Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ihaven’t slept for thirty hours by the time we arrive home. Jack and I took turns driving the entire way, breaking a multitude of traffic laws. My emotions have been a mess, ranging from fear to rage since Bennett’s call. I’m thankful I wasn’t alone otherwise I don’t know how the fuck I would have made it back here. As we pull the U-Haul up to Jack’s house, Bennett, Hadley, Kat and Connor are standing on the front porch waiting for us. Jack carries Ellie since the two of them have become obnoxiously close during the drive. Jack walks toward Bennett who embraces him and presses a kiss to his forehead. Hadley releases Connor and runs up to me wrapping her arms around me, sobbing. I hold her close for a moment before she pulls away.
“What do you know?” I direct the question to Bennett.
“She pulled off on Log Road in a secluded area. There aren”t any cameras back there.” He pauses. “The last communication we have is her calling Hadley after you left.”
Hadley’s sobs become audible, Kat and Connor wrap their arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.
“You told me to fucking leave,” I bark at Bennett. “You told me she’d be safer if I fucking left. This is your fucking fault!” I point at him, rage coating each word. “I swear to whatever fucking god you believe in, if anything happens to her I will fucking end you, motherfucker,” I snarl.
Bennett flinches as I walk forward. I take Ellie from Jack’s arms and walk into the house heading straight upstairs. I put her down on the bed I’ve used when staying here, before quickly grabbing the rest of her things to make sure she’s comfortable. I walk back downstairs to find everyone sitting in Jack’s living room.
Hadley looks up at me with tears in her eyes.
“Greyson, what are we gonna do?” Her voice is weak.
I don’t respond. I can’t. I’m too fucking scared to say anything to her. I glance at Jack and Connor.
“Let’s go.” Connor stands and joins me. Jack hesitates, looking at Bennett. “She’s your fucking sister.” I snarl.
Jack doesn’t say anything as he stands to join us.
“Bennett, you can either come with us to find something or you can stay out of my fucking way because when I find this motherfucker, I’m ending them.” I glare at him before walking out the front door.
I’m at Ry’s desk at her photography studio looking for anything that might help us find her, while Bennett stands behind me doing absolutely nothing helpful. I open her laptop and enter the pin, my birthday. I open it to see her Instagram feed pulled up with five new notifications, all for separate posts.
Under a photo of Ry and I at the beach.
@IngridsPerfection It breaks my heart that you think you can stay away from me
One I took of Ry laying on my bare chest before we came back to Central Falls.
@IngridsPerfectionI can’t help wonder what you’d feel like
A picture from when I first came home, before we even started dating.
@IngridsPerfection You’re supposed to be mine
A candid she took of me with the caption, I’ve always been yours.
@IngridsPerfectionLiar
The photo we took of us kissing before I left this last time.
@IngridsPerfectionHe can’t have you
“What the fuck,” I growl looking over my shoulder at Bennett who looks mortified. “You didn’t bother checking her fucking social media?”
He doesn’t respond to me, just pulls his phone out of his pocket, making a call.
“I want the entire fucking department here, now. They were supposed to have gone through all of her things. Why the fuck are we finding this now? She’s the closest thing I have to a sister and y”all are treating the case like it’s a joke,” he spews through the phone.
I keep staring at the screen. I click on the profile to see photo after photo of the same figure. It’s a woman, she’s got a killer body but no face is shown in any of the pictures. I pull my phone from my pocket to call Kat knowing Hadley won’t be able to talk.
“Hello?” she whispers into the phone, her voice sounding so broken.
“Is everything ok?” My heart stutters in my chest and I hold in a breath afraid something else has happened.
“Yea, Hadley fell asleep, What’s up?” she asks and I release my breath.
“We found something but I’m not sure what it is. I’m going to send you an Instagram link. Tell me if you recognize anything.” I send the link and she goes quiet as she pulls the phone from her ear to look at the screen. After a long moment, she gasps. “I recognize this lingerie. Go back a month or two on Ryan’s posts. She did a shoot using that set. I’m not sure if it’s the same person but it’s not a set I’ve seen very often.”
I scroll back on the computer looking for the same thing the Ingrid person is wearing and I come across an image Ryan posted not long after I first arrived. Same lingerie set, same body.
“I’ve gotta go, thanks Kat.” I disconnect the call before she has a chance to respond.
“Bennett, look at this.” I bring the two pictures side by side.
“What the fuck?” It’s all he says before a handful of people wearing CFPD uniforms walk into the studio.