Duncan’s Honor (The Aegis Network: Jacksonville Division #7)

Chapter 13

13

“ W e should be at the address Dylan gave us in half an hour.”

Chastity’s voice smacked Duncan’s ears. If sound had a taste, hers would be powdered sugar with a splash of cinnamon over a sourdough friedcake. Even under stress, her voice had a sweetness to it that calmed his nerves.

“You just got a text from Dylan,” she said.

“Read it to me.” Duncan had learned from his father to never keep anything from the woman you loved, even if you thought you were protecting her from something terrible. So, Duncan made a deal with himself that he’d be honest with Chastity about everything he found regarding her sister.

So why did he find it impossible to tell her how he felt?

Even her father had suspected he held back his feelings. Boy, had that been a weird conversation. It was as if her dad knew he danced around on tiptoes because he was afraid to get hurt again.

That sounded pathetic.

“He’s on the move. Driving a white Chevy pickup. Older model, but in good condition. I’m half a mile behind on Route 58, heading south near Buckeye Lake. He’s got a girl with him, but it’s not Serenity.”

Duncan reached out and squeezed Chastity’s leg. “We’re going to find her,” he said, projecting as much confidence as he could muster.

“You don’t know that,” she mumbled, flipping open the map. “We’re following the north shore of Buckeye Lake,” Chastity pointed out the window. “But he’s on the southwest tip. If we stay on Route 79, we’ll hit 58 in about six miles, and we can take that south.”

Duncan pressed the gas pedal, hitting eighty in a fifty-five. He passed three cars before slowing down to sixty-five. They needed to get there quickly but getting pulled over for a speeding ticket would only slow them down.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to bring your sister home.”

She glanced in his direction. “Thank you for being here for me.”

He nodded. The words ‘I love you’ formed in his mind. But this wasn’t the time or place. “Text Dylan back.”

“I’m just going to call him.” Chastity hit the speaker button and waited three rings before Dylan picked up.

“Hey, Duncan, how far out are you?” Dylan’s deep voice boomed out of the cell.

Duncan had met Dylan a couple of times when he’d first interviewed with the Aegis Network. Dylan was one of four brothers who worked for the Orlando branch of the organization.

“Duncan’s too busy driving like an ass,” Chastity said, holding on to the bar above her head as he once again weaved into the other lane to pass an eighteen-wheeler. “He should only be allowed in the cockpit of a plane.”

“This must be Chastity,” Dylan said with a hearty laugh.

“Yep. And we’re about five minutes from Route 58.”

“I just turned left onto Chautauqua Boulevard. I will share my location with Duncan’s phone so I don’t need to keep texting. I’ll let you know when we stop and where you should go to stay under the radar. We don’t want to spook this kid.”

“Any idea what he’s doing? Or who this girl is?” Duncan asked. “And when did she show up?”

“First time I saw her was when he left the apartment with her a bit ago. I snapped a couple of pictures of the girl and sent them to Darius. She seemed kind of out of it. Either severely hungover or maybe drugged. She looks to be about the same age as Serenity.”

“My sister’s journal mentioned that she thought Joey had cheated on her with more than one girl,” Chastity said.

“So far, this is the only girl I’ve seen him with.”

“Thanks,” Duncan said, gripping the steering wheel as he punched the gas once again to pass some slower vehicles. “Anything else we should know?”

“Yeah, but you won’t like it,” Dylan said.

Duncan laced his fingers through Chastity’s, glancing in her direction.

Her normally confident blue eyes were wide with the fear of the unknown. He knew her concern for her sister was stressful enough, but add in the baby and the fact her mother had found out, and that had to be taking a toll.

And they hadn’t really discussed much in the car. He tried, but Chastity wanted to wait until after they found her sister.

“Boyd Rossini is in town.”

Duncan blinked while Chastity squeezed his hand so hard his fingers turned white.

“Has he had contact with Joey?” Duncan asked.

“Not that I’ve seen, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Then how do you know he’s in town?” Chastity asked.

“Darius found a credit card trail. Turns out his uncle owns a place on Buckeye and the boys get a lot of gas at a marina on the lake. They might have been living here for a while, but considering the amount of money these two have, and they own more than one house in multiple states, who knows where they call home.”

“What do we know about the uncle?” Chastity asked, tugging her hand away. She pulled out a notepad and pen. “Was he involved in the human trafficking case against Gandolfi?”

Duncan admired her composure and professionalism. If it had been his sister, he might be going ballistic right about now.

“None that anyone could prove, but he’s on the FBI watch list, so they think he’s up to something. Look, I better go. He’s making another turn. I’ll be in touch,” Dylan said, then the phone went dead.

“Look in my phone for a guy named Chuck Wilson.”

“Who’s he?”

“A buddy of my dad. They went through the Academy together, and Chuck happens to work for the FBI. He might be able to get us some intel. I should have called him sooner.”

“You called your dad?” she asked. She’d met his parents at Buddy and Harper’s wedding. That night, she spent more time with them than she had with him. It was as if she’d given up on him altogether, which was part of why he followed her home that night.

“I thought he might be able to get information we couldn’t.”

“Thanks for doing that.” She set the phone on her thigh, flipping the mode back to the Find My iPhone feature. She pointed to a street about five hundred feet away.

“Hello? Duncan?”

“Hey, Chuck, how are you?” Duncan tapped the brakes as the map indicated he needed to turn right.

Chastity pointed again to another street about half a mile away.

“I’m good, but I heard from your dad late last night. He told me your girlfriend’s sister is missing?”

Duncan swallowed, glancing at Chastity, who gave him a puzzled expression with an arched brow.

“Yes. And we believe she got tangled up with a young man hanging around the Rossini brothers, and we just found out they have been at their uncle’s all summer.”

“You mean Anthony Gandolfi?”

“That’s the one. I understand you can’t give me any official information?—”

“I’m going to cut you off there, son.”

That interruption only served to send the acid in Duncan’s stomach to his throat.

“I can’t get into the details, but trust me when I say we’ve got eyes on him, and if things go my way, he’ll be indicted soon.”

“Can you tell me if he was in any way connected to the human trafficking that sent his brother away?” Duncan asked, taking a turn.

Chastity held up his phone, showing a message from Dylan.

“I’m sorry, Duncan, I can’t comment. And I need you to stay clear of him.”

“I can’t promise that. If he has anything to do with the abduction of my girlfriend’s sister, I won’t back down. Nor will she.”

“Fair enough,” Chuck said. “I will contact our agent there and let him know what is going on. I’ll send you his contact info. I’d appreciate it if you kept him and me informed. His name is Bo Ingalls.”

“Will do. Thanks, Chuck.”

“Hope to see you soon. And make sure you bring that girlfriend.”

Chastity tapped the phone. “Dylan says to go to Ricki’s Diner, which is right there. He’s inside, and Joey is down that dirt road in some old house on the lake.” She shifted in her seat. “Care to explain the girlfriend thing?”

If he wasn’t mistaken, she tried not to smile, but the twinkle in her eye gave her away. “I called my dad yesterday from your folks’ farm. They think I’m your boyfriend, so I figured my parents should think the same.” He shoved the gearshift into park and leaned across the center console, tipping her chin up with his thumb and forefinger.

Her rosy, plump lips parted.

“Besides, we need to spend time together as a couple and see how we really feel about one another.”

Her thick lashes fluttered and before she could protest, his tongue slipped into her mouth. The kiss came as a promise that he’d do whatever it took to show her how much he cared and wanted to be with her, even if there wasn’t a baby.

Something he knew would be harder to prove, but he had to.

“Duncan,” she whispered.

“What?”

“We should get inside. We can deal with all this later.”

He cupped her face a little more harshly than he’d planned, but he needed to get his point across. “I care a great deal about you, Chastity. I made a mistake a month ago walking out of your house. I got spooked, and I’m sorry. It’s not going to happen again.”

She let out a long breath, circling her fingers around his wrists. “Thank you for that, but I can’t deal with this until after I get my sister home.”

He nodded. If he loved her as much as he thought he did, then giving her space while they searched for Serenity should be an easy thing to do.