Page 109 of Mistaken Prejudice

“For fuck’s sake, Andrei, why aren’t you picking up your phone?”

I looked over at the bed, where I’d first left my phone when I decided to sit on the floor.

“Miles kept calling me, so I turned it off.” Another sip. “I’m allowed to have some time for myself,” I murmured bitterly. Speaking of bitterness, this beer tasted like sheep’s piss.

“Jess is missing.”

I choked on my drink and had to clear my throat and wipe the spilled drink from my chin before I spoke.

“What do you mean Jess is missing?” I asked, jumping to my feet. “Why didn’t you call?”

“I did!” he yelled. “But your phone was shut off, you dumbass.”

Levi’s usual poker face was gone and replaced with distress and fear. His gray eyes shone with worry, and his pale skin looked even paler than usual.

“Okay, explain to me what you mean by Jess is missing. What happened?” I already started to get dressed as Levi began to tell me what had gone on.

“We went for burgers, and I went to the restroom, and by the time I got back to the table, he was gone.”

“Maybe he saw some stray cat and decided to follow it?” I asked as I grabbed my phone from the bed and turned it on.

“For fuck’s sake, Andrei. He didn’t. Not this time. I searched all over for him, called, and texted. He knows to pick up his phone, but nothing. Radio silence.”

“Fuck.”

“Yes. Fuck.” He rubbed his face. “What the fuck are we going to do? What if something bad happened to him?”

I reached over and grabbed his shoulder. “We’re going to find him, Levi, don’t worry.”

He nodded in silence before I reached to check the time. It was after one in the morning. Shit. This couldn’t be good.

“Did you call Chief?” I asked as we went downstairs, both dressed and ready to leave.

“No. He’s at Kai’s. I don’t want to get him involved unless—”

“Yeah,” I agreed before he could finish. “Let’s keep him out of it for now. Diesel?”

“I don’t know where he is, but I texted him.”

We were out of the house in a matter of minutes and moved toward the truck. The shards of glass surrounding my truck reminded me of what had happened just several hours ago, and my stomach pulled into a knot at the memory of Miles and what he did to me. As painful and fresh as the memory was, I locked it away in the back of my mind. At least for a while, because right now, Jess was my priority. We needed to find him and to make sure he was safe.

The sound of my phone ringing caught us off guard, and I was sure it was just another call from Miles, when Jess’s contact image and name filled the screen.

My heart rate increased as I quickly answered the phone, putting it on speaker.

“Jess? Where are you? Are you okay?” My questions were followed by a paralyzing silence that danced on our nerves as the tension in the truck rose.

“Jess?” I asked again, and this time I could hear breathing coming from the other line before someone spoke.

“I’m afraid Jess can’t answer the phone right now,” the person from the other line sneered, and I immediately recognized that smooth, predatory voice.

“Shay-Lee,” I said his name as if it changed something and watched as Levi’s eyes widened. “Where’s Jess?”

“Making new friends.” He laughed. “Seems like he enjoys it too.”

“You son of a bitch!” I screamed, hitting the dashboard with my fist. “I swear to God, whatever you do to him, I’ll do to you twice as hard, you piece of shit!”

“Hey now, no need to get so nasty. You’ll hurt my feelings.”