4. Tripp
With the helpof the Sheriff’s Office, we were able to find out what kind of a case Casey was on.
My boy, Phoenix, who wears many hats like his old man, made a few calls to people he knew and got us even more information on the perp.
The asshole she was following was a real piece of work. His rap sheet was nothing compared to the list of charges he’d managed to skirt.
My mind raced with scenarios. The more I thought through them, the worse they got. We’d be too late to find her. She’d be dead. Her body mutilated, scavenged by animals; it would unrecognizable by the time we found her.
Talk about wanting to punch yourself in the head. Gabe’s grandson, the whiz kid, had been able to obtain her DMV information. Her car was a newer model that had a tracking/monitoring system in it. One of those I’d seen on TV but wouldn’t want in mine.
With the click of a few keys, he’d been able to lock onto the system and get us a location. It had been almost forty-eight hours since she was last seen. Everyone in that office knew the first twenty-four was your best window. But I’d take what we could get.
Trace and his girlfriend, Stella, both of whom Phoenix helped out, had come in, a big dog with them. Apparently, she was a sniffer dog. She’d help us track down my girl. Again, I’d take all the help I could get.
I’d made a promise to Scooter last night. I’d find her. I’d bring her home. And after that I’d sit down with her and start to fix what I’d fucked up many years before.
Gabe drove his SUV, taking the turns as they were given. The others were behind us. When her car came into view, my heart hammered.
“There’s nothing out here but the old junkyard,” Gabe said, pulling over to the curb. His lights would alert anyone coming up the road that people were out here.
I jumped out, my boots flattening the vegetation under them. With everyone here, we spread out. Trace, Stella, Callum, and Trace’s EMT cousin, who came up with a big orange bag around him. The twin deputies and Gabe looked at a map of the area before we all split up. The field before us was full of overgrowth, tall grass, vines, and God only knew what else.
It only took about twenty minutes for the dog to start barking. We all ran for where she was. The birds had taken flight at the sudden cacophony of high-pitched alerts.
I fell to my knees before her. Her hair was a tangled mess, her bun hanging to the side, limp. There was blood on her pants, her hands, her chin.
“Jesus, baby, what happened to you?”
“Tripp…”
I caught her as she passed out.
“Let me in.” Callum fell to his knees, his hands making quick work of assessing her injuries. He winced as he pulled a pair of scissors from the bag and cut the material over her leg.
“What do you see?” Gabe asked, his radio in his hand.
“Cuts, abrasions, but this, she’s going to need to be seen by a doctor. This gash needs to be irrigated and stitched up.”
“Hospital is forty-five minutes away. Doc’s place is only twenty. Is that doable?”
“Yeah, Shelby can do a better assessment, X-rays if needed and get it stitched up.” He went to work wrapping her leg. The pain brought her back to the here and now. She was a fighter. I had to pin her arms.
“Hey, whoa, baby. It’s me. You’ve got a bad gash. He’s just patching it up. Look at me.”
Her blue eyes met mine, and the tears in them broke something in my chest. “Are you okay? Hurt anywhere else?”
“My ankle…are you really here, or am I hallucinating?”
The need to kiss her swamped me. Was this the right time? No. Was it the right place? Again, no. I did it anyway. Her soft lips parted, and I kissed her deeply before pulling back.
“It’s really me. You’ve been gone, out of reach for a couple of days. Scooter called me.”
“I was stuck—my phone—shit.”
I cupped her cheeks. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”
“We can move her now. Sheriff, if you don’t mind, I’ll call Dr. McKenna and update her.”
“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”
I scooped her up off the ground, her groans spiking my anger. She’d been hurt, and without the help of the people around me, I’d never have found her on my own.
We were going to have a nice long talk about this—once she was looked after.
“Good news, the gash is deep but not so deep it’s going to cause you any permanent damage. I’ve irrigated it, pretty sure I got all the debris out. It might leave a scar, if it does, I don’t see it being all that noticeable.”
She looked between the doctor and me. “If it scars, that’s okay. It’ll serve as a reminder that I’m not a damn monkey. I don’t know where it all went wrong.”
“What made you go up that tree?” I asked, still trying to put all of the pieces together.
“I don’t know. Temporary insanity?”
I chuckled, stood, and held my hand out to shake the doctor’s hand.
“Thank you.”
“Yes, thank you.” Casey sat up, wiggling to get to the edge of the table.
“It’s what I’m here for. You’ll need to rest that leg and let those cuts and scrapes heal as well. You can shower, but I’d like you to keep the bandages on while you do. Then change them as quickly as possible. We don’t want the stitches submerged. So a quick, efficient shower.”
“Yes, ma’am, I’ve had to deal with stitches before. I can’t believe this has happened.”
“It’s okay. Accidents happen.” She smiled.
“Shelby…” There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
An elderly man came in, a pair of crutches in his hand. “Ms. Hughes, I have a pair of crutches for you. No weight on that ankle for a few days, then ease back into putting pressure on it. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Here’s a script for pain meds, antibiotics, and an ankle brace. I’m sorry that we’re out of them. The pharmacy in Lufkin has them. I called to make sure.”
“Thank you. I’ll go get it for her.”
“I can go?—”
“You can’t drive. I’ll take you.” That was as far as I was willing to compromise.
She scowled, but I ignored it. When Dr. McKenna was done, I helped her out to my Jeep. She was wobbly but determined to do it on her own. I let her. If I couldn’t trust her to know her limits, then I wouldn’t get her to trust me when I said I was trying to be different. Not to be so in charge all the time.
“Are you hungry?” I asked climbing into the driver’s seat.
“Foooood…” she drew the word out then turned to me. “I could eat.”
I chuckled. My phone was in the console, the map pulled up with directions to the pharmacy.
“I’d rather get the meds and brace, then get food on the way home. I miss my little munchkin. I wanna get home quickly.”
“Alright, we can do that.”
It took us about an hour to get to Lufkin, get the scripts, and head back to Burke. She had me stop at a place called Border’s Barbecue Pit. My mouth started watering the second I got out of the Jeep. The smell of cooking meats; how had I not been here before? My kid was holding out on me.
There were so many options, I couldn’t choose. After talking with one of the helpful staff, I ended up getting three sampler platters. Each one came with thick slices of brisket, chopped pork, brisket burnt ends, two sausages, a barbecued chicken leg quarter, and three sides. I got one with their three-cheese mac-n-cheese, pinto beans, and fried potatoes. One with slaw, baked beans, and potato salad. And the other with green beans, macaroni salad, and fries.
There were three adults eating but also her daughter. What kid doesn’t like mac-n-cheese and fries? I may have gotten a handful of desserts too. There’s no way in hell I was passing up pound cake of any kind, and I got the little one a big frosted sugar cookie.
The amount of money I’d just spent on food would curl some people’s toes. I’m from Vegas though. Spending a hundred and some odd bucks on good food is normal. One reason I try to find little mom-and-pop places to eat. Least I know they’ll be giving me a top notch product for my money.
Casey gave me directions to her place. Going through Burke and then into Diboll was a straight shot. I made two turns and then we stopped in front of a small ranch-style house. The yard was well kept. There were flowerbeds full of blooming plants. A playset in the backyard, which I could see from here. It was cozy looking. Much better than the tiny house I rented on the outskirts of town.
Desert living wasn’t for everyone though.
I parked, got out, and helped her out. With my hands full with the bags, I followed her to the stairs. The door opened, and Scooter came out, moving to his sister. He gave her a big hug, his body vibrating with worry. I’d called him, let her talk to him, but I got it. Hearing someone say they’re okay was nothing compared to seeing it for yourself. He helped her inside and got her settled on the couch.
The living room was small but not cluttered as I’d thought it would be with a little one around. I remembered the days of tripping over trucks and stepping on LEGOS. That was parental torture for sure.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Scooter asked, his voice low.
“Yes, I promise you, I’m fine. Starving, but fine.”
“I’ve got food; where’s the plates and silverware?”
“I’ll get it. What do you want to drink, sis?”
“Water, please.”
“Tripp, you want a beer?”
I shook my head. “No, no thanks. Water is fine.”
Did I want a beer? After today, I wanted a bottle of Jack, but I needed to stop with the bad decisions. It wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
“Did you buy out the place?” he asked, handing me a bottle.
I chuckled. “Nah, I left some. I hope the little one likes mac-n-cheese and fries. I got green beans too. They assured me there was nothing spicy in any of this.”
“She loves green beans and mac-n-cheese. Thank you,” Casey responded, stalking hard. I watched her for a moment. Scooter looked from her to me and then back again.
Okay, that was weird.
“What do you want, Case?”
“All of it.” She grinned. “Just a little of each though. There is no bad food from Ms. Nettie’s. It’s the local hidden gem.”
“I can see and smell why.” Scooter and I set out to fix plates. I sat on the floor beside the couch, helping her hold her plate until she had it where she wanted it. Her left hand had a bandage on the thumb. It was hurting her, but she was determined to chow down. I couldn’t blame her.
After a good portion of the food was in our bellies, I asked the question I needed to know most.
“Care to explain your temporary insanity?”
She grimaced. “Man, if I could go back and redo something, it would be that. I got up there to see inside the junkyard. The wall kept me from seeing in. My guy was in there.” She took another bite and closed her eyes. “In hindsight, I should have done so many things differently. I’m not new to this gig. Rookie mistake.”
“You didn’t leave a note this time.”
“I was only planning on being gone for a few hours. Honest. I hate that you were left worrying about me. It was a shitty move on my part.” She sighed. “Next time, I’ll leave a note and if at all possible, I’m never climbing a tree like that again. Unless I have to.”
“I vote for your ass staying on the ground.” I shrugged.
“Like you’ve never done stupid shit on a case.”
I shrugged again. I had no defense there, I had, and she knew it. “I’m just gonna plead the fifth.” I shoved a piece of bread in my mouth and chewed. I’d once hung from a fifth story window, hiding from an asshole determined to put a knife in me. Now that wasn’t something I did often, but it helped me understand what she was saying.
Couldn’t call a spot a spot if I’d got the same spot.
“Did you get what you needed?” Scooter asked her. He was watching his plate and not his sister, but I saw it. A look of worry crossed her face.
“I’m not sure yet. Hopefully. Guess it’s not up to me to make the call. I’ll upload everything and see where we go from there. I might have to do a little more tailing.” She shrugged.
Her attempt at nonchalance didn’t fool me. There was something she wasn’t telling us. I’d figure out what soon enough.
You can’t shit a bullshitter, sweetheart. I’m going to be on you like white on rice.