Then he pushed the door to the stairs open and ran downstairs and out a side exit, not wanting to run into anybody else and be delayed. He had to find Thomas before the situation escalated even more.

It took him only minutes to reach the Castro, where Thomas’s favorite hangouts were located. This would be where he would pick up guys. The area was teeming with gay men of all ages. With Thomas’s handsome looks, he wouldn’t have any problem finding a willing bedmate within seconds. Guys were always coming on to him. Eddie had seen it often enough when they’d been out on patrol together. It had always annoyed Eddie, and he wondered now if even back then he’d been jealous. He could admit it to himself now: the thought that right now, Thomas was in the arms of another man was eating him up from the inside.

One by one, Eddie searched the bars in the Castro and kept his eyes open for a sign of Thomas’s motorcycle. At the bars where Thomas was known, he even asked the bartenders if they’d seen him, but the answer was always the same.

“Not in a while.”

Deflated, Eddie left the last bar in the Castro and walked back to his bike. When he reached it, he closed his eyes for a moment. Where had Thomas disappeared to? If he hadn’t been in the Castro to pick up some guy, then where was he?

A terrible thought invaded his mind. What if Thomas had harmed himself? What if the rejection had been too much for him? His hands shaking now, he jerked his cell phone from his jacket and dialed Thomas’s number.

“Please pick up,” he whispered to himself.

But the phone only rang and rang until Thomas’s voicemail kicked in.

***

Gabriel typed his password a second time, but the notice flashed on his computer once more: password expired.

“Crap!” he cursed. Security procedures around IT were so tight at Scanguards that all employees had to change their password every month, and if they missed the two-day grace period, they had to get IT to reset the password.

Gabriel dialed the number for the IT desk and drummed his fingers on the desk.

“IT support,” a bored male voice answered.

“Yeah, this is Gabriel Giles. I need you to reset my password.”

“One moment,” he said.

“Don’t put me on hold!” Gabriel answered, but it was too late. There was already a click in the line, and insipid elevator music sounded in his ears.

Gabriel growled. Did this idiot in IT not know who he was dealing with?

Seconds ticked by, then suddenly there was another click in the line.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Giles, but I don’t have access to the executives’ security profiles. Those are handled exclusively by Thomas. I can put you through to him.”

“Don’t bother!”

Gabriel slammed the phone down and shot up from his desk. As a director, he shouldn’t have to jump through hoops just to access the system. Grumbling to himself, he left his office and turned to the one next to him. Thomas Brown, Director, IT, it said on the plaque next to it.

Gabriel knocked impatiently and opened the door without waiting for a reply.

“Thomas, you’ve gotta—” He stopped in his tracks. The office was empty.

Annoyed he turned back and pulled his cell phone from his pocket, speed dialing Thomas’s number. It rang several times.

“You’ve reached Thomas. Leave me a message,” the voice recording echoed in his ear.

“Where are you?” Gabriel bellowed into the phone. “I need that fucking password reset.”

He disconnected the phone and looked down the corridor, seeing Cain come around the corner.

“You seen Thomas?” he called out to Cain.

“No, I haven’t. Have you asked Eddie? He came out of Thomas’s office earlier.”

Gabriel nodded his thanks and dialed Eddie’s cell phone.

It took several rings before Eddie finally picked up.

“Gabriel? What can I do?”

“Where’s Thomas? My fucking password expired and he’s the only one who can reset it.”

There was a pause, and Gabriel almost thought that the cell connection had been interrupted.

“Eddie?”

“Uhm, Gabriel. Thomas didn’t come home yesterday. I haven’t seen him since the party at Quinn’s house.”

“What?” Disbelief coursed through him.

“I don’t know where Thomas is, and he’s not picking up his phone.”

From the corner of his eyes he noticed Cain approach, curiosity flashing over his face.

“And you didn’t report that?”

“Hey, he’s got a right to privacy.”