I dial her dad’s number, hoping this is just some kind of shitty miscommunication. “Alec,” he says.
“Have you seen Lexi?”
“No.”
My heart squeezes in my chest. It’s fucking hard to breathe. “Nobody has heard from her since yesterday afternoon.”
“Fuck,” he curses. “If that asshole…”
“I’m almost to the beach now. If he has anything to do with this, I’ll kill him. Can you check her phone for the tracking?”
“Yeah, give me a second.” A few seconds later, he says, “Her phone is off.”
“Damn it.” I slam my fist against the steering wheel.
“Keep me posted.”
We hang up and I pull into the parking lot. I don’t spot Lexi’s jeep anywhere, but I still head down to where Aiden is to see if he’s seen her.
“Hi, Lexi’s boyfriend,” he says when I walk up. I want to correct him and tell him I’m Lexi’s fiancé, but right now it really doesn’t fucking matter. He’s sitting in the sand, drawing in his sketchbook. He grabs his neon green glasses and puts them on.
“Hey, Aiden,” I tell him, trying like hell to remain calm. If I upset him, he’ll shrink up and I won’t get any answers. “Have you seen Lexi?”
“Yes. She brought me dinner.” He goes back to coloring in his sketchbook.
“Last night?” I ask to confirm.
“Yes, she brought me my favorite tacos,” he says, not looking up.
Fuck, Lexi, what the hell were you doing here alone?
“Hey, Aiden, remember that bad man who hurt Lexi?”
Aiden’s head pops up. “I didn’t hurt her. It was that mean surfer.”
Mean surfer…Jesus, if that doesn’t prove it was Jason…
“I know. Did you see him here last night…with Lexi?”
“No. He isn’t Lexi’s friend. He’s mean and he didn’t love Lexi. He hurt her. She’s not his friend.”
“I know,” I agree, trying to piece together what he’s saying. “Did Lexi say where she was going last night?”
“She was sad. She was crying.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This just keeps getting better.
“Did she say where she was going?” I repeat. “She never came home.”
“No, she brought me tacos and cried. I gave her a picture to make her happy.”
“When she left, was she alone?”
“Yes.”
“And did she say where she was going?” I try again.
“No, but she said she’ll see me soon. And my Lexi doesn’t lie, so I’ll see her soon. I’ll tell her when I see her you want to see her.”
I sigh in frustration. “Okay, thank you.”
“Bye, Lexi’s boyfriend.”
I walk up to the pier and find the taco place where Lexi always buys Aiden his tacos. “Excuse me,” I say to the gentleman who’s wiping down the counter. “My fiancée, Lexi Scott, comes here a lot to buy tacos…”
“Yeah, I know her,” he says before I can finish.
“Was she here last night buying tacos?”
“Yeah, she was. Real nice girl. She paid in advance for me to have tacos, every day, delivered to that homeless guy down under the pier.”
Of course she did. Fuck, Lexi, where the hell are you? And why were you here?
“She showed up last night and gave me enough money for the next couple months, then bought some tacos and said she would bring it to the guy herself.”
“Did you see her leave?”
“Nah, after she got the tacos and left, I didn’t see her again.”
“All right, thanks.”
I’m heading to my truck, when I see that asshole walking down the sidewalk with a board under his arm. He’s talking to some woman, who is laughing at whatever he’s saying.
Without thinking, I stalk over to him. He doesn’t see me coming, until it’s too late, and my fist is connecting with the side of his face. He stumbles back, his board hitting the ground. The girl screams. I punch him again and again, landing each blow, not giving him a chance to get a single punch in.
He’s on the ground, his face covered in blood, and I’m about to yank him back up to hit him again, when someone comes up from behind and pulls me off him. His body falls to the ground.
I try to shove whoever it is off me, so I can finish this, but the guy is too strong. “Alec,” Mason barks. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Get off me,” I yell, trying to go after Jason again. He’s now crawling backward, spitting blood onto the concrete. The woman he was talking to is at his side. “He’s the asshole who attacked Lexi.”
Mason pauses for a second, and then Tristan steps up. “This is him?” Tristan asks, walking up to Jason.
“Yeah, and Lexi was seen here last night and now I can’t find her.”
“You see my daughter?” Tristan asks.
Jason laughs. Fucking laughs.
“Let me go!” I shout at Mason, who’s still holding me back.
“No, you handle this shit right. The last thing you need is him charging you with assault.” Too late for that shit.
“I asked you a question,” Tristan says. “I suggest you answer me.”