by Faith Gibson
Since I had no idea what to expect when I came to see her yesterday, I didn’t bring a change of clothes, so I have to leave and go to Jared’s to get ready for work. When Lexie walks me outside to my car, she freezes. “This… you… I’ve seen this car across the street at the Williams’s house and in the parking lot at the salon.”
“I’ve been watching you,” I admit. What I don’t admit is what else I was doing across the street. I’ve already told Lexie I did things she wouldn’t want to know about, and Violet is one of them. I won’t tell her I was fucking around, because she and I are in a good place, and I want to stay there. Admitting my past sins won’t bring me absolution.
“This is a ’71, right?” Lexie surprises me with her knowledge of my SS as she reverently touches the hood.
Grinning, I tell her she’s correct.
“My father has a ’67. He let me drive it last time I was home.”
“My girl likes fast cars?”
“Oh, yes.” The gleam in her eyes is cute as fuck. I can see Lexie flying down the road in the SS with the windows down and her hair blowing around her face. Now I know what I’m getting her for a wedding present. I haven’t asked her to marry me. Hell, I haven’t even told her I love her, but it’s coming. Very soon.
It’s been less than six months since I walked out of prison. So much has happened. Things I planned for. Things I didn’t. I never planned on finding love again, but now that I have, I can’t imagine my life without it. People say things happen for a reason. Six months ago, I’d have been ready to tell those people to shove the reasons up their asses. Now? I still don’t know if that’s true or not, but if losing everything brought me to this moment, I’d endure it all over again if it means having Lexie by my side the rest of my life. I might have lost everything, but what I’ve gained is so much more. I’m not the good person I used to be, but for her and our unborn child, I’ll be the best person I can be for them both. I’m no longer ready to rule over hell, but I have no problem tap dancing with the devil every once in a while.
Epilogue
Cass
I wake up to Zeus barking his fool head off. Something must be up, because he’s quiet unless someone comes around who isn’t supposed to be here. Jared calls him down, and I roll out of bed and pull my jeans on. I reach for the pistol on the nightstand that isn’t there. I shouldn’t still expect to have a gun after all this time, but in the haze of just waking, I sometimes forget who and where I am. I might have broken into a couple of houses, but that’s the extent I’ve gone to as far as risks go. I won’t do anything to jeopardize my freedom. Not anymore.
The reason for that is naked in my bed, her long hair tousled around the pillow. Lexie raises her head, and asks, “What’s going on?” She and I are currently staying with Jared. Lexie’s divorce is final, and the government has released the house, but we didn’t put our lives on hold while all that was being settled. It has no bearing on us or our future together. We found the perfect place for us to raise our child, and we have another week until we can move in.
“I’m not sure. I’ll be right back,” I tell her. I make it to the bedroom door, but I turn back around and give her a kiss. I can’t get enough of this woman.
I head down the hall to the sound of heated voices. What I see when I reach the opening into the living room stops me cold. Jared’s ex is standing in the door sobbing uncontrollably. “Is she here? Please tell me you have Tally,” Stella begs. I only know it’s her because he showed me pictures when he’d come to visit. Stella is a beautiful woman, even with red eyes and tears rolling down her face.
“No, I don’t have her, Stella. What the fuck’s going on?” Jared asks as he pulls on her arm to get her inside.
“You have to find her,” she pleads.
“Take a deep breath and tell me where you last saw her.” Jared might appear calm on the outside, but I know my cousin. He’s about two seconds away from losing his shit. I haven’t heard much of the conversation, but I can deduce they’re talking about her daughter, Tallulah. I keep out of sight, not wanting to cause the woman any more stress than she’s already under. The warm body of my lover presses against my back as she peers around the corner to see what’s going on.
Stella stammers, “Last night. She told me she was going to bed. This morning when I went to wake her up for school, her bed wasn’t messed up. I thought she must have woken up early and got ready.”
“Would she do that under normal circumstances?” Jared asks.
“No. She’s still hard to wake up. I just thought… Oh, god, Jared. I don’t know what to do!” Stella launches herself into his arms. My cousin doesn’t comfort her immediately, but when she continues to cling to him, he looks at the ceiling and places his hands on her back.
I step into the room with Lexie holding my hand and ask, “Have you been to the police?”
Stella removes her tear-stained face from Jared’s chest and stares at me. “Stella, have you called the cops?” The first few hours are the most crucial in finding a missing person. If she was taken, the perp has a big head start. Lexie turns loose of my hand and disappears down the hall. When she returns, she has a roll of toilet paper. She unrolls a wad and hands it to Stella.
Stella takes the tissue, looking between Lexie and me. Jared says, “Stella, this is Cass and Lexie. Cass was a policeman for a while, so please answer the question.”
“Your cousin? The one who was in jail?” She gives me a look that I don’t appreciate, but I let it go.
“Stella, every second we waste is time we could be spending finding Tallulah. Now, did you call the cops?”
“No. It hasn’t been twenty-four hours.”
“That’s bullshit you see on television. The cops won’t make you wait to start looking for her. Now, tell me anything you think will help us find her. Was anything missing from her room? Did she take a cell phone? Did she have a backpack? Was her window open? Had you two been fighting?”
When she doesn’t answer me, Jared urges her, “Stella, answer Cass. Tell us what you can.”
Lexie wraps her arm around my waist, and I pull her in close. The move must help Stella with whatever hesitation she has. “I… well… Things have been crazy lately. Her grades have been slipping, and I’ve been grounding her a lot. I thought she was being a rebellious kid, you know?”
“Has anything happened to disrupt her lifestyle that would bring about these changes? A new school? Did you move?” I ask. It’s been a long time since I was a cop, but the instincts are still there. Maybe more so with all the studying I did in prison.
“I… I started seeing someone. He… Charles is, he can be… he’s strict on her. But not in a mean way. He makes her do her homework. Clean the house, those kinds of things. Things a kid needs to do.”
“Where is Charles now?” I ask.
“He’s out of town. He left yesterday and won’t be back for a week. He’s a salesman.”
“I’m going to need his last name,” I inform her.
“Cutler. Charles Cutler. But I know he didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance. He loves Tallulah.”
My insides begin to boil. It’s all I can do to keep from lashing out, but I keep my ire in check.
Control.
I call it forth and wield it like the weapon it is.
When Lexie told me she was having my baby, I decided to let Cutler go. Leave well enough alone. Now, it looks like he’s on my radar whether I want him to be or not.
Jared narrows his eyes at me. I give him an almost imperceptible shake of my head. Not now I say with my own eyes.
It can’t be a coincidence that another one of the motherfuckers who ruined my life is now ruining someone else’s. I need to play this shit cool. Stella just opened a can I had planned to keep the lid on. “Does he live with you?” I ask.
“No. He spends the night on occasion. We’ve only been seeing each other a few months. He says it’s too soon.”
Fucking lying bastard. Stella’s
going to shit when she finds out her new boyfriend is married. At least he was last time I checked, which wasn’t that long ago. “Let’s focus on Tallulah. Was there anything missing from her room?”
“I don’t know. When I couldn’t find her, I came straight here.”
“Why?” Jared asks. “Why would you come here instead of calling Charles or going to the cops?”
“Because I thought she might have come back here.”
“She’s only ten, for Christ’s sake. How would a ten-year-old know how to even find me after three years?”
“I don’t know. It’s just, she still talks about you. All the damn time. She loves you, Jared. She was okay at first, but anytime I start dating someone, she clams up. Stops talking. This time it was worse.”
“Jesus, fuck.” Jared runs a hand through his already disheveled hair. Zeus is sitting at Jared’s feet, leaning against his leg.
“Stella, as you can see, Tallulah isn’t here. The first thing you need to do is call the cops. Then, you need to go home and check her room. See if you notice anything out of the ordinary. The cops are going to have you do that anyway. Can you do that?” I ask.
“I… yes. I guess so.”
“Good. Give me your address, and I’ll meet you there as soon as I take care of something.”
“Jared, are you coming too?” Stella asks.
“No, he isn’t. He is going to stay here on the off chance your daughter happens to find her way here.” Jared flashes me a look, but I don’t have the time to decipher if he’s pissed at me for answering on his behalf or if it’s something else, like his ex showing up out of the blue after more than three years. Right now, that shit doesn’t matter. What matters is finding this little girl. Once I have her address, I practically push Stella out the door and tell her I’ll meet her at home.
“God fucking damnit!” Jared yells, walking in circles. “Cass, I swear to fucking god if something has happened to Lulah…” He stops pacing and grabs his hair with both hands.
“I get it. But you need to help me out here.”
When he stops pacing, he asks, “Charles Cutler. Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Because he’s one of the bastards who framed me.”
“You are fucking shitting me right now!”
Lexie has remained quiet until now. “I know you said you were going to let Charles be, but if he’s had anything to do with this missing girl, you have to get him, Ryan.” Lexie and I have talked almost as much as we’ve fucked over the past few weeks. She knows about Cutler and how I intended to get retribution. She also knows I decided to let it lie. I told her all about Jared and his past. She knows about Stella and Tallulah; therefore, she knows how much the girl meant to Jared. By the way he’s freaking out, how much she still means to him.
“We’ll find her, baby. Right now, I need to make some phone calls. I’m going to call in some favors so we can get Tallulah back where she belongs.” Lexie doesn’t ask who I’m calling, because she trusts me. Jared doesn’t ask, because he knows. I’ve not reached out to Damian since he helped me get Adam and Neil, but I need his expertise with computers. Once he finds Cutler, I’ll call on Buddha if I have to. I won’t let Jared worry one second longer than he has to about the little girl. I won’t put myself out there since I’m going to be a husband and a father. But I won’t hesitate to call on those who have no problem getting their hands dirty.
I ask my woman to please make some coffee while I finish getting dressed. When I hit the kitchen, she’s got a to-go cup ready for me. Jared is staring out the back door. I put a hand on his shoulder and turn him to me. “We will find her. I promise.” I pull him to me and put my forehead to his before I turn to my woman and do the same. “I love you. Both of you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Leaving the most important person in my life behind to console the second most important person, I head out to do whatever it takes to make sure we all have a happy ending. I can’t say it will be easy, but one way or another, I’m going to give Jared back a little slice of happy. The same happy I never thought would be mine again. The same happy I take with me wherever I go. With Lexie’s love filling my soul, I set out to find Jared’s salvation.
THE END…
Coming Soon
Julian – Stone Society Book 9
Coming in the Near Future
The Ghost in the Water – Samuel Dexter Book 2
Finding Home – The Music Within Book 4
Urijah – Stone Society Book 10
Tap Dancing with an Angel
About the Author
Faith Gibson lives outside Nashville, Tennessee with the love of her life, and her four-legged best friends. She began writing in high school and over the years, penned many stories and poems. When her dreams continued to get crazier than the one before, she decided to keep a dream journal. Many of these night-time escapades have led to a line, a chapter, and even a complete story.
When asked what her purpose in life is, she will say to entertain the masses. Even if it’s one person at a time. When Faith isn’t hard at work on her next story, she can be found having her own concert in the shower (or car, or wherever music is playing), playing trivia while enjoying craft beer, reading, or riding her Harley.
Connect with Faith via the following social media sites:
https://www.facebook.com/faithgibsonauthor
https://www.twitter.com/authorfgibson
Sign up for her newsletter:
http://www.faithgibsonauthor.com/newsletter.html
Send her an email: [email protected]
Other Works by Faith Gibson
The Stone Society Series - Paranormal
Rafael
Gregor
Dante
Frey
Nikolas
Jasper
Sixx
Sin
Jonas – A Stone Society Novella
The Music Within Series
Deliver Me
Release Me
Finding Me
The Samuel Dexter Stories
The Ghost in the Desert – Novella
The Ghost in the Mirror
The Sweet Things Series
Candy Hearts – A MM Short Story
Troubled Hearts – Contemporary Romance
