band T-shirt, the troubled teen flipped down the visor and checked his reflection in the small mirror. He had blond hair and a narrow nose like his mom but green eyes and a strong, wide jaw like his dad. Their oldest was truly a perfect blend of the two of them. Too bad he didn’t act like either of them.
“I wonder what I have to do to get expelled.”
Donovan gripped the steering wheel tighter. “You do not want to find out what will happen to you if you get expelled. Trust me on that.”
“You gonna beat me up like you beat up the other bad guys in this town? Huh, Uncle Donovan?”
“You’re really working hard to make your mother and father proud, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, well, dead people can’t be proud or disappointed, can they?”
Donovan couldn’t really argue with the kid about that. He understood Graham was angry at the world for taking both his parents way too early. The fifteen-year-old and his little sister, Avery, had been dealt the worst hand life could deal, but that didn’t give Graham permission to make things worse.
“Point is, you should want to act in a way that would have made your parents proud,” Donovan said. “I guess we can talk about why you aren’t when we meet with your guidance counselor tomorrow morning. All this posturing and acting out isn’t getting you anywhere.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. It’s getting me out of school, isn’t it? I’d say it’s getting me exactly where I want to be.”
There was no talking to this kid. Why Donovan’s sister would have named him the guardian of her kids after she died, he’d never know. He was not cut out for this parenting stuff. He didn’t have the patience for obnoxious, know-it-all teenagers. The only reason Avery liked him was because she was seven and liked everyone. Kids were still sweet at seven, but give that little girl seven more years and some hormones... Donovan might not survive it.
“Give me your phone,” he demanded when they pulled up to his house a few minutes later. “No phone when you’re grounded. Which you are, by the way.”
“What if there’s a fire and I have to call 9-1-1 for help?”
“Run over to the neighbor’s house and ask them to call for you.”
“But what if I fall down the stairs and break my leg? I can’t run to the neighbor’s house then. I could bleed out because I couldn’t call for help.”
“I guess you better be extra careful walking up and down the stairs.”
Graham let out an exaggerated sigh. “I hate you,” he said before throwing his phone in the back instead of handing it to Donovan. He climbed out of the truck, slamming the door behind him.
This must be some kind of karmic payback for the things Donovan said to his parents in anger growing up. He rolled down the window. “No friends allowed in the house and bring me your video game controller!” If Graham was going to hate him, might as well give him enough reasons.
Graham stormed up the driveway. “Come get it yourself!”
Inhale. Exhale. Days like this made Donovan feel like he was completely in over his head. He had no idea how to get through to his nephew or if he was handling all of these discipline issues the right way or not. He knew he should talk to him, but talking about feelings wasn’t exactly Donovan’s thing.
After retrieving the game controller, Donovan headed back to the radio station. Hopefully, Miss Bonner wouldn’t mention his disappearing act to Captain. Thanks to Graham, she had been unguarded for almost an hour. How much danger could she be in while at work? It wasn’t like anyone could get to her while she was at the station.
He made it to the reception desk and waited patiently for the receptionist to get off the phone. Instead of Muzak, a live stream of the station played in the background. As soon as the receptionist hung up the phone, he stepped up to the desk.
“Hi, I’m Detective Walsh. I’m here for Miss Bonner,” he said, realizing once again how much harder it was to introduce himself without a badge to flash.
“Is this about what happened to her car? It’s terrible someone would do that to someone as sweet as Kelly.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Well, I’m glad the Nashville PD is taking this seriously.”
Donovan was glad she was glad, but he’d be happier if she called Miss Bonner out here so he didn’t have to worry about Captain finding out he had been MIA. “Can I speak with her?”
The woman grimaced. “Oh, she’s not here.”
That was impossible. He had dropped her off almost an hour ago. There was no way she got kidnapped just outside this place. He could feel the sweat begin to bead on his forehead. Donovan couldn’t imagine what the captain would do to him if he had to call and say he lost the man’s niece.
“Are you sure? I actually drove her to work this morning. Maybe she slipped past you?” A guy could hope.
“No one slips past Juliette Delgado. I see everyone who comes in. I saw Kelly arrive this morning, but I also saw her leave.”
Why did this assignment feel more like dealing with a certain class-skipping teenager than a reasonable adult?
“Any chance you know where she went?”
Ms. Delgado’s expression didn’t give him much hope that she had the answer he was looking for. “I do not, but I can find you someone who might.”
“Perfect.”
While he waited for her to make a call, a voice came over the radio. “I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous of Kelly today. She’s going to be coming to you live from the brand-new Great Barbecue over on 4th Street. If you love barbecue as much as I do or just want to see Kelly Bonner in person, you should really head on over there for lunch today.”
Donovan didn’t have to wait for Ms. Delgado, but he did need to get over to Great Barbecue before Miss Bonner’s stalker beat him to her.
“IS THERE ANYTHING else you need?”
Kelly plugged in her laptop and checked to make sure she had a Wi-Fi connection. “I think I have everything,” she said to Dominick, the manager of Great Barbecue. She looked to Lyle. “Are you good?”
Lyle was busy shoving some coleslaw in his mouth. He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.
Kelly couldn’t help but laugh. “We’re good.”
Dominick was decked out in jeans and a black Great Barbecue collared shirt. He had an easy smile and twinkling blue eyes. “You sure you don’t want to sample something before your show starts?”
“I am definitely going to pig out, just not right now.”
Barbecue was messy and Kelly didn’t want to get
