Protecting What's His (Line of Duty #1)(54)

Dirty mouth? Clean it up!

Guns don’t kill people, zombies kill people.

Mean people duck.

Opening the lid, Derek found a note with his name on it, next to a smiley face. Positive he was grinning like a jackass, he unfolded the paper.

Derek,

There is something I need to take care of. Try not to worry.

Please check in on Willa.

I’ll be back before you have a chance to miss me.

Ginger xo

Smile fading, a heavy sense of dread settled in the pit of Derek’s stomach.

Okay. Okay, relax. She probably just went to the store.

Snatching his phone off the counter, he pressed the speed dial for Ginger’s cell. It went straight to voice mail. He swallowed a curse.

Trying valiantly to calm his mounting panic, Derek flung open his apartment door and strode down the hallway. Maybe he’d caught her before she left. Please let him have caught her. He took the stairs three at a time, reaching the third floor and her apartment in seconds. The hollow sound of his fist rapping against her door echoed through his skull.

Within seconds, he heard footsteps and the sound of the deadbolt lock turning. His head dropped forward, body deflating with relief. He would shake some sense into Ginger the second the door opened and beg her never to scare him like this again. Bracing his hands on either side of the door, Derek attempted to dial back his panic. He didn’t want to start the weekend off by terrifying her.

“Lieutenant. What brings you by this fine evening?”

Derek’s head shot up. Patty, the dispatch operator, stood in the doorway dressed in a fuzzy orange robe and slippers, holding a gossip magazine in her hands. It took him a moment to process her appearance in Ginger’s apartment.

“What are you doing here? Where is Ginger?”

“It’s wonderful to see you, too.”

“Patty, answer me now.”

She seemed to realize then that something serious was afoot, because her demeanor went from teasing to businesslike. “I don’t know where Ginger is. She called and asked me to hang out here until Willa got home from the dance, and to stay the night. She said I owed her for that stunt I pulled, sending her to the hospital thinking you’d been shot.”

Derek tried to breathe, but the air lodged in his chest. “How long have you been here?”

“She left about four hours ago.”

“Jesus.”

“Is everything okay, Derek?”

“Did she leave you Willa’s number?”

Patty didn’t take the time to answer, just ducked back in the apartment and returned a moment later holding a slip of paper with Ginger’s handwriting on it. It listed his and Willa’s numbers along with Lenny’s and a short, vague note for Willa, much like his own.

He punched Willa’s number in his phone. When she answered, the blast of dance music in the background nearly drowned her voice out completely.

“Where is Ginger?” he demanded. “Did she tell you where she was going?”

“Derek? Wait, hold on. Let me go outside so I can actually hear you.”

By the time she came back on the line, Derek’s patience had reached a breaking point. His voice reflected the strain. “Willa, think. Do you have any idea where your sister might have gone?”

His tone seemed to give her pause. “No. Isn’t she at home?”

Derek paced the hallway like a caged animal. “She’s not here. She left me a note saying she had something important to do.”

Willa didn’t speak for a long moment. “Oh God.”

Derek froze, his hand tightening on the phone. “What, goddammit?”

“I can’t believe this. I really f*cked up.”

“Explain. Now.”

She dragged in a gulp of breath. “Earlier this week, I was upset over something. I couldn’t find Ginger. She wouldn’t answer her phone. So I…I called our mother.”

Derek’s vision blurred around the edges.

“I called her house phone,” Willa said quickly. “There’s no caller ID. She doesn’t know we’re in Chicago.”

Relief threatened to swamp him, but there had to be more. He could feel the ax above his head, waiting to drop. “Then how exactly did you f*ck up, Willa?”

Willa’s voice shook as she rambled out the story. “My mother told me Ginger stole some money from her. The night we left. Ginger never told me, but it makes total sense now. Why she snuck me out in the middle of the night.”

Derek left behind a gaping Patty, rushing toward his apartment. “And someone back home wants the money back. Is that what your mother told you?”

“Yes,” Willa whispered. “Derek, my sister’s not a thief. You don’t know what it was like—”

He cut her off, already knowing the answer to his question. “Where. Is. Ginger?”

“I think she’s on her way to Nashville. I know her. Just before I left for the dance, she told me she was going to do the right thing. I didn’t know what she was talking about, but it’s the money. It has to be.” Willa choked on a sob. “Oh God, she doesn’t know what’s waiting for her down there.”

“Shit!” Derek hung up and redialed Ginger’s number. He’d planned for every eventuality except Ginger’s willfulness. She’d been the wild card all along. And now his carefully laid plan was blowing up in his face. His fist slammed against the wall as he waited for the beep. “Ginger, you turn the goddamn car around right now or I’m coming after you. Call me back immediately.”