Complete Me (Book Three of The Kirkland Family)

Complete Me: Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Rose woke earlier than usual. She immediately checked her phone messages. Cole sent a text late last night, saying, "Everything's great. Miss you." But that was it.

She took a shower, ate some breakfast, fed the kittens and hauled them downstairs to open the store for the Saturday shoppers. Copper came in soon after, and around noon, Zack popped in to see if she and Cole wanted to go bowling with him that night.

"I don't know," she said, entering the morning's purchases into her computer. "I'll have to find someone to watch the kittens and I don't know if Cole has plans. He and Jak are still out at the deer camp."

Zack stared at her. "The deer camp?"

"Yeah, they went out there last night and should be back today sometime, but I don't know when."

"Jak...and Cole? At the deer camp? All night?"

"Yes. Jak promised to behave."

"Are you sure about that?" Zack muttered, and Rose looked up at him.

"Why do you ask?"

Zack's face completely blanked out. "No reason whatsoever."

"Zack..."

He pasted on a quick smile and backed away, eyes wide with an obvious expression of guilt. "Well...I'll check in later about bowling... I've gotta run..."

"Freeze," she hissed, and Zack froze with one leg poised to whip away. Copper watched all this with fascination from her perch at the counter.

"What's going on?" Rose asked Zack.

"Why would you think anything's going on?" Zack said, his voice squeaking.

"Because you are a terrible liar, and you have that same look on your face as when you shot Mrs. Wilson's rooster with a paintball gun."

Zack swallowed. "City ordinances clearly state that roosters cannot be kept in residential areas."

"You were ten at the time and knew nothing about city ordinances," she retorted. "What do you know about Jak and Cole?"

Zack took a small step backward. "How would I know anything about Jak and Cole? I didn't know they were gone all night."

Rose took a deliberate step toward him. "You clearly had to know if Jak was gone all night. You two live in the same house."

"Doesn't mean anything," Zack croaked. "Maybe I was gone out all night, too..."

"Jak and Cole," she growled. "Spill."

Zack looked about to bolt, but he slumped and said, "Hell, he has it coming for my nose. If Jak went out to the deer camp last night, he didn't stay long. We grilled steaks last night and he said he had to replace the security cameras over at City Hall this morning. I think he's still over there."

"And Cole?" Rose asked, beginning to get a clear picture of Jak's camping excursion.

Zack shrugged. "I have no idea. Jak said nothing about it."

Rose jabbed a finger at him. "Don't move." She picked up her phone from the desk, headed toward the back and up to the apartments, dialing Cole's number at the same time. Went straight to voicemail. She knocked on Cole's door. Nothing.

"Is there a phone at the camp?" she asked Zack when she went downstairs again.

"Rose, I'm sure Cole is fine. There's running water and everything out there."