by Cee Bowerman
“Four employees?”
“If we can work out a schedule that is good for you, we can have two morning girls and two afternoon girls. We can juggle them around and make sure you’re always covered, even if one of them has a sick kiddo or a doctor’s appointment. I’ll make sure that there is always someone here on time who is willing and ready to work.”
“I’ll have to run it by the guys, but I think it sounds like a clever idea. It will mostly be phones, copies, some filing, sending out invoices after I’ve printed them. Basic stuff.”
“That is fine. Some of the women who come to me have never had the chance to work outside the home, and if they did it was just a menial job that wasn’t meant to support a family.”
I nodded my head in understanding. I knew very few people had the opportunities I had been given, and I was eager to help people out if I could.
“I’ll be honest. Some of the women I want to put here need the exposure to the outside world more than they need the office experience. I want them to be in a safe environment with women I can trust to help them through any bumps in the road, and exposure to the men that come through the office who are good guys like the Conners.”
“They are all great men. I love them all.” I smiled. “I love Finn the most, of course, but you know what I mean.”
“Finn is a honey; he and Bellamy went to school with my oldest brothers. He was around my house off and on through the years. I went to school with Greer. She was a hoot, that girl never met a stranger. I was so sorry to hear about the accident.”
“I never got to meet Greer. I started working here about two months after they all passed away. But I hear such wonderful things about them, I know they must have been awesome people.”
“They were. Mr. Conner was coffee buddies with my Dad before he died. They met up a couple of times a week at Martha’s diner, drank coffee, bitched about politicians and gossiped like old hens.”
“Sounds like my Dad and his friends.”
“Can you think over my proposition and talk to…“ Kari paused when we heard one of the babies crying in the office we had converted to a nursery. “Is that a baby?”
“Want to meet them? They’re twins.”
Kari nodded her head and followed me across the hall to the other room. I opened the door and saw that both babies were awake, and Dylan was the one fussing.
“These are Bellamy and Dylan’s babies, aren’t they? I heard Sam and Zeke talking about it.”
“Yes, and they’re named after their Mom and Dad.” I picked up Dylan and he instantly stopped crying as he stared up at my face. “This is Dylan. That is Bellamy. Do you mind holding her while I change her brother?”
“I was about to beg you to let me!” Kari laughed as she bent over into the crib and picked up Bellamy. She cooed and loved on her while I changed Dylan and then she and I swapped so she could love on Dylan while I changed Bellamy. “They are beautiful! It’s great that they get to stay with you while you work.”
“Finn said that his Mom brought all of them up here while she ran the office. They grew up here just like Bella and Dylan will.”
“How long have you and Finn been together?”
“Since just a few weeks before the babies were born, so right at three months. Talk about a rush relationship! But I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love him, and now I love them. I have it all.”
“Would you like to meet for coffee some time, outside of work?”
“I’d like that! Would you like to help me feed these little monsters before you go?”
“Hell yeah. I love squishy babies.”
✽✽✽
“This pile goes in the regular mail, and I need you to get this one into certified today.” Lily nodded her head in understanding and reached out for the mail in my hand. “Stop and get us some iced coffees on your way back?”
Lily nodded and smiled brightly. She and I had become addicted to the iced caramel lattes that they served at the coffee shop in town. Roosters was locally owned and did a booming business, and Lily and I were part of that success.
I pulled my wallet out of my purse and handed the office debit card over to Lily along with the keys to my truck. She waved as she went out the door, and I sighed as I turned back to my computer. The babies had been extra fussy today, and I was debating with myself on whether I should call the pediatricians office for a visit when the bell over the door chimed.
I clicked my mouse to exit the program I was in and glanced over at Wyatt as he started to growl. I turned to greet the person at the door when I felt something hard hit my head. I barely had a chance to register the pain before my head hit the desk and I saw stars.
✽✽✽
FINN
“What the hell?” I hit the button on my phone to end the call and then looked over at Chess in confusion. “Lena’s not answering the office number or her cell phone.”
“Lily is working this afternoon. Let me send her a text and see what’s up.” I watched as Chess pushed buttons on his phone and then paused to wait for a response.
After less than a minute his phone dinged, and he read me Lily’s reply.
“Lily said that she took the mail to the post office and is in line to get Lena’s coffee right now. She’s headed back to the office, so she’ll see what’s up and send me a text. Maybe Lena’s just busy with the babies.”
“It just doesn’t feel right.” I looked around the job site, not paying much attention to my surroundings since I was worried about Lena and the kids. “Maybe we should head to the office.”
“We can go. Lily will get there before we do, but if it will make you feel better, let’s head home.”
I waved at the foreman as Chess and I walked out to his truck. We didn’t say much on the drive there, and I was glad to see he was in as much of a hurry as I felt we should be.
I tried the office number again but didn’t get an answer. I called Lena’s cell and it rang until the voicemail picked up.
Chess’ phone made a noise and he passed it over to me so I could read the text.
Lily:Somethings wrong. Babies okay. Lena’s gone. Blood all over and Wyatt is dead. Cops coming.
“What the fuck?” I roared. Chess jumped and looked over at me. “Go faster. Something happened.”
Chess hit the gas, and the truck flew down the dirt road that would lead us to the office on the other side of town. I told him what was going on as I typed back to Lily. I hated that I couldn’t call her, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to communicate with me by phone.
Finn: We are on our way. Text when the cops get there. Or have them call me if they can’t understand what you’re saying.
Chess’ phone rang, and I flipped it open.
“Chess. It’s Kari Duke. I’m at your office with Lily.”
“This is Finn. What’s going on Kari? What happened?”
“I don’t know. I was here earlier and left my wallet. I came back and there is a girl here and she was looking at the dog. The babies are in an uproar. I called the cops, there’s blood all over and it looks like there was a fight.”
“We’ll be there in less than five minutes.”
Kari hung up the phone and I put my head in my hands as I roared in outrage, “What the fuck?”
“Talk to me.”
“Kari Duke is there; she walked in and Lily was there. She said the babies were screaming and Lena’s not there. Looks like there was a fight or something and there’s blood everywhere.”
“Fuck me. Call the guys.”
My phone rang and I looked down and saw that it was Royal. I answered gruffly and started to tell him what was going on, but he interrupted.
“I’m at the office. Cops are looking around. You’re on the way?”
“Yeah. I’m with Chess. Two minutes out.”
“Tavin’s with me. We’ll call the others.”
I hung up on Royal and slammed into the door as Chess took a corner without hitting the brakes. The truck fishtailed
but he got control and hit the gas again.
We pulled over into the ditch across the road from the entrance to our property since the drive was blocked by a Sheriff’s cruiser. Chess left the truck running for his dog, and he and I hopped out and jogged up to the office where we saw Royal and Tavin standing with Kari Duke and Lily.
Lily fell into Chess’s arms and he held her close as she sobbed into his shirt while I took Bellamy from Kari and looked her over. She was sleeping even with all the activity around her, and she didn’t have a care in the world. I saw that Dylan was asleep in Tavin’s arms, and he looked just fine.
“The cops are in there looking around. They’ve called in detectives. Tavin ran and looked at your house and she’s not there.” Royal ran his hands through his hair. “What the fuck?”
Kari took Bellamy out of my arms as I paced past her.
“Did you see anything?” I asked Kari. “When you were here earlier were there any other cars?”
Kari rested Bellamy at her shoulder and started patting her back.
“When I drove up the first time, there was a car over there.” Kari pointed down the road. “It was half in the ditch, but I didn’t see anyone. I thought it was just a breakdown. I told the policeman about it and gave him the description.”
“We should have thought this through. She shouldn’t have been here alone. Mom did it for years, so I didn’t think about that though. It never crossed my mind. I should have had someone stay here with her all the time. Mom always had at least one of the girls here with her.” I stopped pacing as we watched another patrol car and an unmarked police car drive up and park behind the deputy blocking the driveway. Both the deputy and the one in plain clothes hurried up the driveway. “I should go talk to them.”
“They said to stay out here, they’ll come get us as soon as they can. They’ve got to leave all the shit that’s in there the way it is, we can’t be stomping through.”
I saw that Kari had carried Bellamy a few feet away and she was talking on the phone. Chess still had his arms around Lily, and she was frantically texting on her phone. When she stopped texting, she showed Chess the screen and when he read the message, he looked up at me.
“We need to tell the cops that Lily knows part of the plate that was on that car. She said it was there yesterday when she went to get the mail. She thinks it was there one day last week too.” Chess looked down at the message that Lily was typing and nodded his head at her. “Her Mom is almost here. She can talk to Lily with sign language and make it easier.”
I touched Lily on the arm and used one of the signs I had learned in the last few weeks. I said thank you in sign language, and Lily nodded at me before she looked back down at her phone.
“If the car was there on and off, it wasn’t a drifter or a breakdown. It was someone watching the office.” I muttered out loud. “I don’t remember if I ever saw a car over there. If I had I would remember. It’s not like we have a lot of traffic on this road, cars pulled over out here don’t happen often.”
“Mr. Conner!” One of the police officers was standing just outside the office door and he yelled for me as he waved his arm. When I got closer, he said, “We thought the dog was dead, but he’s waking up. Do you have a vet you trust? I think he’s been shot, and if that’s the case we’ll need him to keep the bullet for evidence.”
“Tavin. Will you call the vet and take the dog in for me?” I asked the brother that was closest to me. “Please. When she gets back, she’ll want to make sure that Wyatt and Josie are both okay.”
“Officer, Lily works in the office and she told us that she noticed a car the other day out parked by the road, and she saw it earlier today too. She remembers part of the plate and has a description.” As I finished speaking, the plain clothes officer came out of the building.
“I’m Detective Amerson. Who saw the car?”
I pointed to Lily. “Her Mom is on the way here now. Lily’s deaf. She can type out texts for you to read, and answer if you have questions for her. She reads lips.”
“Okay. Let me come out and talk to her. Your brother is taking the dog?”
“Yeah.” We watched as Tavin carried Wyatt out to his truck and got into the passenger side. Angus was driving, and as soon as Tavin was in and settled down, Angus took off. “What are you doing to find her? Do I need to call friends to look for her? What do I do?”
“We were looking for a note but haven’t found anything. It looks like the scuffle happened at her desk and went into the hall. There is blood on the door where they found the babies, but nothing in that room was disturbed.” The officer looked down at his notepad. “These are her children?”
“Yes. Ours.”
“It’s my guess, and what we have so far points to this. I think she went willingly to make sure that the babies were left here. Has she argued with anyone lately? Is there anyone holding a grudge against her?”
“Her Stepmother. Nellie Sullivan. Lena is suing her. Had her evicted. They’ve had a rough relationship, and it came to a head just a few months ago.”
The detective was furiously writing in his notepad. I looked up and saw Ralph’s truck speeding up the road toward us and told the officer that the translators were here for Lily. He and I walked farther out into the yard where the family was at and waited on Shirley and Ralph to get to us.
Shirley pulled Lily into her arms and hugged her tightly as the two of them cried. After just a minute, Lily pulled back and started furiously signing to her parents. Shirley spoke the words out loud as Lily signed them.
I stood next to Chess as we watched Lily’s hands speak a language we couldn’t understand. Her fingers were flying, and Shirley would respond with what the officer was asking. Lily would then start up again as Shirley translated out loud.
“I called Sam and Zeke. They’re going to put the word out to their MC, The Texas Knights, and some friends of ours with the Kings that Lena was taken. I gave them the description of the car.”
When Lily paused, I asked Shirley, “Can you think of anyone that might want to take Lena?”
“Nellie. She had to do this. Or she hired it done. It’s her.” Shirley was speaking directly to the officer, and he nodded when he saw how adamant Shirley was that it was Lena’s Stepmother who had arranged this. “Nellie hates her. She comes in twice a week to my diner, and I hear her talking about Lena. I’ve heard her say quite a few times that Lena will get what’s coming to her and then she will get what’s rightfully hers.”
“You said she evicted her Stepmother. Where is the woman living now?”
“I have no idea.” I shook my head. “We haven’t talked to her in a few months, all communication goes through lawyers now.”
“She’s living with my sister in law. She has an apartment over her garage. Nellie is living there. They are church friends.”
“I’ll need that address, if you have it.” The officer told Shirley. Shirley motioned toward Ralph, and he walked over to us and started speaking to the officer as I sat down on the steps.
Lily knew exactly when it was that she had left Lena at the office because she sent a text to Chess before she pulled onto the road. Lena had been gone almost an hour now, and I had no idea where to go or what to do.
“Royal! Can you call each of the foremen, give them the description of the car and what we have on the license plate. Have them call a quick meeting of all employees on their worksite and give out the information. Tell them to look around their neighborhoods and call the cops if they see anything.”
“Good idea.” Royal shifted the baby in his arms and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Fuck. I have to do something.” I jumped up from the porch and paced as my thoughts whirled. “Shit! Officer. Do you have the report where her house was vandalized? It happened a few months ago. We thought then that Nellie had something to do with it, but her prints weren’t there. They did find a print, but they were waiting to see if it came back as anyone.”
The office
r looked up at me in shock and then pulled his phone out of his pocket. As he made a call, I heard Shirley and Ralph arranging to take the babies to my house. I knew Lily had a house key so she would be able to get in, and I trusted the three of them with the kids. I was glad that they were taken care of so I could focus on helping find Lena.
“I have to go home, Finn.” Kari put her hand on my arm to stop me. “My brothers and all their friends will be out looking. The Forresters from The Texas Kings will talk to some of their, um, more unsavory friends and see if anyone has heard anything. We’ll find her and it will be okay.”
“Thanks. I’ll call you if we get any more news.”
Kari nodded and walked to her truck. She spoke to the officers and they moved their car so she could drive out. A new team of police had arrived a few minutes ago, three of them carrying cases and equipment, I assumed to find evidence in the office.
I sat there on the porch with my head in my hands, trying to figure out what to do, where to go, how to find Lena. Ronan, Royal, Mace, and Chess all came to sit on the steps, each of them calling foremen on our job sites to put the word out to look for Lena.
I wanted to find Nellie and choke the fucking life out of her. Kari had said that the office was covered in blood, and I knew not all of that belonged to Wyatt, even though he had been shot. Some of that blood was Lena’s, and I prayed that she didn’t have a bullet in her.
“We know that Lena was the target, Mr. Conner. Ms. Duke’s wallet laying out on the desk, and Lena’s purse is right there on the floor. They didn’t take anything of value.”
“They took Lena. She’s one of the most valuable things of all.”
13.
“My way is the kind of thing that I don’t need witnesses for.”
Clem to Finn
FINN
