Page 37 of Jack

He raised an eyebrow. “Even for publicity?”

She rounded on him. “She didn’t alert the press, did she?”

“Um . . . you’re the press.”

Great, now she clenched her jaw and turned away.

“Listen. I’ve learned that we don’t know people as well as we think we do. And when people get desperate, they do things they never thought they would.”

“She’s not desperate,” she snapped. “She’s . . . smart.”

He made a noise of disbelief, mostly because she might be right. And he didn’t have a gut feeling about anything right now.

Except, maybe, that he didn’t want to let Boo down. Not when she looked at him with so much hope. “The last thing Boo and Oaken need is scandal around their wedding. Brontë’s had enough scandal with the whole Boo Hoo Kingston thing.”

“She likes the name Boo. Or did until social media made a meme out of her name.”

“They made a meme out of the reality show and the fact that her boyfriend from the show dumped her on air and she made a stink about it. I hate social media. And the last thing I’m going to do is let Penelope turnBoo’sevent into a circus.”

Harper said nothing. But she sighed, her breath fogging up the windshield. “I hope, for Penelope’s sake, that you’re right and this is just a publicity stunt.”

They drove through town, then out to the supper club, and pulled into the empty parking lot. Just a couple cars near the employee entrance, and the main door was locked.

He went to the employee entrance, Harper following him, and knocked on the door, then poked his head in.

He saw an entryway into a hallway that led back to offices, and the kitchen in the opposite direction. He held the door for Harper, then headed toward the offices.

Doors hung open around a small reception area with a desk and chair, a window that streamed daylight into the dark, wood-paneled space. Clearly, they hadn’t updated the administration area during their big post-tornado overhaul.

The receptionist looked up from where she worked on a laptop. Midthirties, brown hair, too much time staring at a computer, maybe. “Can I help you?”

He glanced at the nearest open door and spotted Julian from last night, dressed in a vest and a clean shirt, his blond hair groomed. “I need a moment with Channing Tatum over here.” Then he walked into Julian’s office.

The man had risen and now came around his desk. On the walls hung pictures of what looked like Broadway dancers in costume.Chicago, A Chorus Line, Cabaret, 42nd Street, The Wiz,and of course, the newest hit,Main Street Blues.

“You’re with the Kingston-Fox bridal party, right?” He held out his hand.

“Jack Kingston. This is Harper.” Jack glanced at her, and she extended a hand for Julian to shake. “We have a member of our bridal party who is . . . let’s say AWOL, and we are trying to track down her last knowns. Did you have any valets working last night around nine p.m.? She was waiting for an Uber at the door.”

Julian folded his arms over his vest and leaned on the front of his desk. “Yes. We have a couple valets, but with such a small party, we only had one on duty. He should have been at the valet box—so maybe he saw her. I’ll get his name and number for you.”

Huh.Well, that was easy. “Mind if we take a look around the entrance, just to see if . . . I don’t know?—”

“She left a note behind?” Julian grinned. “Listen. We’re a small town. People trust each other here. But it is a getaway, and people meet people, especially on vacation. Or at a wedding, where romance is blooming. Magic happens.” He winked at Harper.

She stared at him, a look of incredulity. “My friend is missing, and you’re joking?—”

Jack grabbed her arm. “We’ll be back.”

He ushered her out into the hallway. “Listen. You make him mad and we get nothing. I don’t have any jurisdiction here, no power of warrant. I can’t ‘drag him down to the station for questioning.’” He finger quoted the last words. “It’s just me and my charm. So if you’re going to be my sidekick, you need to work with me.”

“I’m not your sidekick.” She wrenched her arm from him.

He held up his hand. “Fine. But if you want to find her, you need to do it my way.”

Her mouth tightened, but she nodded.

He thought.