by Devney Perry
Jess
Something wasn’t right.
I could feel it in my gut. Clicking the button on the visor, I started easing the truck into the garage but slammed on the brakes when Rowen’s little body came darting around the hood.
Opening the door, I frowned down at her.
“Rowen, you can’t run around a truck like—”
What the fuck?
Her skin was white and covered in big red splotches. Tears streamed down her face as her whole body shook.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, kneeling in front of her.
“Mommy,” she sobbed and fell into my chest.
“Mommy what, Roe?” I pressed, gently shaking her little shoulders.
“Mommy came to my room and said I had to come out here and hide. She made me crawl through the kitty’s door and hide with them because there were scary men coming to the house. But she didn’t come to get me. Where is she? I want Mommy!” she wailed.
What the fuck was going on? Who came to the house and where was Georgia?
I picked up Rowen and ran with her clutched to my neck toward the house.
The front door was open a crack. Whoever had come here hadn’t shut it completely when they’d left. I toed it open with my boot and started walking carefully through the entryway.
“Shh, Roe,” I whispered in her ear. “Can you sit here for a minute while I look around the house?”
She nodded and I set her down right inside the door.
I should have left her in the garage while I checked the house but she wouldn’t have let me. She was freaked, so the entryway was the best I was going to get.
I slid my gun from its holster, creeping silently into the house. I cleared the living room first, then made my way past the office toward the kitchen. The stove was on and whatever Georgia had been cooking was boiling. Her phone was sitting on the counter by the sink.
The knot in my gut was tightening. There was no way she would have left her phone if she hadn’t been panicked. She would have taken it with her and shut off the stove. Unless whatever she saw had freaked her so much that all she did was focus on getting Rowen to the garage.
Fuck.
I crept quickly and quietly through the rest of the house but there wasn’t a sign of her. Nothing. And nothing was out of place.
I stowed my gun and went back to Rowen. Kneeling in front of her, I asked her question after question about what had happened.
She didn’t know much. Once she’d made it to the garage, she’d done as her mother had asked and hidden in the cat’s alcove. From in there, she hadn’t seen or heard a thing happening at the house.
I got her situated in the living room under Georgia’s favorite fleece blanket, hoping its warmth and the lingering scent of her mother’s vanilla shampoo would help her stop shaking.
Then I went into the kitchen and took a better look around.
She must have been here when she’d gotten spooked. My eyes darted to the clock. Five-thirty. Georgia couldn’t have been gone for long because the pot on the stove would have been burning, not just boiling. And she usually didn’t get home until just a little after five.
Georgia had told Rowen that men were walking up to the house. But who?
I shut off the stove and grabbed the flashlight from the cabinet on top of the fridge before running outside.
I got to the lawn and saw two sets of tracks, one leading to the door and the other leading away. Both going along the same path, past the side of the house and through the backyard.
Pulling out my phone, I called dispatch. I needed help. I needed my deputies to help me find my fiancée.
An hour after I’d made the call to dispatch, the farmhouse was crawling with people.
All of my deputies had come, each abandoning their Friday evening plans to come to my aid. Sam was going through the house, looking for anything I might have missed on my quick walk-through. Bryant was with Rowen, talking to her again to see what else she could remember. And the rest of my deputies were making calls around town, asking if anyone had seen Georgia.
Nick had showed up early on, having heard the call come through dispatch at the fire station. On his way, he’d called Beau and Silas, who’d arrived not long after he had.
The four of us set out to follow the tracks in the snow, hoping it would lead us to a clue as to where Georgia had been taken or who had taken her.
As we hunted for clues, I let Beau take the lead. He was the best tracker in this part of the state and was often called out of Prescott to assist other Search and Rescue teams when they were having trouble finding a lost hiker or climber.
We followed the tracks through the snow-covered lawn and into the grove of trees beyond the backyard. We’d just hit the tree line when Silas called out. Nick and I bolted to his side while Beau kept tracking.
“You find something?” I asked, running to his side.
“No. But look at this area. Someone’s been back here for a while, not just today. This whole area’s been walked on multiple times. The patch over there is iced over. A guy probably sat there a couple days ago during the melt. It froze back over when the temp dropped yesterday.”
Beau ran toward us after he finished his search.
“Tracks go past the trees to a clearing. There’s tire tracks all over. Someone drove back in there a lot and parked behind that rise so you wouldn’t see the vehicle from the house,” he said.
“Then they must have walked over here and hid out,” Nick said. “Watched the house from this distance. With any decent set of specs, they could see in through all the back windows. They probably watched her at the kitchen sink.”
“Fuck me,” I muttered. “Who would stake out the house? And why take Georgia?” The only person I could think who would do that had died before Christmas. And even Wes wouldn’t have crossed that line. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
I was losing it. My stomach was so tight I almost doubled over.
Beau’s phone rang and he stepped away from our circle.
“Anyone made any threats to you lately?” Nick asked.
I racked my brain. “Wes. The only other one that comes to mind was that kid who smashed the pumpkins on the porch at Halloween. Said a few things to Georgia. But he was just a punk kid. Rich little fucker who’s been spoiled rotten.”
“Better check him out. What’s his name? I’ll run back, have Sam go talk to him,” Silas said.
“Scott Pierce, Jr.,” I said. “Lives up the canyon in that new development area. Biggest house on the hill. He’s an entitled prick but he couldn’t have done this himself.”
“Got it,” Silas said and turned to leave.
“Silas?” I called. “Go with Sam. Those parents give you any grief, tell them you’re a deputy. Press them hard. They’ll want to bring in their fucking lawyer but don’t let them. Get to that kid. If he knows something, make him talk. I’ll cover your back if it goes south.”
If the Pierce kid knew anything, Silas would get it out of him. Sam was a good interrogator but Silas would scare the living piss out of that kid until he coughed up whatever it was he had.
“Maisy’s been taken too,” Beau called to Nick and me.
“What the fuck?” Nick said at the same time I cursed.
“Mom went by to see her,” Beau said, “find out if she was feeling okay. Her place was trashed. Looks like she tried to fight them off. Shit was all over the floor. The front door was wide open. Mom called me right after she hung up with dispatch.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. Who the fuck would take Georgia and Maisy? I could see someone taking Georgia if they were trying to get to me. But Maisy? It didn’t add up.
“I need to get back to Roe,” I said. “Beau, you and Nick take Bryant to Maisy’s place. See what you can find. It’s gotta be the same people. There’s no way two nurses get taken from their homes in the same night by different people.”
“You got it, Brick,” Nick said.
And they all ran ba
ck to the farmhouse.
An hour later, I was no closer to finding Georgia than I had been when I’d gotten home. And I hadn’t heard back from Beau, Nick or Silas.
I desperately wanted to be out there looking for her. Pacing through the house was killing me. But the second I’d walked through the door from the backyard search, Rowen had latched onto my side and hadn’t let go.
And I didn’t want to leave her. I couldn’t leave her, not alone in this house without me or her mother.
I hated to think of what was happening to Georgia. While I was pacing, was she being beaten? Or worse? Was she alive?
I let those thoughts cross my mind for a second until I pushed them out. I wouldn’t let myself think the worst. I needed to focus on finding her and taking care of Rowen. Georgia would want that. For me to take care of Roe first, before anything else. So that’s what I did.
I held her tight as I paced, checking in with deputies and making phone calls. Not once did I put her down and not once did she let go of the firm grip she had on my neck.
“Jess?” Rowen whispered.
“Yeah?”
“If Mommy doesn’t come home, can I still live with you?” she asked.
“Mommy’s coming home Roe. Okay? I promise. We’ll get her back.”
“What if she doesn’t?” Tears were rolling over her cheeks, landing on my shirt.
“You’ll always be with me. No matter what. You’re my girl,” I said.
“Then you’ll be my daddy?” she asked.
“I already am, little bit.”
She buried her face in my neck and I kissed the top of her hair.
Talking about the possibility of not finding Georgia was making me sick. I had to sit down. The panic was crippling.
Was this how Georgia had felt when she saw me in the emergency room? Because if it was, I had been too hard on her. I had dismissed her fears and told her it was going to be fine.
I’d had no fucking idea.
This couldn’t be it. I needed her back. I needed my light.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
If I lost it, Rowen would too. And by some miracle she was holding it together. The strength of this girl never ceased to amaze me.
Jostling Rowen, I pulled out my phone as it rang.
“Silas.”
“Pierce’s parents were home. The kid OD’d today. Dad found him passed out this afternoon and rushed him to the hospital. It looks like he’s been snorting pain pills. Gigi was his nurse in the ER today. Carlson was his doctor. The kid’s still there, been at the hospital all night per Carlson’s orders.”
“What? How did we not hear any of this?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Silas muttered.
“Carlson should have called it over. Physicians are required to notify the local authorities when minors are admitted for drug abuse,” I said.
Think, Jess. Think.
“It’s got to be something to do with this kid. My gut’s telling me he’s the link. I’m going to the hospital to talk to him myself. Meet me there with Sam,” I ordered.
Once I got a reluctant Rowen situated with my team, I got in my truck and flew into town. Scottie Pierce was going to tell me what the fuck was going on, even if I had to beat it out of him.
I woke up alone on a cold cement floor, lying on my side with my hands bound behind my back.
Everett and Benson had taken me to a basement, judging by the small rectangular windows topping the concrete-block walls. Tall metal shelves lined the room, stacked with extra medical supplies. In the corner, a bed was wrapped up in plastic.
We were at the hospital.
I had never been in the hospital’s basement before. During my initial tour, my boss had pointed to the basement door but hadn’t brought me down here. The basement door was right by the staircase that led upstairs to the second floor. I’d walked by that door countless times but never through it.
My body was shivering violently, both from the cold and my fear. When Everett took me from the farmhouse, I hadn’t been wearing a coat and my feet were bare. It was freezing cold lying here on the cement floor in only a pair of torn jeans and a long-sleeved olive thermal.
How long had I been here? I’d taken off my watch to cook dinner. No light came from the basement windows, but it was dark so early these days that didn’t tell me much. It could be six o’clock in the evening or three o’clock in the morning.
I hoped that Rowen was okay and Jess had found her in the garage. That Everett hadn’t changed his mind and gone after her once I’d blacked out.
How was Jess ever going to find me? My phone was on the kitchen counter. My car was parked in the driveway. And unless Everett left a trail of breadcrumbs for Jess to follow, which I highly doubted, he wouldn’t know the first place to start looking.
I laid my head back down on the floor and curled my legs tightly into my chest, trying to keep as warm as possible. My head jerked up to the doorway as a loud metal door slammed shut. The thud of boots echoed off the cement walls, louder and louder, as footsteps came my way.
Everett strode into the storage room, followed by Benson. He was carrying a woman in his arms. But it wasn’t just a woman.
It was Maisy.
Her blond head was tipped back, a gash on her temple. Her arms and legs were dangling by her sides.
Oh my god! Please let her be alive.
“Well, well. Look who’s finally awake,” Everett said with a snide grin.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
He watched me struggle to sit up. His glare was filled with hatred. I was looking at a stranger.
He wasn’t the Everett I knew, the nice, handsome doctor I’d worked with for over six months. He wasn’t the quiet or shy man Maisy had dated this fall. There wasn’t a trace of the compassion or kindness I had seen in him before.
It was all gone.
Replaced by anger and arrogance. His eyes were cunning and evil. This was absolutely not the Everett I knew.
“Gigi, always so curious,” he said. “You’d have been better off to be like our dear Maisy here. Stupid. Benson, put her down over there,” he ordered, pointing to the hospital bed.
Benson dumped Maisy on the bed. She drooped down, not moving a muscle, but her chest expanded with a breath. Unconscious, but alive. I hoped that whatever they had done wasn’t hurting her baby.
“Please, Everett. Don’t hurt us. I don’t know what’s going on but please just let us go,” I pleaded.
“Scottie told you about me, didn’t he? I knew it when I saw you walk out of his room. You were putting it together.”
“Putting what together?” I asked.
“Don’t play stupid, Gigi. It doesn’t suit you. You know full well that I’m the one supplying the junkies in town with prescription pills, not to mention half of the high school students. Scottie just couldn’t keep his mouth shut, could he? Well, we’ll be taking care of him tonight too.” The snarl on his face was pure evil.
“What? He didn’t tell me anything! I swear, Everett! I don’t know what’s going on. Please. Please just let me and Maisy go,” I begged.
“Don’t lie, Gigi.”
“I’m not. I swear! I don’t know anything. Please, Everett, please don’t hurt us. Maisy is pregnant. I have a little girl that needs me. Just let us go,” I begged again, my eyes filling with tears.
“No. That whore is not having a child. I won’t allow it. She had her chance. She could have had an abortion and then none of this would be happening to her. But she didn’t. So now she will pay the price for her disobedience.”
He was crazy. Certifiably crazy.
I couldn’t reason with him. Begging wasn’t working. What was I going to do? I needed to think. I needed to get the eff out of here. But I wasn’t leaving Maisy here alone.
My mind raced, forming, then dismissing different escape plans. Nothing I thought of would work. I searched the room frantically but nothing would cut the zip ties at my wrists.
“Benson,” Everett said, “go pay Scottie a visit. He’s on the second floor. Find out what he said to Gigi. Then shove enough oxy down his throat so he’ll never wake up again.”
This wasn’t happening. I hadn’t just heard Everett order a man to go kill a teenaged kid.
“Everett, no!” I shouted. “He didn’t tell me anything about you. He just said that if I told Jess he was taking pills that he would hurt me and my daughter. I swear. Please. You don’t need to kill him. He’s just a kid! Let him be!”
“Too late, Gigi,” Everett said. “Scottie thought he could step up and join my crew. This was his test. He failed and now he’s out.” He pointed to the door. “Benson, go.”
This was a nightmare. Any minute I would wake up, safe at home in the farmhouse with Jess. This couldn’t be happening.
“Why?” I asked Everett. “Why are you doing this?”
“I want money and selling pills is quick cash. Especially with no competition. I’m tired of solving other people’s problems so I’ll exploit them instead, feed on the weaknesses of the poor and stupid. Soon I’ll leave, maybe move to the Maldives and never look back.”
Competition? He had to mean Wes. He was the only other drug dealer in Prescott. At least I hoped. With Wes out of the way, anyone wanting drugs would have to go through Everett.
“You killed Wes?” I gasped.
“I’m an extremely intelligent man, Gigi. Of course I didn’t kill Wes. Mr. Benson killed Wes. Besides, he had his own debt to settle after that beating Drummond gave him this summer.”
“Wes beat him up? Why?” I asked.
“I was moving in on what Wes considered his territory. His beating was intended to be a message. A threat. And I don’t respond well to threats. Something the late Mr. Drummond learned all too well.”
“But why me? Why Maisy? What are you going to do to us?”
“I’m afraid you have become too well informed. I’ve had Benson at your house keeping an eye on you and your beloved sheriff,” he said.
I thought I’d been imagining those lights the first night I saw them. I should have mentioned something to Jess. Stupid.
