Page 5 of All Yours

“Jesus, dude. I don’t walk around with one of those in my back pocket,” he said, entering the canopy.

I reached under the table, grabbed an extra hard hat with the Barnes Construction logo, and thrust it in his direction.

“Lighten up. It’s not like there’s an OSHA investigator hiding behind the trees out there waiting for a slipup,” he quipped. Despite his aversion to following rules, he grabbed the hat. “Hey, are you on the phone with Carter?”

“Yeah.”

“Has he heard from Lauren?”

“What did he say about Lauren?” Camden asked in my ear.

“I’m going to put it on speaker,” I said, pressing the button. “Alright, what did you want to know?”

“Have you talked to Lauren?”

“Not since I left this morning,” Camden said. “Why?”

Adrian shook his head. “Eden just called out of work tonight, and she’s never called out before.”

“Do you think something happened?” Camden asked.

“It probably just took longer than they thought,” I said, shrugging, and picked my pencil up from the table.

“What did?” Adrian asked.

“Sloane said they were following Eden to return that car she was driving to the owner.”

“What?” Adrian and Camden said in unison.

“What’s the big deal?” I asked, taking in Adrian’s open-mouthed expression. “Didn’t Lauren tell you?”

“She said that she, Sloane, and Eden were going out today. I didn’t even think to ask questions,” Camden said.

“Seriously?” Adrian asked.

“What am I missing here?” I looked between Adrian and the phone on the table, irritation building over whatever was left unsaid.

Adrian sighed and paced between the tent poles. “We suspect those two goons that caused a ruckus and fired a shot off in my bar that night were looking for Eden.”

I stared at him. “And this was something you forgot to tell me?”

“We weren’t sure,” Camden said.

“But sure enough to worry the first time Eden calls out.”

“Well,” Adrian stumbled. “I’ve been able to monitor her until now.”

“Dude, that’s creepy,” I said.

Camden’s laughter came through the phone.

“No, not like that.”

“Like what, then?” I asked.

Adrian narrowed his eyes and growled. The barrel-chested mountain man cut an intimidating figure with such a look. But we’d known each other our entire lives. Our parents had been best friends since high school. I knew how far to push before needing to run.

“I just note that she’s a punctual employee. That’s all.”