Page 60 of Home Again
“Get over it, Durand. She’s a source.”
Sebastian’s lips tightened. Gideon was right. “How soon will you get here?”
“I’m probably twenty minutes out.”
“Good.”
“Call her and don’t be an asshole.” Gideon hung up.
Sebastian looked down at his phone and found her number.
“Sebastian.” Jada sounded relieved. “Have you found anything?”
“No.” His words were clipped. He couldn’t help it, he was too damned frustrated. “Look, I’m at Armand’s favorite casino. I need a recent picture of him so I can show it around to see if anyone has seen him tonight. Can you send one to my phone?”
“Immediately. I’m also getting all of the information on Bradley Fontenot’s family. I’ll have everything by midnight. I promise.” Sebastian could hear the fear in her voice. Gideon was right, he needed to stop being an asshole. Then he thought of something else she could help with.
“There are a couple of other things I need you to do.”
“Anything. Name it. I need to get her back safe.”
“After you figure out where Fontenot’s family lives, I need you to see about getting some two-man airboats and some canoes to rent near where they live. I’m calling in some friends to help us search.”
“On it. Anything else?”
“Armand’s photo first.”
“I’ve already texted it to you.”
He looked down at his phone and smiled. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.
“Thanks, Jada.”
He went back to the casino and started cozying up with the different cocktail waitresses to see if any of them had seen Armand today. One of them suggested he go check out the high-limit poker game, so he wound his way through the casino and went up the stairs to the glass doors.
Shit, I need some kind of player’s card to enter the room.
As he was walking back down the stairs, he saw another cocktail waitress on her way up.
He held up two twenty-dollar bills. “Do you have a moment?”
“Just a moment, hun. This tray is heavy and I’ve got some thirsty people in there.”
Sebastian took the tray from her and she smiled. “Thanks.”
He handed her the forty dollars and held up his mobile phone so she could see the picture of his uncle. “Is he in there?”
“Armand? Not today.”
“You know him?” This was great fucking news.
“Sure,” she smiled. “He’s a big tipper, even when he isn’t winning. Which is pretty much all the time. That man shouldn’t gamble.” She bit her lip, and Sebastian noticed she was kind of cute. “Don’t tell anyone I said that, it’s kind of against the rules for me to be saying someone shouldn’t be gambling, you know?”
“Got it,” Sebastian grinned. “Armand’s my uncle. I’m Sebastian. My grandfather and I are worried about him. There’s another hundred in it for you if you’d call me if he shows up.”
She cocked her head and gave him a considering look. “Okay, what the hell.”
He took his phone and handed her back her tray. He picked up the pen on her tray and one of the napkins and wrote down his number, then he pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and put it on her tray.
