Read Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Canyon) for Free Online Page B

bubbled up inside him.
    Even he hadn’t known how much he would regret not being there for those things.
    What he didn’t find was a single damn thing connecting Laura to Troy Bridger.
    His office in Houston was open by now. Picking up his cell phone, he punched in the number for Atlas Security, got Annie Mayberry, the receptionist and manager.
    “Annie, it’s Ben. I’m in L.A. Long story. I need to talk to Sol. He in yet?”
    “You sound tired, Ben. That little blonde you took home after the wedding keep you up till the wee hours of the morning?”
    Ben ignored the gibe. Annie knew everything that went on in the office. Hell, the woman knew everything that went on in Houston. She had a tongue like a viper and didn’t hesitate to use it. She was also a mother hen and everyone’s confidante, even his.
    “I’ve got a son, Annie. I just found out. The boy’s missing. I need to talk to Sol.”
    A heartbeat passed. “You got it, Iceman. Anything you need just let me know.”
    “Listen, I may be gone for a while. Will you check on Herc in a day or two, make sure he’s okay?” Annie had a key to his house. One of the few people he trusted with his security codes.
    “No problem.”
    “I’ve got a couple of cases I was supposed to start working this week. The files are on my desk. Maybe you could ask Jake to take them. Or maybe Trace could work one of them for me.” Trace Rawlins owned the company, and Jake Cantrell was another P.I. who worked freelance in the office. Both men were ex-military, Trace a ranger and Jake a Force Recon Marine sniper. They were among his closest friends.
    “Don’t you worry,” Annie said. “We’ll handle it. You just find your boy.” She spoke to Sol on the intercom, then patched him through. Annie was a real busybody, but she knew when things were serious. “Good luck, honey.”
    Sol picked up right away. He was only twenty-four, but when it came to computer know-how, Sol Greenway was as good as it got.
    “Hey, Ice, Annie says you got a kid?”
    “That’s right. He’s only nine and he’s missing. I need to find him, Sol.”
    “Just give me what you’ve got and I’m on it.”
    Ben gave Sol the few details he had, including info on the Robersons, Bridger’s name and last known address, that he’d been employed at Warner Construction. “I’ve also got some photos I can send.”
    “Great,” Sol said. “I’ll try facial recognition. Take a look at the registered-sex-offender list, too, see if there’s something somebody missed.”
    Ben’s stomach tightened. “Thanks.”
    “I’ll start digging, just prowl, see what I can find.”
    “That’d be great. Keep me posted.”
    “Will do.” Ben ended the call and went to work. Using the portable scanner he’d brought with him, he sent Sol the photos he had of Sam, along with a picture of Bridger with Laura that Claire had given him.
    Finished, he came up out of his chair just as Claire walked back into the kitchen dressed in jeans and a crisp white cotton blouse, a pair of gold sandals on her slender feet. Her toenails were painted a fiery red, he noticed, and thought again about her car and taking her to bed.
    Which wasn’t going to happen. He took a last glance, appreciating her feminine curves. At least not anytime soon.
    “Have you found anything?” she asked.
    “I need to talk to the people Bridger worked for.”
    And he needed to get into the bastard’s apartment, which the police report had said was vacant. He needed to see if the police had missed something, but he wasn’t going to cop to breaking and entering to Claire. “I’ll be back when I’m finished.”
    “I’m going with you. And I think we should go to his apartment. It was empty when the police went in, but they might have missed something.”
    His mouth edged up. “Glad you thought of it. His address was in the police report. I’ll stop by before I come back.”
    Those determined green eyes fixed on his face. “I said, I’m going with