Seattle detective with a tendency to stick his nose into his friend’s business. His best and worst qualities are his dependability.
Owen pinned bits of information in his mind, adding to the already considerable information he knew about Ian’s sister. For all the good he did, for all the bad guys he put away, this was the kind of thing the law and a badge couldn’t fix. He couldn’t make families be nice to each other. He couldn’t force the world to be a better place.
He glanced at the bar door, then checked his watch.
Still no Blake.
Owen sighed and eased back, content to listen to Ian vent about his ex-brother-in-law.
A year ago Owen would have never imagined himself sitting in a bar with a bunch of muscle-for-hire and their buddies, but that was before Blake’s accident. His former partner had lost his leg in a car crash while in pursuit of a suspect. In many ways Owen had lost his best friend that day. Blake was quite simply not the man Owen had worked alongside for years.
Blake had gone from being the life of the party to a surly, foul tempered jerk. It was only by dogged determination that Owen got Blake plugged in with a couple guys from his physical therapy center. They might not be facing the same physical limitations as Blake, but they were the kind of people who didn’t let an accident keep them down. It had worked. In the beginning. Now, Owen didn’t know what to make of Blake’s long disappearances and the unanswered text messages.
The bar door opened and the next wave of people entered and made their way to the big, communal table their group tended to take over.
Javier, the motocross spinal injury.
Andre, the torn rotator cuff.
Duke. Owen had never pinned down exactly why he was at the physical therapy center. With Duke came Levi, Zaki and a few others. Even Ian’s roommate, Ryan, showed up. But still no Blake. Kade and Jaxon were also noticeably absent, but those two had odd schedules compared to the rest of them. If he had to guess, Kade was on duty down at the fire station and Jaxon was avoiding his cousin Andre.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Aunt Liv leaned toward him, bumping his shoulder with hers.
Ian was digging into his dinner. If anything, the guy was more wound up about his sister than when he’d arrived.
“Which one?” Owen smiled up at Liv. She had the same white-blonde hair and bright, piercing eyes as her nephews, Erik and Felix. Those three looked like they stepped out of some Viking story.
“That one, right there.” Aunt Liv flicked her finger across his cheek.
“Just...worried about Blake. The usual.” He shrugged.
“You’re a good friend.”
“Have you seen him recently?”
“He popped in yesterday for a minute to talk to Erik. He looked good as ever.”
Owen nodded. Aunt Liv wouldn’t sugar coat things if Blake was in trouble, and she was perceptive enough to note when something was off. Like that stint when Blake was taking too many pain killers.
“What’s that smile for?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Come on, tell me.”
“There’s change in the air. Something’s going to happen. I can feel it. Can’t you?” Her gaze traveled over the rafters, but with a sense of wonder. Aunt Liv had a story for every occasion.
“I don’t have your gift. Do you think it’s a good change?”
“I think so. I hope so.” She smiled, eyes sparkling.
“How is it some guy hasn’t snagged you up yet, Aunt Liv?” Owen smiled his best, most charming smile. “You wouldn’t go out with me, so what’s it take to win you over?”
“Stop that!” She tossed her head back and laughed. “I’m old enough to be your mother.”
“So?”
“Oh, I almost got married once.” She put her elbows on the table and gazed up at the rafters. “He was an American traveling through Helsinki when I was vacationing with some girlfriends. We spent a month together that week. At the end of it he asked me to marry him, you believe that? I wanted to say yes, but my girlfriends nagged me out of it, told me to think about it. So we both went home, tried to connect, but this was before the Internet and all we had was the post and telephones. He moved. Told me he’d call from his new place, but I never heard from him again. Last place I had for him was right here. Just a few blocks away.”
“That’s so sad. And you never found him?”
“Nope. I came here a few years back thinkin’ I’d run into him on the way to work one day. Nothing yet. Guess it wasn’t meant to be.” She sighed and swiped her rag across the table top, cleaning up imaginary bits of debris.
One of the waitresses called Aunt Liv back to the bar, leaving Owen to his mental pin board of information. He did his best to remember the details no one else did. Visualizing the information as a corkboard with notecards helped keep it all in line.
He couldn’t put Ian’s family back together, and he couldn’t make Blake live again, but...maybe...just maybe he could find Aunt Liv’s old flame. It was worth a try.