“What?”
“I love a good road trip, Caleb, and I am fully capable of making a phone call.”
I laughed and then thought about it. “That was the only requirement Silas said I needed.”
“Well how about it? You and your Nonna taking down this cyber jerk.”
I laughed. “Nonna, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure Silas will go for it and I’m not certain it’s the best idea either. It’s in Idaho. We’d be on the road for days.”
“Woohoo! This sounds fabulous. The most excitement I’ve had in ages. Let me just pack my bags. About a week you say?”
“Nonna, I have to clear this with Silas first.”
“If he gives you a hard time, you just pass the phone to me.”
She was off and practically skipping down the hall to her bedroom before I even realized what had just happened.
Whether my leader said yes, or no wasn’t the issue anymore. There was no way the guys were going to let me live this down after hearing Nonna was coming to my rescue for a mission.
“Do you think I’ll need a bathing suit?” she yelled. “You know, never mind. I’ll pack it just in case.”
With a groan, I picked up the phone and called Silas. I wanted to take this guy down bad enough that I was willing to accept her help if it got me there.
“Did you actually find someone?” he asked with a hint of humor in his voice. I suspected he had something to do with everyone turning me down so quickly, but I wasn’t going to let him know I had already figured it out, especially since Nonna had given me the perfect way to get him back anyway.
“A partner that can drop everything and road trip to Idaho with the capability of picking up a phone and calling you in case of an emergency, right?”
“Yup, pretty simple, right?”
“Yes sir.”
“You didn’t find anyone, did you?” he asked. I could practically hear him gloating.
“Actually, I did.”
“What? You did? Who?”
“Nonna’s going with me. She’s packing now. Willing to drop everything and go? Check. Capable of placing a phone call? Check and Checkmate.”
I heard a series of expletives under his breath. “You’re kidding right?”
“No, I’m not. That was the deal, wasn’t it?”
“Come on, Tarron. I need you on this mission.”
“You really don’t. This is important.”
“This is a damn personal vendetta.”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “But I’m not going to let it go until I have this bastard. Even if you force my hand, my head isn’t going to be in the game until I know exactly what this guy is up to. You’ve sent people out for a whole lot worse, even for personal cases. Do I need to remind you about Chase Westin in Seattle?”
“Do I need to remind you that it turned out to be a very important mission?”
“And maybe this one will too.”
He sighed. “You have one week. Do you hear me? One week, Tarron. Not a second longer.”
“Okay.”
I wanted to jump up and cheer, but I contained myself. I was going to owe my Nonna big time for this one.
Susan
Chapter 6
I was so exhausted that I required sleep. I desperately wanted to go back in and dig around some more on that server I’d found. Maybe there were other folders with even more information. I had only spotted a few small things before having to leave it. My need for sleep trumped my drive to find my sister.
It didn’t happen often, but I had a pattern of wearing myself down to the point of utter exhaustion and I knew if I didn’t take a few nights off to catch up on sleep, it would start to quickly wear me down physically.
I knew my body’s breaking point and I knew to be kind to myself and not push beyond that line. I had this time, but not by much. It was killing me, but I was in it for the long game. I had to keep my eye on the goal, and I knew that if I didn’t take care of me, I could never take care of Sonnet.
The days seemed extra tiring too. Work was busy which was good, but Shay had been away for a few days off to some spa for restorative therapy or something. She’d taken Sapphire with her leaving me to hold down the fort with the diner and Sage.
It wasn’t like I didn’t do that anyway, but when they were home, I could at least pretend I had backup if I needed it. In truth Sapphire never minded pitching in and did so as often as Shay would allow her. I think she actually enjoyed the work, but our mother rarely allowed her that opportunity. She’d made it very clear over the years that manual labor was beneath Sapphire.
I was grateful my beautiful sister remained humble through it all. It would have been so easy for her to get sucked into our mother’s ridiculous notions.
Sage on the other hand was still young and impressionable. I wasn’t sure she actually drank the Kool-Aid Shay shoveled, but she was selfish enough to use it to her advantage whenever possible.
On occasion, usually as a punishment when nothing else seemed to work, Sage would help out with the restaurant, but it was rare. She certainly wasn’t going to volunteer for it.
I groaned when my alarm clock rang out. I turned it off and rolled onto my back, staring up at the dark ceiling. The sun hadn’t even started to rise and, despite having crashed the second my head hit my pillow, I was still tired.
Days like this made me dream of a better life. I’d take just about anyone else’s in that moment. I knew I had to be careful for what I wished for, because there were plenty of people in the world that were much worse off than I was.
Feeling guilty about that, I sighed and started counting off my blessings.
1. I had a roof over my head.
2. I had plenty of food to eat.
3. I had a family even if it wasn’t a picture perfect one.
4. I had money. More than anyone knew about, because I’d been taking coding jobs over the last year and squirreling away the payouts for a rainy day.
5. I was young, smart, and resilient.
Feeling better about myself, I got up and showered, then dressed for the day.
I knew Jimmy and his team had everything under control. Normally I would rush over there to help anyway, but today I decide to indulge a little. Sure, the coffee at Shay Vous was great and there was a lot of froufrou offerings and even the classic black coffee was good, but I loved basic coffee with just a couple drops of peppermint extract. It was simple and delicious.
Could I have made that at the café? Sure, but I knew I had everything for it right here.
I loved the smell of the house with a fresh pot of coffee brewing. There was just something about it that made the space feel homey and comfortable. It was rare I felt that way in this house, but I knew Sage wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon so, for just a moment, I could imagine it was all mine.
Once the coffee had brewed, I poured a cup and doctored it just the way I loved. I sat at the little kitchen nook in the big bay window that overlooked the restaurant. It was perfect. If I saw they were getting too busy I could run across the street to help.
Shay had never understood that and if she had caught me slacking on my responsibilities all hell would have broken loose, but she wasn’t home.