by Cee Bowerman
“Will you take care of the kids for a while?” I asked Shirley as I walked into my house. No, it was mine and Lena’s house. I could see the changes she had made all over the place. There were new pillows and a blanket, she called it a ‘throw’, on the back of the couch. There were framed pictures here and there throughout the house, shots of my brothers and me with the babies in the month since their birth.
Not one of the pictures had Lena in it though, I realized now. She was always the one behind the camera. I needed to change that if she came home to us.
No. Not if. When. When she came home to us. She had been gone for three hours now, and I had just gotten permission from the cops to leave the office while they finished up gathering evidence.
“Of course. I’ve called in extra staff at the diner, and I’m here for as long as you need me. Ralph left. He and some of his friends are out riding around town, looking for that car. We don’t know what else to do.”
I looked over to see Lily asleep on the couch. Occasionally she would make a soft noise, and sniff. She had been inconsolable since the police questioned her, blaming herself for being gone too long, or for not being in the office at all when the trouble happened.
“Will she be okay?”
“She will. I’ll make sure of it. Your brother has been very kind to her. He told me to tell you that the rest of your family is meeting down at his house. They’re planning to go looking like my Ralph and his friends are doing.”
“Let me run grab some things and I will head over there. I don’t know what else to do.”
I walked past Shirley and went to mine and Lena’s bedroom. As I walked in, I had to close my eyes and pause when her smell hit me. The lotion she used every morning left a lingering scent in our room, and I loved it. I loved her.
Had I told her this morning? I had been running late when I left, after having to change my shirt because Dylan spit up after his bottle. I remembered being grumpy that I had puke on me, yet again. I handed the baby to her, covered in his own puke, and had walked into the bedroom in a huff. I wasn’t mad at her or Dylan at all, just stressed out about the meeting I was headed to, knowing that it would make a horrible impression if I was late.
I remembered walking through the living room and realizing that she was back in the nursery with the kids. I had glanced down at my watch, realized I could make it if I hurried, and then I had jogged out the door to my truck and headed over to my meeting.
I hadn’t even kissed her goodbye or told her I loved her this morning.
Son of a bitch! I thought to myself as I ran my fingers through my hair. The last thing she saw of me this morning was my grumpy face bitching about baby puke. And now she was gone. Fuck!
What if she was dead? What would we do without her? How would the kids, my brothers and I get through another loss so close to losing our family? I couldn’t take it. I knew that. I couldn’t lose Lena, ever.
I heard someone walking into the room behind me and then felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Lily standing there, tears dried on her face, and more in her eyes.
“What, honey?” I asked her quietly, knowing she couldn’t hear me but could read my lips.
She pointed to my chest and then drew a heart over my left nipple. She made the motion to drive, and then pointed to her eyes and then pointed down to the floor.
“You want me to go find Lena and bring her home?” I asked Lily.
She shrugged, and I could tell I only had it half right.
She drew another heart on my chest and then waved toward the wall.
“My heart is out there? Yeah. Lena is my heart.”
Lily looked up to the ceiling and then made a steeple with her hands as if she was praying.
“You want me to pray for her?” I asked.
“She’s saying go and find your heart. Have faith. I think.” Chess said from the doorway behind Lily.
Lily saw my attention was behind her and turned around and looked.
“Are you telling him to follow his heart and have faith?” Chess asked her.
Lily nodded quickly and smiled at me. She put her hand behind my bicep and nudged me toward my brother as she made a shooing motion with her hand.
I reached down and pulled the young woman to my chest in a crushing hug.
She was right. My heart was out there, and she needed me. Here I sat wallowing in my own pity, wondering what I was going to do without her instead of going out and finding her to bring her home to me.
I let Lily go and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled and shook her head and again pointed to the doorway. I saw Chess smile and give a little wave at Lily before he turned around and hurried through the front door. We both waved goodbye to Shirley, and then we were outside.
“Some of your friends are here. Sam, Zeke, and a few other bikers showed up about five minutes ago. They have a map of the city and are going to chart out the areas for us to look at, so we cover everything. They’ve already got some men out looking outside of town, just cruising the dirt roads looking for that car, I guess.”
Chess and I walked into his house, and I saw that there were at least ten men there besides my brothers, all of them dressed in jeans and t-shirts, with leather vests over their clothes telling me which club they belonged to. Sam and Zeke were part of The Texas Knights MC, a club their father had started. Some other men I had also gone to school with were here, Bird and Kale, who belonged to the motorcycle club their father had started, The Texas Kings MC.
“Finn.” Bird Forrester nodded at me as I walked up to look at the map they had laying out on the bar. I didn’t recognize any of the other men but realized that their names were on patches that were sewn onto the front of their leather vests.
A man named Grunt was marking sections on the large map in front of us and then writing down the names of who he was assigning to go over that area. I was so glad to see that people were actively looking for Lena. I knew the cops were on it but having these men on our side made me feel so much better. I remembered that a while back, Sam’s girlfriend had been kidnapped, and they were able to figure out where she was before she was hurt too badly. I hoped and prayed that we would be able to do the same thing for Lena.
“She’s been gone for a couple of hours now, almost five to be exact. Whoever has her probably thinks they’ve gotten away with it.” Sam Duke addressed the men around him gravely. “If we can find the car, we can find who has her. We don’t know a lot yet, but Chandler, our computer guru is trying to figure out the rest of that license plate so we can get a name on who might have her.”
All of the men around the table nodded, as they watched Grunt mark up the map in front of him.
“Need two men to ride together at all times. One of you watch the houses while the other drives slow. If you can’t see into it, get out and look in the garage windows and over the fence to make sure we don’t miss the car. Talk to the neighbors you see, tell them what you’re looking for. Give a description of the girl. Listen to what is around you, maybe you can hear something that doesn’t fit.” Grunt paused and took a drink of his water. “We’ve got some more men on their way into town, and I’ll stay here and direct them out as they show up. Keep in touch with me and let me know what you find. Don’t take any risks. We don’t need one of you getting shot while you nose around their property. When it starts to get dark, meet back here and we’ll do things a little differently. Kari will have food and drink here for us by then. We’ll refuel, go over what we know and start again and work through the night.”
All my brothers nodded their heads at the biker’s instructions, and within just a few minutes I was in my truck with a big guy named Hank. We went to our ‘assigned’ area and I started cruising down the street slowly, looking for the black car. When we came to a house with a garage, Hank would jump out and go peer through the windows. Occasionally, for reasons I hadn’t figured out, he would occasionally ask me to stop so he could go up a driveway and look over their fence.
He and I didn
’t make conversation, other than to figure out where to go next, and that was fine with me. Thoughts of Lena were running through my mind, the worries eating at me until my stomach was churning and my head felt like it was going to explode.
As we turned to go down another street, two motorcycles were headed our way. Hank told me to stop and flash my lights, and the motorcycles pulled up beside me as I did. I recognized the two men as the other Forrester brothers. They were related to Bird and Kale who had been at my house earlier.
“Hey man, thanks for helping.” Clem said after he and his brother both turned their bikes off. We were in the middle of the street, but neither of the two seemed to care. I looked at him confused for a second, and then Hank answered for me.
“It’s his old lady who got taken.” Hank said loudly across the cab of the truck so that Clem could hear him.
Clem tilted his head and stared at me for a second.
“I didn’t realize that. Your girl is Lisa or something like that, right? Did you look at the asshole from the diner?”
“Her name is Lena.” I corrected him. “What are you talking about?”
“At The Station. I saw you guys there a few days ago. A man was creeping up on your woman, and she told him to back off. He didn’t listen so I told him a different way. She didn’t tell you?”
“No!” I said with a shout. “Who was the guy?”
“Fuck, I don’t remember his name, but she knew it.” Clem shook his head as he tried to think. “She knew him, told him she didn’t like him when she worked there. Called him crazy, and it pissed him off. That’s when I got into it and ran him off. She shook my hand and I went in to do my business. When I came out of the bathroom she was sitting at your table.”
“She didn’t say anything to me. It had to be the guy that worked there. When we walked in he was glaring at us, and she said he was creepy.” I pulled my phone out and opened it to call Shirley. And then I asked Clem, “Can you come to my house and talk to the cops? Tell them what you heard?”
“Sure. Why don’t I ride there with you, Hank take my bike and go with Daughtry and see if that little fucker is at the diner.” Clem got off his motorcycle and made his way around the truck without another word. He hopped into the cab and I took off for home, barely able to control my speed on the way there.
When we got to the house, I jumped out and took off for the front door. Clem wasn’t far behind me, and I saw Ralph and a few of his friends parking just up the road. I was glad to see that Detective Amerson was inside talking to Shirley.
“Do you have anything?” I asked the Detective.
“I was just telling your friend here; the Aunt has an alibi. She’s out of town with her friend at a doctor’s appointment.” Shirley looked up at me sadly. “We’ll have to explore other options.”
“Wait a minute.” Shirley’s husband Ralph said from behind me. “She said she was with her friend? Which friend?”
Detective Amerson looked down. “The woman she rents from, a Mrs. …”
“No. She rents from my brother and sister in law. She’s not with them. My brother can’t stand that bitch and would never get in a car to go on a trip with her. Hell, he can barely stand to have his fucking wife around him, let alone the hags she runs with, but he needs someone to drive him home after his treatments.” Ralph pulled his phone out and called his brother. He gave it a second to ring and then said, “Give me a second, little brother.”
Ralph pushed a button to put the phone on speaker, and then asked his brother, “Is Nellie with you?”
“Oh, hell no. I wouldn’t take that bitch on a car ride to the fucking store, let alone for six hours to Dallas.” Ralph’s brother laughed. “Why? Who’d she piss off now?”
I could hear the phone shuffling and then Ralph’s brother say, “Why the fuck would I lie about where Nellie is? I’m not lying for that bitch.”
Detective Amerson’s eyes shot up to mine and he grimaced.
Ralph’s brother, Charlie, put the phone back to his mouth and spoke to us. “Apparently, we’re supposed to be her alibi for something, but all that says to me is that it is well past time for a fucking divorce. What did the bitch do anyway?”
Detective Amerson spoke quickly, “Sir, does your wife have her phone? Can you please make sure she doesn’t call anyone and give them a warning that we know what’s going on?”
We could hear a scuffle and then a woman scream before Charlie chuckled.
“Phone’s on the highway somewhere now. It bounced around at seventy miles an hour, so I don’t think she could use it anyway. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get the opportunity. Ralph, you’ve got a spare key to my properties, use them. Officer, you have permission to do whatever you need to do to find Nellie. Go into my house, the apartment, the garage, the cabin. Whatever.
“Your nephew. That’s his son?” I asked Ralph, but Charlie could hear me.
“Stepson. Little fucker.”
“What does he drive?” I asked Charlie.
“Just traded his car in last week. He got little black four-door. A foreign piece of shit.” Charlie spat out like a blasphemy. “What did he do now?”
Detective Amerson told Charlie that we wanted to ask him about a disappearance, but the woman shrieking in the background was getting louder.
“Shut the fuck up, goddamn it. If that little shit has done something, then good riddance.” There was another scuffle and the phone moved around. We could hear Charlie roar at his wife, “I’ll drop your fat ass off in the middle of the goddamn country if you put your fucking hand on me again.”
When he finally spoke again, all was quiet, and he said something that chilled me to the bone.
“Ronnie is spending the weekend with his new girlfriend. My wife said they had a disagreement and he wanted to take her to the cabin and settle things once and for all.” I could hear the fear in Charlie’s voice. “If he’s got your woman, you need to find them now.”
Shirley gasped and put her hands over her mouth. “Oh, my God. No.”
Ralph pulled her into his arms and rested his cheek against the top of her head.
Detective Amerson talked to Charlie for a few more seconds, and then he hung up the phone.
“Sir. I need to know where that cabin is.” Ralph nodded and followed the officer into the kitchen.
“You know where the cabin is?” Clem asked Shirley quietly. She nodded. Clem continued as he held his hand out to Shirley. “Tell me.”
Shirley and Clem walked outside together, and I followed them. Shirley explained how to get to her brother-in-law’s cabin, and then answered a few questions Clem had.
“Let’s go.” I told Clem as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. I saw him look behind me, and I turned to see his brother, Daughtry and Hank walking outside to join us.
“Cops need a warrant, then they’ve got to get their shit together and put on their fancy uniforms before they go arrest some guy and then take five years to slap him on the wrist or say he’s too crazy to serve time. We don’t have to get dressed up and we don’t slap on the wrist.” Clem put the phone up to his ear and spoke to whoever answered, telling them the location of the cabin. He hung the phone up and nodded at his brother and friend. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. Hopefully with your woman. You stay here so you’ve got a good alibi, just in case there’s a need for one.”
“No. I’ll come with you.”
Clem shook his head. “No. This isn’t your type of shit, Conner. And that’s okay. I’m going to take care of things my way, and that’s not something you need to see. My way is the kind of thing that I don’t need witnesses for.”
With those parting words, all three men went to their bikes and roared away.
“Let’s keep that information between us, okay?” I asked Shirley.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I just came out to see if they had any smokes to sneak to me. I quit a few years ago, but in times like this I really crave one.”
&nb
sp; I moved past Shirley and reached into the mailbox. I pulled out a wrinkled pack of cigarettes and a book of matches.
“Same. I quit ages ago, but since the accident I find myself out here occasionally having a calming smoke.” I tapped one out of the package and handed it to her, then tapped out one of my own. “Shitty habit, and when this pack is gone, I’m not buying anymore.”
“She loves you, those babies and your brothers more than she loves herself, you know?” Shirley asked me as I lit the match. She took a long drag of the cigarette and closed her eyes as she exhaled. “She’s strong. Whatever he’s doing to her, she’ll get through it. She’ll need us all though, no matter what he did.”
I nodded my head.
“If he, well, if he touches her, will you be able to get past that?”
My eyes snapped up to hers, and I frowned. “Fuck. Of course. I love her.”
“She might not think she’s worthy of you for some reason. When stuff like that happens, a girl starts to doubt everything and everyone around her. You’ll have to fight that demon alongside her.” Shirley looked at her husband through the large picture window. I saw her smile softly. “With a good man beside her, a girl can get through just about anything.”
~*~
Bellamy and Dylan cooed softly beside me as I shook one of their little toys above them. Since Detective Amerson had left my house five hours ago, I had been in my room with the kids. Occasionally one of my brothers would come in, especially when the kids started to fuss for bottles.
Shirley had come in with a plate of food. I declined it and refused to let her leave it on the nightstand, telling her I wasn’t hungry. Less than five minutes later, Lily came in and sat down on the side of the bed. She was holding the plate in one hand and had a bite of food on a fork aimed at my mouth before I could even protest. It was either, open my mouth and be fed like a child, or I was sure she was going to stab me in the face. I took the bite and glared at her, she glared back and forked up another bite from the plate.
I scooted up to rest against the headboard and snatched the fork and plate out of her hands as I glared at her. She watched me, and then made a motion with her hand that I was sure meant, ‘Get on with it then.’ I rolled my eyes and ate all the damn food. She smiled at me sweetly and took the empty plate and fork away.
