certainly seems to know his stuff.”
“Shut up,” Maisy mumbled, embarrassed that her brother would be so crude.
