Carter.”
Alex hesitated a moment, then said, “If you need more time to make your decision—”
“I don’t need more time,” Brianne interjected. “It was the only decision I could make. Because if Carter’s alive, he’s obviously suffered some trauma.” She paused. “We were engaged. I was months away from marrying him. About to take vows to love him and be there for him forever. So I…I have to be there for him now.”
“I’m glad,” Alex said.
Brianne noticed—not for the first time—just how attractive he was. At six foot four, she had always loved his height. She wondered if he were still single—if Carter’s disappearance had him stuck in the past, unable to move forward as she had been.
“So,” she began, and sighed. “What do we do next?”
“I say we head to Daytona and hit the ground running. It makes sense to head to the place where I saw him.”
“But he could be anywhere now. He could have been visiting Daytona for the event.”
“True,” Alex acknowledged. “But it seems like the best place to start. We can hit the racing circuit. We can also bring pics of Carter and ask if Dean knows him by another name.”
Brianne nodded. “Okay.”
“I think the sooner we leave, the better.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. I’ll have to talk to my district manager, clear the time off with her.”
“Oh,” Alex said, his tone making it clear he hadn’t considered her work might be an issue. “So you might not be able to go—”
“I don’t anticipate a problem,” Brianne said. “My manager and I get along well. I head in to work shortly, so I’ll talk to her then. How long do you think we’ll need to be gone?”
“Hard to say. A few days. Maybe a week.”
“A week?”
“I don’t imagine it’ll take longer than that. But what if we get a lead that takes us to another part of the country?”
“Oh.” Brianne frowned. “I didn’t consider that.”
“I’ll cover all of your expenses,” Alex said. “Your airfare, hotel. And if losing the time from work is going to be a financial burden, I can help you out there, too. In fact, consider it done.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Brianne said.
“Yeah, I do. I’m the one dragging you into this with me. Besides, business is going well.”
Brianne didn’t doubt that. Glancing around the store, she could see that it had been recently renovated. “So you opened a store in Phoenix?”
“Yep.”
“Business is going well there?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah. The store’s bigger than this one, and it’s been busy ever since I opened it.”
“How many stores do you have now?”
“Six and counting,” Alex answered. “I’ve even had an offer to open a store abroad.”
“Abroad. Wow. Where?”
“In Italy.”
So life had been good for him since Carter had disappeared. Brianne didn’t know why that surprised her. Life had to go on for those Carter had left behind.
“When do you think you’ll be able to get the time off work?” Alex asked. “Ideally, I’d like to leave as soon as possible.”
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