Deploy, Part One (Rawlings #1)(51)

It was insulting that he hadn’t, and now months down the road, Chasen had a speech ready for his son when he saw him again. One all about honor and respect, and speaking your mind, all kinds of sharp words that would make his dreamer of a son stop and think for once. For him to understand that Chasen had his own life to live and didn’t plan on living through any of his sons.

What they wanted to do was just fine. Cutting him out of his life was not. His boys were his world. He’d missed too much of their lives in the beginning and didn’t plan on missing any more.

“Flying overseas,” Declan said in a shallow tone. He didn’t like the uncertainty and worry in his father’s eyes. It was enough to make his mouth dry and cast an empty feeling over him.

“And how long was this run away from reality love child tour suppose to last?”

Declan lifted his brow, knowing lines like that was exactly why Nolan kept his plans to himself. If you heard enough of something long enough, it would start to sink in—good or bad.

“Until his funds ran out, I guess,” Declan said.

“Which would have been now,” Tobias spouted up, crossing his arms over his thick chest.

“He thought he had enough for a few years,” Declan said as he started to pace.

“His phone is not on,” Chasen said after a few minutes. He was trying to track it online. “All of you start calling his buddies. Everyone who knows his name.”

Hours later the most they knew was Nolan had lunch with a cousin around the base, and then he just vanished. The last call he made on his phone was from there.

They only found one of his friends from the Mt. Mitchell trip he had planned, the others were on another adrenaline seeking journey, but they claimed they never saw Nolan, he was a no show.

For all the Rawlings’ knew, Nolan had been missing for three months, and they just now understood he was.

Taking Declan anywhere near Sheriff Monty Souter was not something Chasen would want to do any day of the week, but the truth of it was, Declan knew the most about this trip of Nolan’s.

For good measure someone to represent Declan as an outside source was there, too. The officer who had recruited Declan at seventeen, Tiran Dunn.

Chasen and Declan had been waiting for hours to talk to the Sheriff, and he was doing a damn good job of ignoring them and the rest of the family that was outside. It wasn’t until Tiran Dunn, the recruitment officer, asked the Sheriff if his staff was overextended, perhaps needed better management, that the Sheriff huffed his way in.

“Sorry for the wait,” the Sheriff said to Dunn, not the Rawlings. “We have a large family that likes to overpopulate my town a few days each year, extending our resources and patrols.”

When Declan tensed, Chasen slid one sharp look to him, enough to make Declan check himself.

“We have your report, the time frame has not been met to state Nolan is missing, and I’m not sure the jurisdiction is even ours.”

“This is his home town,” Chasen said. “We were told to file here.” He leaned forward. “How is three months not long enough?”

“Three months,” the Sheriff said as if he were in deep thought. “I guess it might take you that long to figure out one of yours was missing. You said he was supposed to be here today, or yesterday. Not even forty-eight hours. As far as I know your son got some good sense and ditched this Roughneck family that only knows how to rob innocence and overpopulate this world with brute uneducated fighters.

Tiran had his hand on Declan’s shoulder and his embrace had only gotten tighter as he felt the rage ripple through Declan.

In all truth, this Sheriff didn’t have much say over Declan any longer. And as far as any girl he cared to see, unless her family had issue with it, the topic was null and void. But that didn’t mean the Sheriff or his buddies with fat wallets and established families could not stain reputations or push to start trouble when it wasn’t needed.

If the Rawlings’ had learned anything over the years it was that when they were provoked it was best to be silent, seek revenge on their own terms, in their own way. More times than not, provocation was meant to cause the false guilt placed on the Rawlings’ to have merit—when they fought back a Stouter would say ‘see I told you so, animals, the whole lot of ‘em.’

The Sheriff pointed to the file with a tilt of his head. “The way I see it, one of your wild ones took off with the cash they got from graduation, and is more than likely shacking up with some young thing, having the time of his life.” As he said young thing, he made sure he looked right at Declan.

“You know he’s missing, file the damn report,” Declan growled.

“Watch your tone with me, boy,” the Sheriff said curtly. “You were the last to be seen with him. I’ll your need your statement.”

“No he wasn’t,” Dunn said. “We have an officer writing his statement down.”

“I’m assuming from the base, correct? The one not in my jurisdiction. Not my business.”

“Yeah, because we all know you’re real good at keeping to your business,” Declan chided.

“You have a problem with me, son?”

“I do.”

The Sheriff sneered as he glanced at Dunn. “One of your finest, I assume.”

“Honesty comes with the finest,” Dunn said in a clipped tone. “He’s aggravated you have kept him waiting, as I am, for hours only to blow him and his family off, and in your round about way accuse him of being the last with the missing and therefore guilty. Something you would know to be false if you had bothered to read the statements given thus far.”