After Bree left, Nathan tried to work. But as the afternoon shadows deepened, and five o'clock approached, he put his tools away and got into his truck. He started toward home, but halfway there, he turned around and made his way toward Craig's, a small sports bar in River North.
He'd met Alan Craig in middle school, and they'd been friends during most of their teen years, but after Johnny's beat-down, he'd left his old neighborhood and gone dark on all of his friendships.
Ten years had passed before he'd run into Alan at a market last year. Since then, he'd hung out a few times at the bar, happy to see Alan had taken his grandfather's bar in the old neighborhood and moved it to River North, where he'd found a good clientele of locals and tourists.
When he entered Craig's, he was immediately enveloped by a warm, friendly feeling. The wood-paneled walls featured sports memorabilia from all of Chicago's teams, the Cubs, the Bears, the Bulls, the White Sox, and the Blackhawks. In addition to a long bar with three TVs behind it, there were a dozen or so tables in the middle of the room facing additional flat-screens, most of which were currently playing a White Sox game that was just about to start.
There were about fifteen people in the bar: a group of young male executives who looked like they'd just left an accounting or law firm, a trio of twenty-something women who were working their way through a platter of Craig's famous chicken wings, as well as a few other couples and singles sitting at the bar.
He slid into an empty stool as Alan gave him a nod. Alan had dark-red hair, pale skin, and a multitude of freckles across his face. He'd added a few pounds to his square, stocky build, probably the result of testing out too many of those wings. Or maybe it was because he'd moved in with his girlfriend, Beth, a few months ago.
"Long time no see," Alan said with a grin. "Thought you'd ditched me again. And it was going to be another ten years before I saw you."
"Not a chance. I've been working a lot."
"Glad to hear business is good. I've got a Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale on tap."
"Sold."
"How are things going?" Alan asked, as he filled a glass and set it in front of him.
"Not great."
Alan's eyebrow shot up. "Problems with Josie?"
"Not this time. Well, not exactly. Did you hear about that girl who got kidnapped from the school concert?"
"Yeah, I saw it on the news. That's terrible. You know her?"
"I do. She's friends with Josie's daughter, and I know her dad."
"I'm sorry. Are they close to finding her?"
"I hope so." He took a sip of his beer. "The FBI is involved."
"That's good, right?"
"It is good, but one of the FBI agents working the case is Bree."
"What?" Surprise flashed through Alan's eyes. "You're kidding me. Not Bree Larson?"
"She changed her last name to Adams, but it's her. She came to interview Grace, Josie's daughter, because Grace was a witness to the abduction. I could not believe it when I saw Bree standing on the porch."
Alan shook his head. "I can't believe she's in the FBI. That's something else. How did she look?"
"Really good," he said, taking another long draught of beer.
Alan laughed. "Man, you still have a thing for her."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Come on, Nathan. I knew you back then. You and her always had some weird dance going on. I never knew exactly what was between you, but there was something."
Alan's words echoed Bree's from the night before when she'd said she didn't know what they were—friends, enemies, or people who used to know each other. It seemed that they had been all three at some point or another. But she definitely felt more like a friend after their last conversation, after she'd shown her vulnerability, after she'd admitted that dating Johnny was a huge mistake.
"Is she single?" Alan asked.
"That's what she said, but that's not important."
"What is important?"
"Johnny Hawke."
"I should have figured his name was coming after you mentioned Bree." Alan glanced around, making sure that the other bartender was taking care of the customers and then leaned forward. "Does Johnny have something to do with the kidnapping? Is Bree going to take him down?"
"I don't know if he's involved, but someone is messing with Bree, someone from our past, and Johnny is a good suspect. Unless you can tell me he's in jail now, or better yet—dead."
Alan frowned. "Sorry, but from what I hear, Johnny's business is better than ever. He's taken over his dad's boxing gym on Hayward. He and his brothers also run an automotive shop. I heard he operates his side gigs out of there—drugs, guns, gambling…the usual. He's made the family more powerful than it used to be. I don't think he lives in the old neighborhood anymore, though. He has other, more expensive, properties."
He sighed. "Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks."
"He's living with Sierra Littman now. Remember her?"
"Sure." Sierra had been friends with both Josie and Bree. She had always been looking for love in all the wrong places, and apparently, she'd found it in Johnny. "I'd like to say I feel sorry for her, but she was not a nice person. She was always lying and stirring up drama."
"That's true."
"Do they have kids together?"
"Not sure. His family has been expanding, but I don't know if they're his kids or his brothers' kids."
That was interesting. While Bree didn't think Johnny was involved, if he was, he probably had access to all kinds of kids who could pull off a con job like the girl on the train.
"Don't mention to anyone I was asking," he said.
Alan gave him a disgusted look. "You think I'd do that? I know what Johnny did to you. My advice is to do what you've been doing: stay out of the neighborhood, stay out of the past, and stay away from Bree. She almost got you killed once."
"It wasn't her fault."
"You were protecting her."
He tilted his head, giving Alan a speculative look. "I never told you why Johnny beat me up."
"It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it had something to do with Bree, especially since she disappeared around the same time. Hey, if Bree is an FBI agent, maybe she can arrest Johnny's ass and put him away for good. Unless you think she still has feelings for him?"
"I don't think that, but I also don't think she wants to go anywhere near Johnny."
"Probably wise if she doesn't. Speaking of women, how are things going with the tall blonde you brought in a few weeks ago?"
"Damn. Adrienne," he muttered, looking down at his watch. He'd told her he wasn't going to do dinner, but she was still waiting to hear from him about drinks, and the last thing he wanted to do was hang out with her and her college friend when he was completely and utterly distracted.
"She went right out of your mind when you saw Bree, didn't she?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to. Do yourself a favor, Nathan. Figure out what you want from Bree once and for all. And then go get it."
"It's not that easy."
"It might just be. You won't know until you put it all on the line, but that's not something you've ever been willing to do with her."
"I didn't think I'd ever see her again." His phone buzzed, and as he took it out of his pocket, he saw Bree's name on the screen. "It's Bree."
Alan smiled. "Maybe this is your second chance to get it right."
"Or screw it up again."
"Looks like you're going to have an opportunity to find out." Alan moved away as he took the call.
"Hello?"
"The security camera caught the back of the little girl as she left the train station. She went into a café down the street, but I never saw her come out," Bree said, excitement in her voice. "I'm heading there now. Someone might have seen her or know who she is."
"I'd like to go with you. Why don't I pick you up?"
"I'm sure it's out of your way."
He was sure, too, but he wasn't letting her do this alone. "I can be at your office in about fifteen minutes."