Chapter 16
Grayson hoped the news from Rowland was good. He prayed the kidnapped women were all right.
“They’re alive,” Rowland said.
Both Grayson and Kendra breathed a sigh of relief.
“Where were they found?” Kendra asked.
“Both Younger and Billy’s scents were at the house where the female teens were locked in cages in the basement. They’re at the hospital in good condition, dehydrated, malnourished, but otherwise okay physically, but psychologically, that’s another matter.”
“It’s great that you found them when you did and got them medical attention,” Grayson said, thrilled they’d rescued them. “Do you have other confirmation that will prove Younger and his stepson were involved in kidnapping the girls?”
“Yeah. All three girls identified Younger and Billy’s photos from a mugshot book.
The girls said that they used the same ruse on them as they did on Ivy.
Billy messaged them to meet him in Kalispell.
Younger was with him each time, though, and they took each of the girls a week apart to the location to incarcerate them. ”
“What were they going to do with them?” Grayson hated to ask, but he had to know what would have become of Ivy, should she not have gotten away from them.
“They were trafficking them. The girls said they spoke about it being easy money. Younger planned to hand them over to a buyer once they had five girls. That was the deal with the boss who is sending them to private homes for domestic servitude, but who knows what else. We just have to find Younger and Billy and learn who the boss is.”
“So Ivy would have been number four. Then we rescued Anne. How did you manage to find them?” Grayson asked.
“Uh, Amy and Cedric both had psychic visions about the house and cages. We immediately checked it out and found them there.”
Kendra was frowning and shook her head. “I’m so glad we stopped them from getting Anne, and that Ivy freed herself. If Younger and Billy had managed to keep the two of them, they would have had their quota of girls and been gone before we could find them.”
Grayson reached over to squeeze Kendra’s hand. “We stopped them from doing that, and now they’ll have to find another place to store the women/girls they grab, and they’re stuck starting all over again.”
Rowland said, “We put out a news report, warning the public of what these two are up to as far as grabbing Ivy, being secretive about the others as if we didn’t know that they had been locked up at the house, or in Anne’s case, tried to take her, and what they look like.
I’ve got to go. We’ve got the girls at the hospital, and they’re under guard.
We won’t report the news about the rescued girls until we have to, and we have the house where they were being held hostage under surveillance.
If Younger or Billy returns to the house with another girl or to feed the ones they think are still being held in cages, we’ll grab them. ”
“Do you need our help?” Grayson asked.
Kendra frowned at him.
“No. Enjoy your sister's birthday party. I just wanted to let you know the other girls are safe.”
“We appreciate it.” Then Grayson and Rowland ended the call. He knew Kendra was going to be mad at him, but he meant to help Rowland and his officers tomorrow, not while he and Kendra were enjoying his sister’s birthday.
“Well?” Kendra asked.
“Tomorrow. That’s what I meant.”
Kendra sighed. “All right.”
“I’m not skipping my sister’s birthday for anything.”
“Okay, good.”
He chuckled. “I want to get these bastards, but we can get back to it tomorrow.”
“I’m all for that. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
“Hey, no worries. I want that bastard and his stepson more than you can know. But we’re not the only ones who are working on the case,” he said.
Then he pulled into the drive of his brick home, surrounded by woods and sitting on Whitefish Lake.
“Is your home close to your dad’s place?”
“Yeah, we have 20-acre lots, and his home is next door. My brother’s place is on the other side of Dad’s.”
She went with him, while Grayson carried her bag inside and took it to his bedroom, wanting to make sure she knew she was staying with him. Unless, of course, she didn’t want to.
He grabbed the gift for Ivy and his own skates and headed out of the bedroom. “Are you ready to go to my dad’s place?”
“I sure am. Uhm, do we tell Ivy about the other girls?”
“Yeah. I think the more she knows about these guys, the more she’ll be aware of what’s out there and not be so na?ve. But we’ll talk to her privately. And she has to swear she won’t tell anyone. It will be the same with the rescued girls’ families.”
“Will everyone be quiet about it?” Kendra asked.
“For sure. They want these bastards caught.”
Kendra agreed. “I never believed in keeping a secret like this from someone who could be affected by it. Plus, it gives her a little bit of resolution. Now the police have lots more evidence against Younger and Billy.”
“I just hope they can get the man who orchestrated all of this. Otherwise, he’ll just get some more henchmen to work for them. Actually, he probably has a lot of others working for him already.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Then Kendra got a call from Amy. She put it on speakerphone as they headed out to Grayson’s SUV. “Hey, Amy, we heard you and Cedric found the girls.”
“Yeah, we got lucky. We both had visions of the house. Different ones, so combined, we were able to figure out the location.”
“That’s great. Did Cedric find the escaped prisoner he was helping law enforcement with?”
“Yeah. He’s back in jail.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“What are you doing now?” Amy asked.
Kendra glanced at Grayson as they climbed into his vehicle. “We’re going to Ivy’s birthday party. Sweet sixteen.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet. Have fun, and I’ll keep in touch if I see anything that pertains to any of you.
The same with Cedric. Since we had visions about the missing girls, we might now start to have more visions about this situation.
We were on our way to an ice cream parlor when it hit us.
The house was only a couple of miles away from there. ”
“Oh, wow. I sure wish I had your abilities,” Kendra said.
“Me too,” Grayson chimed in.
“Well, I’m glad we can help. I’ll let you both go to enjoy your time with Ivy and the rest of your family.”
“Thanks. We’ll tell you when we’re available to look into this again,” Grayson said. “But if you have any news, please get in touch with us.”
“We sure will,” Amy said.
Then they ended the call as Grayson pulled into his father’s driveway. “I’m not sure which vehicles we’ll take to the rink. We can just leave our skates in the SUV for now, but we’ll bring our gifts.”
“That makes sense.”
They went to the front door, and Grayson knocked, even though the Ring doorbell announced their arrival. Ivy met them at the door, ushering them in. “Four of my friends are here. I asked some others, but they were busy.”
Grayson was glad she had gotten that many to agree to come. She went to a regular high school, but mostly had close friends who were bear shifters like her.
Marcus drove up beside Grayson’s car and joined them inside, carrying pizzas for everyone. “Happy birthday, Ivy,” everyone said, before they took their pizzas, water, and sodas out to the back deck to eat.
Balloons and flowers decorated the deck and tables, making it feel like a garden party.
Ivy loved planting flowers, making bouquets, drying them, and pressing them for artwork.
She had even been painting floral watercolors, which were displayed around the deck like an outdoor art show, and everyone thought they were beautiful.
The dining room and living room were filled with glowing, bubble balloons and a large banner wishing Ivy a happy 16th birthday.
She was beaming, wearing a flowery boho shirt and shorts under a short skirt like the other girls, so they wouldn’t have to change into something else that would work for roller skating afterward. Kendra wore a pretty floral shirt and long pants.
Grayson’s dad, brother, and he wore jeans and T-shirts, nothing really formal about them. But they were guys.
“You’re going to be all right skating, aren’t you?” Grayson asked his sister because she still had a cast on her arm.
“Yeah. I’m not going to fall.”
Her friends had already written well-wishes on it and drawn numerous, colorful flowers and butterflies. It looked like a piece of artwork now.
Once they finished their pizzas, Dad asked Ivy, “Do you want to have your birthday cake now and open presents, or after the roller-skating party?”
“Now!” Ivy said, and the other girls agreed.
Marcus lit all the candles, and Ivy blew them out as everyone sang her a happy birthday. Grayson removed the candles.
Kendra began cutting slices of cake while Grayson scooped ice cream for everyone who wanted it—the choices: chocolate, vanilla, chocolate-mint, and strawberry.
Marcus served up glasses of milk while Dad put out napkins and forks on the dining room table.
After they ate their ice cream and slices of cake, Ivy was eager to open her presents from everyone.
The girls had given her bracelets and necklaces.
She loved all of them, but when Kendra gave her the heart earrings, she hugged them to her breast and hugged Kendra.
She was already wearing gold hoop earrings, but she swapped them for the crystal heart ones.
She was wearing all of the other jewelry from her girlfriends too.
Marcus gave her a whole new set of paintbrushes and watercolor paints. Grayson handed her his package, and she ripped off the floral paper to discover the new roller skates. She loved both her brothers’ gifts and gave them hugs.
Then her dad gave her the keys to a car. She beamed and embraced him warmly. “You can drive all right with the cast on your arm?”
“Yeah, sure. It’s no problem. Can I drive the girls to the roller-skating rink?”
“Nope. Sorry. You need to get your regular driver’s license.
Not until you’ve been driving for a year, and had no accidents, can you take friends in your car.
” Their dad was adamant about it. She could drive by herself or with a family member, but not with other young people in her car.
He didn’t want her distracted while she drove.
He had done the same thing with Marcus and Grayson when they began driving at that age.
She made an exaggerated sigh. But she knew that was the stipulation for her getting a car at sixteen. Plus, she still only had her learner’s permit and would take her regular driving license test next week, hopefully passing. Until then, she had to drive with a licensed adult driver.
“My dad said the same thing,” Lily Mae said, one of Ivy’s best friends.
“Yeah,” Jenny said. “I think it’s a grizzly bear thing. Others that are strictly humans don’t have as strict parents.”
The other two girls, Sarah and Betsy, agreed.
Grayson was glad that the other bear families felt the same way and didn’t sway Ivy to fight with her own family over it.
“Can I take Kendra with me then?” Ivy asked.
“Sure, she is a trusted, licensed adult,” Grayson said.
Ivy twisted her mouth for a second, then smiled. “Grayson, you can come too because you and Kendra need to be together.”
There she was, matchmaking again.
The girls all giggled.
Then they grabbed their skates and headed out to the cars. The other girls went with Dad and Marcus. And Grayson and Kendra got to ride in the new Jeep Cherokee. It smelled great!
“Wow, I love your Jeep,” Kendra said.
“I do too,” Grayson added.
“I couldn’t be any happier,” Ivy said.
When they arrived at the skating rink, she parked as far out and away from other cars as she could.
They laughed. “I don’t blame you,” Kendra said. “I did that for weeks after I bought my new car. I just didn’t want others to bang up the car doors.”
“Me too.” Grayson wondered how many others did the same thing.
Everyone grabbed their roller skates and met up with the others, then went inside to put them on and store their shoes.
Inside, the roller-skating rink was rainbow-lit while pop music played overhead. All ages were skating across the smooth floor on polyurethane wheels, and it was perfect for his sixteen-year-old sister’s birthday. All of the girls loved to skate.
It was also, for him and Kendra, an unexpectedly great place for a date. At first, he’d worried—his last venture at skating was when he was in high school, and all he recalled was falling a few times after not having skated for a few years. With a date would be such an embarrassment.
But he was younger then, and he had no problem with just laughing it off in front of Kendra now if he did fall.
He and she stepped onto the scuffed floor, and he found his stride, gliding at first with an awkwardness that quickly gave way to confidence.
Kendra looked like him in the beginning, like she hadn’t done this in a few years, but she stayed near him as a couple would. He loved it.
Kendra quickly showed she was a natural after skating halfway around the rink.
She was well-balanced, leaning into the corners, a gentle sway required to keep pace with Grayson as Ivy and her girlfriends skated wildly all over the rink.
Kendra took his hand, and together they navigated the circulating spiral of teens, preteens, and adults.
He hoped he didn’t get his skates tangled with Kendra’s and knock her down.
If he fell on his own, he was fine with that.
But he loved skating with her as a couple.
He noticed Ivy had paused to take a video and some pictures of him and Kendra skating together, as if they were as important as her friends at her birthday party.
Then she was skating with her friends again.
Ivy and her girlfriends laughed off their wobbles and near collisions with their wild skating maneuvers, while chatting, skating backward, and attempting to jump the plastic cones left out for games, only to fail.
All the adults in the party had to pause to watch Ivy, worried she would fall and break her cast or some other bone in her body.