“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah. And she wouldn’t admit it, but I think she said something to Scarlet and that’s why she left.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, and Owen fills the shot glass again. “But that’s not all…Daisy told me Scarlet is a con artist and only took the job because she thought she was working for a rich couple—Quinn and Archer—and wanted to con money out of them.”
Owen blinks. Once. Twice. “The fuck? Daisy’s crazy. How would she even know that?”
“Supposedly, she has a friend who’s at the same prison that Scarlet’s sister is at and overheard them talking.”
“Scarlet has a sister in prison?”
“Yeah, she does. I knew that already, though.”
“Does she look like Scarlet? Is she single? You know I love bad girls.”
For once, I’m thankful for Owen’s smartass attitude. It makes me shake my head but smile. “I’ve never seen her.”
Owen takes his shot and then slides the second one he poured for me over. “Tell me everything.”
I take another look at Jackson, making sure he can’t hear. He’s distracted with Danielle, thankfully. Taking a deep breath, I tell Owen everything.
“I need a minute to process,” he says, reaching around for more whiskey. “Do you think she’s a con artist?”
“I don’t want to, but I…I don’t know.”
“Okay.” Owen nods, thinking. “Say everything is true. She took the job thinking she’d con some rich couple out of money. But she didn’t. She stayed with you and Jackson and did her job. Really well.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Right?”
“She was great.”
“You dog.”
“Shut up,” I say flatly. “She was a great nanny and did the job she was hired to do.”
“Isn’t that all that matters?”
I shake my head, unsure.
“Hey, Danielle?” Owen calls. “I have a moral question for you.”
“Uh, sure?” Danielle looks up from the pool table.
“Two guys walk into the bar—”
“Are you forgetting little ears are present?” Danielle puts a hand on her hip and stares at Owen.
“It’s not a dirty joke,” he deadpans. “Two guys walk into the bar, both with the intent to rob the place at gunpoint. The first guy doesn’t go through with it, even though he walked in the doors with the intention of doing it. The second guy does rob the place.”
“Okay…what’s the moral question?”
“Who’s worse? Or are they both as bad since they both intended on doing the same thing?”
“The guy who actually robbed the place is worse. Though I suppose you’d need to know why the other guy didn’t go through with the robbery. If it was for self-preservation, like he knew he couldn’t get away so he decided to wait until another night when the bar was less crowded or something, then I suppose he’s still as bad as the second guy. But if he didn’t rob the place because he had a change of heart, then he’s not as bad.”
“Does that help?” Owen asks.
“I think so.” I rub my forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. “What would you do if you were me?”
The smirk fades, and Owen unscrews the lid to the whiskey. “I wouldn’t let her be the one that got away.”
“You’d go after her.”
“I’d run after her.” He refills our shot glasses. “If she was going to con you, she would have. And once she realized you weren’t who she thought she was going to work for, she would have left and moved onto another couple to con. But she stayed because she had a change of heart.”
“But you don’t know that.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I don’t. Just like you don’t know she didn’t. Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she have a house back in Chicago?”
“No. She lived in an apartment and gave up her lease to take this job.”
“Maybe Quinn can hack into her phone. Track her location or something.”
“No, I don’t want her involved.” I don’t want anyone else in the family involved, but that goes without saying to Owen. He’ll tell Logan, I’m sure. They claim to have a hard time lying to each other, saying it’s a “twin thing” and non-twins don’t understand.
“I know where her sister is.” I sit up. “And she’ll know where Scarlet is.”
“What are you waiting for?” Owen asks. “Go!”
“I can’t just drive up to a prison and ask to see a random inmate.”
“But you’re a cop.” He gives me a blank stare.
"I know, but it doesn’t work that way. Though I might be able to get her on the phone.” I pull out my cell to look up the number for the prison. “I’ll have to make a few calls.” I open the internet and type in the name of the prison. “I get no service here.”
“I know. It’s become a dead-zone after the old cell tower was replaced by a different carrier.”
“What’s your wifi password?”
“Shit. I don’t remember. Quinn set it up…try I love cats or something.”
“Even Quinn wouldn’t be that obvious.” Still, I try a handful of guesses, text Quinn for help, and wait a whole two seconds before getting frustrated with her lack of reply.
Owen gets up. “What do you need info on? We can look it up on the office computer.”
“I’ll be in here,” I tell Jackson and Danielle, motioning to the office. He’s using his hands to push in the balls on the pool table and is excited to be “winning.” It’ll be okay. I’ll get Scarlet back. For me and for him.
Owen puts in the password and steps aside, letting me sit in the desk chair. “Are you in love with her?”
“Yes.” I don’t hesitate, don’t try to hide my feelings. There’s no point. I do love Scarlet, and I love her fiercely.
“Then you’ve got to do this, man. You have to go get her. Take it from me,” he starts but doesn’t finish. I write down the prison’s phone number and address, closing the internet browser and letting out a breath. I’m so tense my shoulders are killing me. Standing, I turn to Owen.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. But I do think we should mark this date down in history as the day you came to me for advice.”
“I was actually hoping Logan was here.”
“Fuck you.”
I laugh. “He probably would have said the opposite.”
“No shit. He plays it too safe.” Owen shakes his head. “He’s going to miss his chance with her,” he says, meaning Danielle. “But what am I—”
He cuts off when he hears Danielle loudly tell someone the bar isn’t open yet.
“Ah, shit. I bet that’s Bart again.”
“Your resident drunk?”
“Yeah. Poor bastard’s drunk more than he is sober. We started giving him protein shakes and saying they’re full of vodka. He drinks them at least. Hopefully it’ll help him put on a few pounds before winter.”