Page 161 of Deacon

Matty made the introductions and explained the facts in the clean, ordered way I couldn’t. Jade had no missing clothes. No packed bag. Her phone was still here. She had plans with Cage and never arrived. Every detail became evidence once it left his mouth.

The older detective asked when I had last seen her, what her mood had been like, whether we’d argued, whether anything had changed recently. I told him about school and how much happier she had seemed since moving to Bay of Saints. I told him about finding Cage frantic in the hallway, hearing Jade’s phone ringing through the locked door, then walking into her bedroom and seeing it lying there while she was gone.

Each answer made the same fact more real.

My daughter had vanished from the middle of an ordinary day.

When they turned to Cage, he sat straighter even though his hands still shook.

“Was she upset about anything?” the younger detective asked him.

Cage swallowed hard. “She was a little distracted lately. That’s all. Not upset exactly. Just... somewhere else in her head sometimes.” His voice roughened. “But she was supposed to meet me. She wouldn’t have just left me sittin’ there wondering. That’s not her.”

My hand tightened around Jade’s phone inside the hoodie.

Distracted.

I knew he was right. I had noticed it too. Asked her if she was okay. Let myself accept the answer when she said she was.

Evan and Matty answered what they could, and the detectives wrote everything down. They were beginning to explain the next steps, cameras, canvassing the building, patrol alerts, when another knock sounded.

Matty opened the door.

Dad came through it carrying anger like he needed something solid enough to stand on.

“It’s that biker father of hers,” he snapped before the door had fully closed behind him. “I told you he was dangerous to both of you. I told you he’d get one of you in trouble.”

Both detectives stopped.

The older one turned toward me. “Biker father?”

I closed my eyes for a second. I wanted to scream. Instead, I sat straighter and forced my voice steady. “My father has a prejudice against my daughter’s father. His name is Jackson Hayes. He’s with the Saints of Retribution MC here in Bay of Saints. He recently returned to her life.”

The detectives looked at Dad.

“Sir,” the older one said carefully, “we’ve never had issues with that club. They’ve actually done quite a bit for this city.” He glanced briefly at his partner. “Including helping fund and build the new ER.”

Dad’s face flushed darker.

“I’m telling you,” he said, voice rising, “bikers are corrupt. And it is his corrupt dealings that led to her kidnapping.”

The younger detective frowned. “Do you know for a fact she’s been kidnapped?”

Dad hesitated. Barely.

“Of course she was kidnapped.”

“As of right now,” the detective said, “we know she is missing. We have no ransom demand. No signs of forced entry. Her room is intact. The apartment wasn’t broken into. What exactly makes you believe this is a kidnapping?”

Dad’s mouth worked before the answer came. “I know because everything was fine before her father showed up.”

Something in me snapped taut.

I crossed the room before I had fully decided to move. “Dad.” He turned toward me, but I didn’t give him time to build another argument. “You need to let the detectives do their jobs so they can find Jade. Stop with your nonsense.”

He started to sputter, and I turned away from him.

“I’m sorry. My father doesn’t like my daughter’s father and blames everything down to if she sneezes on him. Please just focus on finding her as quickly as you can.” My throat tightened, forcing me to pause before the last part. “Her father and his club are out searching the streets for her now too.”