Make A Wish (Dandelion #1) (14 page)

“So I’ve called you all here today because over the past months, there was a situation that the WeHo police were supposed to be dealing with, except they dropped the ball. I can’t in good conscious let it go, so now the unfortunate undertaking falls to us.” He looked into the eyes of every person in the room, trying to convey how dire this mission was. I didn’t disagree.

While I was still slowly getting used to Beau, I’d never seen this side of him before. I now knew what Eve meant when she’d said that he was ‘all business and no play’. His eyes took on a darkness that I had not yet seen; it was rather intimidating in and of itself. Eve, along with each man in the room, bowed their head in response to his words, making me wiggle and squirm in my seat.
What an odd family,
I thought, not for the first time since I’d arrived.

“There’s really no right way to come out and say what we’re dealing with, so please excuse my blunt manor. This case is unlike others we’ve had to deal with. It involves a kidnapping.” Gasps escaped from a few of the guys in the room. Beau continued. “What we know right now is a girl that Saylor and I both know has been kidnapped. There are no suspects and the police lacked proper motivation to get the job done. At the scene of the crime, there was blood, though it wasn’t identified who it belonged to. I’m going to turn over the floor to Say, so she can give you a little bit more information about the victim.”

Um... What?

I was getting really tired of getting caught off guard, which had happened continuously since the moment I talked Beau into letting me be apart of the search. My mind was still reeling over the whole professional stick in the mud vibe that I was getting from him and the multitude of gorgeous men surrounding me
—
I was
so
not ready to be put on the spot.

As I stood and stumbled my way to the front of the room, I took a big gulp and allowed the words to flow from my newly chapped lips. Juliette was the one and only person who meant the entire world to me. I could do this.

“Hey guys. Um… What Beau said is true. My best friend, Juliette Mitchell, was taken. Jules and I grew up together in foster homes and group homes
—
neither of us had families. So we became the best of friends, sisters so to speak, when we were seven years old. She protected me and I protected her.” As the realization hit me
—
that I’d actually failed to protect her
—
tears prickled at my eyes and my breath hitched, though I forced myself to continue. “Jules suffers from anxiety and depression, and about three or so months ago, she hit her lowest point. I’d never seen her like that before.” I glanced in Beau’s direction but chose not to mention him. “She was finally getting her life back on track when this happened. She didn’t have enemies; in fact everyone that met her loved her. I really don’t have any possible clue as to who could have taken her. All I know is I need her back.” My voice cracked, the tears that had threatened to spill down my face making their perfectly timed debut.
Damn.

One of the men, whose name I couldn’t recall, spoke. Sincerity laced every word that left his mouth.

“We’ll get her back for you, Saylor. Can you explain to us what she looks like?”

“Um. Yeah.” I nodded, half smiling at the guy who seemed to really care. “She’s tall, about five-foot-seven. Thin with pale skin and long curly blond hair with blue streaks. She has bright blue eyes. Oh wait! I have a picture!” I rushed over to my bag and grabbed my iPhone. It took a few seconds to flip it on and scroll through the gallery for a picture. In a second, I’d enlarged the pic and passed it around the table so that the group could get a better look at her.

BEAU

When the phone made its way to me, I looked down at the picture, my heart aching. I wholeheartedly hoped that wherever she was, she was being treated well.              

Looking back at me from the screen was a selfie that the two girls had taken together. Juliette’s arm wrapped around Saylor’s shoulder, both of them laughing. Jules had the biggest smile and her eyes sparkled with happiness. Over the past few months, I’d forgotten just how truly beautiful she was. Seeing this picture refreshed her in my mind and made the pain in my heart ache just that much more.

“Saylor, how recent is this photo?” I asked softly, though everyone in the room had heard thanks to their impeccable wolf hearing.

“It was taken two days before she was taken, when we were getting coffee and shopping,” she said with a sad smile on her face.

I handed the phone back to her and thanked her for her courage to get up in front of everyone and speak about her. I could see how painful it was to do and I appreciated it more than she could know. Though now I realize I should have probably asked her beforehand.

As Saylor sat back down, Eve reached over and pulled her into a hug, reassuring her in the best way possible how sorry she was for what she was going through.

I’d been right.
I smiled to myself as I watched the two girls who I’d just introduced hug each other, as if the best of friends. I was happy that I could help give Say a little moment of joy, while struggling with the feelings of her friend being gone.

“So with no definite evidence, where do you guys think we should start in our search?” I leaned back in my swivel chair, eyeing the bunch. I definitely didn’t want to think of this as a test, but I wanted to make sure that my boys were on their A-game.

It wasn’t a surprise that my Beta, Griffin, was the first to talk. Determination dancing through his bright eyes, I could almost see his brain working a mile a minute as he tried his best to piece everything together, like a jigsaw puzzle.

“Are we able to get copies of the reports from the police? The ones that contain information on the blood that was found on the scene?”

“I can pull a few strings and see what I can do, but I can’t guarantee it. According to Saylor, they were pretty uncooperative the few times that she tried to get updates.”

“When she went missing, they searched her apartment, but I suppose we can go back over it and see if they missed anything?” Saylor spoke calmly, her voice small and unusually insecure.

“I think that’s a good idea. Eve and Griff, I’d like you to accompany her to Juliette’s apartment.”

“Assuming that Juliette works, has anybody questioned her employees? According to statistics, kidnappers are usually people who know and see them on a regular basis, or have met the victim and become almost overly infatuated with them,” Jaxon
—
the man who’d reassured Saylor that we’d find Jules
—
spoke up.

“I’m not certain, Jaxon. Considering what we know from the detectives that were in charge of her case, we can’t be sure that they
did
check out her fellow employees,” I replied, adding that to my list as a definite angle that needed to be thoroughly checked out.

The meeting continued on for a couple hours longer before we agreed to check out the current leads and reconvene when everything had been checked properly.

The team was divided up into a variety of tasks. Saylor, Eve, and Griffin were assigned Juliette’s apartment. They were to search every aspect and look for any possible clues that could have initially been overlooked by the forensic team.

Jaxon, Alec, and Joffrey were assigned to searching and talking to the people who worked in the businesses surrounding Juliette’s apartment, in hopes that someone saw something the day she went missing. It was a long shot, but if it turned up something, it would surely be helpful.

Shane and Vincent were sent to talk to the detective and try to gain copies of all the reports and evidence that had been investigated.

Leo was to speak with Salvatore, the superintendent of Juliette’s apartment in hopes that he could provide insight into the other residents that lived in her building.

Nick was to shadow me to
Ziggy’s
, questioning all the employees and going over the surveillance footage leading up to her disappearance.

For a last minute brain-storming session, we were off to a great start and I had no doubt that we would find her within no time. I had a great team backing me up and I was ready to kick some ass.

As everyone exited from the room, I pulled Saylor aside. Something that she had mentioned had been bothering me.

“Why wasn’t I told that Juliette had no family?”

“Seriously, Beau? You want to know why the girl with whom you had a one-night stand
and
ditched afterwards didn’t tell you she was an orphan?” Saylor asked me rhetorically, her eyebrows rising in question.

“Okay.”

“And second of all, you didn’t ask. I would have told you almost anything you wanted to hear, but not once did you ask anything about her life. So yeah, there’s that.” She rolled her eyes and rushed out of the room to meet Eve, who was leaned against the wall in the hallway waiting for her.

I’m such a jackass,
I thought to myself, Saylor’s every word ringing in my mind. She was right. I hadn’t asked, and even if I had, what right did I have to know anything about her? I chose to leave and it was very hypocritical to expect people to tell me things when I’m keeping secrets, too.

JULIETTE

Dear Baby,

The world keeps going on outside of this building that we’re being kept in, just proving how small and unimportant we are. Out there, people are going to work, taking their kids to school, going on vacations, and yet we’re here, in a house, being held captive by two strange and dangerous men.

I’m trying my hardest to stay strong and positive, but it’s been a long time that we’ve been waiting for anyone to come and save us, and every day no one ever does.

The longer we’re in here, the more fearful I get of you coming before we’re able to find a way out. I beg of you to stay in there as long as you can, because right now it isn’t a safe environment for you to be born into.

Growing up, I’ve come to realize that most of the world is pretty unsafe. People feel entitled and obligated to have things, without ever taking the proper time to work and earn what they’re wanting. Even worse, they disregard and take advantage of any person that may be in their way, despite what harm it will bring to them.

It’s hard to think that this is the kind of world that you’re going to be brought into and I wish more than anything that that wasn’t the case. You don’t deserve to be surrounded with such ugliness. You’re such an innocent and perfect little thing. I don’t want the world around you to tarnish the person that you’ll grow up to be, and I’ll do my best to ensure that that doesn’t happen.

On a much brighter side, I haven’t had morning sickness for weeks (I think?) and my belly has expanded a bit. Still not huge, thank goodness, but I have no doubt by the time you come, it’ll look as if I swallowed a watermelon or two.

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is
—
Beau. He still doesn’t know about you and I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to actually tell him. He deserves to know, even though he is one of the last people I want to talk to. I know he didn’t intend to hurt my feelings, but he did. To this day, my heart still hurts when I think about our beautiful moments together though I’ll have to get over it, because I’m only torturing myself reminiscing over something like that.