Battle Scars Read Free

drawer where I kept the standard forms.
    One edge of his mouth twitched downward.
    “Or,” I said, “We can just shake hands.”
    He was old-school, where a handshake was as good if not better than legal documents.
    Not to mention it kept the paper trail invisible. No paperwork, no rumors.
    No chance for anyone to connect us.
    “Let me know if you need more money.” Middleston got to his feet. “How much detail do you need to get started? You already got her picture.”
    My pencil hovered over the blank yellow legal pad. “Let’s start with the basics. Weight, height, eye color.” I pointed the pink eraser at the photo. “That’s great, but just in case she decides to change her hair color or something.”
    The older man worked through the list with ease as if he’d been practicing.
    I wasn’t so sure he hadn’t been.
    “Is there anyone she was seeing? Some boyfriend, past or present, she might be hanging out with?”
    The answering scowl was all I needed.
    “No one of note,” Jake snarled. “There was a fellow but I told him to shove off.”
    “His name?”
    He shook his head. “No. I’m not giving you that. You go talk to him you’ll start this whole thing up again and I told her she’s done and over with him.” His lips rolled around as if he wanted to spit and couldn’t. “No one of note, like I said.”
    I winced inside. If this was a case of Lisa running off with her boyfriend then this whole thing could get nasty really fast.
    “I just want to talk to her,” Jake repeated before I could ask anything else.
    He slumped in the chair, the flash of anger gone. All that was left was an old man at the point of tears.
    Jake looked at me with weary, bloodshot eyes. “If she’s going to go her own way I want to say goodbye in a right way, like a father should.”
    I weighed his words, working both sides of the equation.
    “I’ll find her and tell her you want to talk to her.” I jabbed my index finger in the air. “But I won’t let you hurt her.”
    Jake leaned back as if I’d slapped him. “I wouldn’t hurt Lisa. She’s all I have now.”
    My internal judge told me he was telling the truth. There was also the chance she’d run away with a punk and could be looking for a way out of a destructive relationship. I had no way of knowing the truth.
    Other than finding Lisa and asking her.
    The small voice reminded me that if I didn’t take the case Jake Middleston might end up stomping around Toronto looking for her alone and headed for a world of trouble. If he ended up in a street fight it could go badly, with his Felis-enhanced senses giving him the upper hand and someone suffering, either human or Felis.
    I couldn’t let that happen.
    I grumbled inside about a damned conscience that loved to weigh in on my business choices but never showed up when I was pigging out on chocolate donuts to the point of nausea.
    “I’ll find her and make sure she’s safe. And tell her you want to talk to her.” It was a compromise but one I could live with.
    “Thank you.” He got to his feet and stretched out his hand. “Thank you.”
    His grip was hard and strong, a typical Felis test of strength.
    I made it through without any broken fingers. “I’ll call when I have something.”
    Jake gave me his cell phone number and headed for the front door, walking through my living room. Jazz trilled from where she lay on the couch, rolling onto her back and exposing her tummy for a rub. She looked at him with sad, dark eyes as if she didn’t have enough loving and a bowl full of kibble waiting for her in the kitchen.
    He stopped for a second to rub the white cat’s belly, chuckling as she pawed the air. A few mumbled somethings and he moved on to go outside.
    I stayed at my desk and listened to him step through the front yard and onto the sidewalk, his work boots pounding the pavement. A minute later a radio blared incoherent country music and an engine roared before dying down to a low hum. The sound