I looked to my left to see Jace beside me. Kayla and Ruthie were back behind us, both of their faces as pale as ghosts.
Focusing back on Jace, I addressed him directly.
“What’s goin’ on with the Drew situation? We got somebody lookin’ for him?”
He nodded. “So far no luck, though. I’m about to call the Locks, see if they’ve seen him.”
I gritted my teeth, choked the tears back, and nodded. I hated to involve Drew’s parents, but I needed all of the resources I could get. I was working against a tight deadline.
It was a hard decision to bring them into something like this because his parents weren’t him. Everybody always wondered how I could be fine with them, but to me the explanation was simple. You didn’t have to be a monster to produce one. Birthing an evil child does not a monster make.
For the Locks, that description couldn’t have been more accurate. They were always nothing but sweet and kind to me. In fact, they had lost their son just like I lost Jenny those years ago. They must have thought it was Christmas when he came back a few weeks ago.
Of course, they didn’t know what he was capable of. Unfortunately, they were about to find out.
By the time I finished my train of thought, Jace had stepped back and was already on the phone.
Kayla stepped forward and put a hand to my arm, but I shook it off. I knew it was an asshole thing to do. She was Talie’s sister for Christ’s sake. I should have been comforting her, or at the very least letting her comfort me, but I didn’t have it in me. I had to keep things numb if I was going to survive the next few hours.
Sweet Jesus, I hoped it was only a few hours.
Steve came jogging over from the direction of his store.
“Steve, you seen anything?”
“No, Tuck. I’m sorry.”
God, how was this possible. These people saw everything you ever fucking did, and nobody had managed to see Drew grab Talie and take her somewhere. I couldn’t fucking believe it.
I clenched my fists at my sides and gave him a chin lift.
Jezzy came running over, her boobs bouncing the whole way. A true manifestation of how upset I was: I didn’t even look.
“Tuck, I gotta tell you somethin’, and it might make you angry.”
That was not a good fucking start.
“Spit it out, Jezz.”
“Drew’s been stayin’ at the hotel, not with his parents. I didn’t think it mattered to be honest with you, but everybody told me that you were lookin’ for Talie and Drew, so now I’m thinkin’ it might’a mattered.”
I took two seconds to take a deep breath before I responded because I wanted to rip Jezzy’s head off, but it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know the details of what we were dealing with. Nobody did. They all knew I had problems with Drew, but they had no idea the extent of his issues.
While I was breathing, Jace inserted himself back into the conversation. “That’s alright, Jezz. Glad you told us now. The Locks just told me the same thing. Now when was the last time you saw him?”
“Last night. But I wasn’t really lookin’ for him this mornin’, so he could’a left without me knowin’.”
Gathering all of my strength, I made a decision. It was time that I got back involved in this full force. I needed to turn off my negative thoughts and go get my woman. She trusted that I would be there for her, and it was time to fucking do it.
“Take us to his room. That’s where we’re gonna start.”
Jezzy didn’t bother giving me a verbal response. She just turned on her wedge heel and took off running for the hotel. Jace and I took off right behind her.
I shouted to John and Toni to keep the search for Talie organized and going and that I would be in touch. At the same time, Jace speared Ruthie with a look, she linked her arm with Kayla’s, and they followed close behind us.
We waited outside as Jezzy ran into the office to grab the key to his room.
Everything inside me screamed to just bust the door down, but I talked myself into sparing Jezzy the trouble of having to replace a door.
She nabbed it quickly, ran back out the door, and turned left.
“Come on, this way. Room 15.”
I took off at a sprint and left the rest of the group behind. When I approached the door that had a gold plated number fifteen hanging on it, I raised my closed fist and started pounding.
“Open this fuckin’ door Drew or I will fuckin’ open it for you!”
Several seconds later everyone else caught up, but I was done waiting.
“Give me the key, Jezz.”
Jace tried to be the voice of reason. “He may not be here, Tuck. And he may not have Talie.”
I shook my head and screamed, “Give me the fucking key, Jezz!”
No one had ever seen me like this. Even when I was pissed it was usually a low, quiet growl that came out of me. I don’t think I had ever screamed. I had never felt this helpless before though. She was the one girl for me. And consequently, the one girl who could turn me into an absolute mess.
I jammed the key in the lock, my hand shaking with unrestrained rage. I turned the knob and then kicked the door the rest of the way open. And then I froze.
Drew was there.
And he was gonna be there until somebody moved him. Probably the medical examiner.
He was face up on the bed- a bed that was coated in blood, and there was a bullet hole in his chest.
He was dead.
I knew what he had done to all the people I loved: Jenny, my parents, and Talie. Thus, I didn’t even waste a second feeling sorry for him.
Speaking of people I loved, where the hell was Talie? If she wasn’t with Drew, I didn’t know where she would be. A few minutes ago, I had at least had a direction in which to focus my efforts. Now, I had not one fucking clue.
Chapter 12
Bobby
Jace pushed backward and made sure the women didn’t get any further into the room than they already had.
I backed out of the room too, grabbed my phone out of my pocket, and called the sheriff.
I could hear Jace in the background. “Just stay out here ladies.” They started to bagger him and ask a million questions, but he cut them off. “I’m just gonna say it, and I’m gonna be blunt. Drew’s in there, and he’s dead. I don’t want any of you to see it. Talie was not in there, so we’re still lookin’ for her.” They started to chatter again, but Jace pushed right through it. “One’a you get on your phone, call John, and let him know to adjust the search accordingly.”
He then stepped to me and waited for me to finish up my call to the sheriff. I had told him about the situation to the best of my knowledge, told him where we were, and was just saying my goodbyes.
“Alright, Sheriff. Also, sure you’ve heard I’m lookin’ for Natalie. Wouldn’t mind if you have any spare men, you put them on the search. Drew’s dead, that ain’t changin’, but Talie needs people lookin’ for her now.”
He gave me a somberly spoken, “You got it, Tuck,” and then hung up. He hadn’t had a murder in this town in many, many years let alone a murder and a missing person at the same time, and it was hitting him hard.
Jace put his hand on my shoulder and spoke quietly enough that the women wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Look Tuck, this is gonna piss you off, but I gotta ask. Any chance, and this shits me to say because I love her too, but any chance Talie did that to Drew? You were there and so were we when she said she had planned to go after him all along. Any chance she got her revenge and took off?”
My initial reaction was to get extremely pissed off, every muscle in my body constricting and twitching, but I also understood why he was asking, so I squashed the anger down. I had actually had the same thought myself, albeit fleetingly.
“I get why you would ask that, but no. I really don’t think she’s capable of it. She has one hell of a bark, but not much of a bite. She loves other people, and it’s built in her to protect ‘em, not hurt ‘em and cert
ainly not kill ‘em. Even the ones she hates. Not to mention, no way she would take off on her sister when she just got her back. Somethin’ else has got to be goin’ on here.” I didn’t think she would leave me either, but I didn’t mention it.
Jace nodded and concurred with me. “I actually agree with you. I don’t think there is a violent bone in her body, even with people she hates. And not only do I not think she would leave Kayla, or Ruthie for that matter, I don’t think she would leave you. But, I just had to ask. Tryin’ to cover all the bases here.” I understood that, and I was thankful to have someone else who knew how much this meant to me, but had a level head on his shoulders. “So now, what the fuck do you think is really goin’ on?”
I told him the ugly goddamn truth.
“I don’t have one fucking clue. And it feels like my heart is bein’ ripped out of my fuckin’ chest. I need her, Jace. We have to find her.”
He knew exactly what I meant. Not only did he know me better than anyone (other than Talie), he looked at Ruthie the way I looked at Talie. He knew where he would be if he was in my position.
********
It had been two hours with no sign of her. No one had seen her, and there wasn’t even anyone who had witnessed anything for that matter. It was like she had disappeared into thin air, and I was pretty fucking displeased.
With no leads and nowhere to go, Jace and the girls had forced me to come into the diner and try to eat something. They shoved food in front of me, but I was in a different world. One where my thoughts went in circles, slowly torturing me while trying to think of every minute, minuscule detail that could lead me to her somehow.
I prayed that she somehow still had faith in me after I’d been unable to find her for all these hours. I prayed that there was some divine mercy, and she wasn’t going through anything as horrible as I was imagining in the black hole that my mind had become. And I prayed that somehow, someway, I found a way to find her soon, and when I did, she was in one piece.
A few seconds later, as if it was a direct answer to my prayers, my phone buzzed that I had a text message. It was from an unknown number that I didn’t take the time to try to process because it read: West Outskirts, two miles. Brown farmhouse, blue shudders.
As I read the message to myself, I must have also read it aloud.
Ruthie whispered, “Why are you talking about Bobby’s house?”
Jesus. Bobby. Not one for naivety, I hadn’t exactly expected him to be an active part of the search, but there had been no sign of him. Not to mention, as memories skated through my mind, I realized he had been present an awful lot of places we had been over the past couple of weeks. He hadn’t caused trouble so I’d left him be, but obviously there had been more going on than I noticed.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, I took off without even saying anything. Luckily, the group had been paying attention, was ready, and followed close behind me.
I ran to my truck, pulled the door open, jumped in, and fired her up just as Jace wrenched the passenger door open and jumped in.
“What’s goin’ on, Tuck? Fill me in.”
Instead of answering his question, I planned my next steps. “Nine millimeter in the glove box. Take it, keep it on you. We might need it, but I don’t trust myself with it.”
My thoughts were absolutely fucking crazy right now, and the last thing I needed was to find Talie, have her still be willing to be with me, and then fuck it all up by killing someone in a rage.
Jace’s eyes flared, but he nodded, opened the hatch, and grabbed the gun, tucking it into his pants at the small of his back. I guess he figured that him having it was a better option than me having it.
I would have to agree with him. I wasn’t in the position or condition to handle much of anything right now, let alone weaponry.
My vision had turned into a dangerous tunnel from the combination of fear and rage, and all I could see was the steering wheel, a sliver of dash, and my lane of the road directly in front of me.
When I read the message I had instantly known it was Bobby’s place, but when Ruthie voiced it, something inside of me snapped.
I knew he didn’t like Talie, felt victimized by her even. In his eyes, I’m sure he thought Talie was the reason his relationship had ended. Abusers almost never took any responsibility on themselves. Not to mention, he had never been a fan of mine. He was insecure in himself and manhandled women physically and emotionally as a way to anchor them to him. I, on the other hand, let women be themselves, and yet, they came flocking back to me every chance they got. This had always bothered him, and I suppose me finally finding the woman of my dreams had set him off.
Add in the fact that he didn’t like women who stood up to him and mix that with Talie, who was full of attitude and hadn’t hesitated to throw some in his face a time or two, and you got a bomb waiting to explode.
Now knowing where she most likely had been, I was even more worried for her wellbeing. Drew was somewhat predictable, as we’d seen the results of his behavior, but Bobby was a wildcard. He was big, and while I had no trouble besting him, Talie would be no match for him physically.
I couldn’t help but think that that was an injustice for women. Here was a strong, confident, self-sufficient woman, yet she still wouldn’t be able to really defend herself when push came to shove.
God, she would try. I knew she would. But sometimes trying wasn’t enough.
As that last thought passed through my mind, I pushed my foot and the peddle underneath it further toward the floor.
Jace felt my actions and tried to talk some sense into me. “Look, Tuck. I ain’t gonna tell you to calm down because I sure as shit wouldn’t be able to. But I am gonna tell you to think your actions through. Be smart so that you can be there for your girl when she’s gonna need you most. And I don’t just mean right now. She’s gonna need you after this too.”
I gave him one nod, just to let him know that I’d heard him, and slowed the truck as we came up on the long driveway to Bobby’s house.
Finally, my brain was working logically. I knew I couldn’t just charge in there guns blazing. The last thing I wanted to do was scare Bobby and force him to make a rash decision.
I pulled my truck to a stop on the side of the road and broke down my plan for Jace.
“Ok, here’s what I’m thinkin’. We’re gonna get out here and approach soft and slow. When we get to the house, we’ll do a check around the perimeter to see if we can get a better look at what we’re dealin’ with before goin’ in.”
I wasn’t done, but I looked into the rearview mirror to see Ruthie and Kayla sliding to a stop in Jace’s truck behind us.
“Fuck.”
I grabbed the door handle, kicked the door open with my foot, and jumped down onto the gravel shoulder. Hustling back to the girls in Jace’s truck, I immediately barked out my orders. “You two are stayin’ out here. I don’t wanna hear shit about it. Jace and I are goin’ closer.”
The girls started to jabber, but Jace joined the conversation right at that moment with a stern voice. “You aren’t comin’ closer, Ruth. Don’t question it. Jesus Christ, for once, don’t question it, please. Just stay here.”
I used his command as the opportunity to continue with my plan uninterrupted. “Ok, Jace. I was sayin’, we get close, check everything out, you call the sheriff right before we go in. That way he doesn’t come flyin’ in here and put Talie in danger, but he will already be on his way while we’re takin’ care of the situation. Right?”
He gave me a nod, and not waiting to hear any commentary from the female peanut gallery, we took off, up past my truck, turned right, and jogged in a crouched position up the driveway towards the little brown farmhouse.
His driveway was about a hundred yards long so it took us a little while to make it all the way to the end, especially since we slowed our pace as we got close in the hopes of drawing less attention to ourselves.
When we neared the end I signaled Jace to go right while I we
nt left with a jerk of my head. He read my meaning, crept up to the house, and started circling the perimeter of it in a counter-clockwise direction.
I went left with the intention of meeting him in the middle, at the back of the house, before doubling back.
I approached the first window and got really low, just peaking my head up enough to look inside. I looked both directions and saw that I was looking into an old style sitting room, but there were no people.
Staying in my crouch, I moved slowly to the next window down. Repeating my motions from the first window, I looked inside and found that, this time, I was seeing a bedroom. But again, no people.
My breathing was accelerated, but other than that, I seemed to have actually found a place of calm. My guess was that having something to do had focused my energy, and it was time to do whatever I needed to do to get my girl safe.
I made my way to the last window on my side of the house and looked in the same way I had the two times previously. This time when my vision penetrated the glass I saw the most perfect auburn hair I’d ever run my fingers through.
She was laid out on the couch of the living room, and she looked like she was either asleep or unconscious. I could see that her face was bruised and bloody as if she’d taken a savage beating. I was overwhelmed by a combination of unimaginable sadness and ferocious anger.
I had to fucking get in there. I saw no sign of Bobby and my immediate urge was to break the window and climb in right here. But Jace’s words to be smart flashed through my mind, and I knew I needed to find him first so I’d have a better chance of not doing something I would regret.
I hated to let her out of my sight, but I had to for just a minute so that Jace and I could regroup.
As soon as I rounded the corner of the house, Jace spotted me and I signaled to head back to the front. He gave a nod and turned on his boot so swiftly that it seemed like he had to have known that was the plan before I even told him.
I ran quickly and quietly back to the front of the house, and I did not like what I saw when I got there.
The One Girl Page 11
