Chapter 13
Eric
R yan was driving me crazy with his pacing. We couldn't stay seated in the car, even if my ribs were on fire. We were hanging around outside the building, circling it. It was pretty scanty, so that was good. Still, every now and then we made eye contact with someone and we either looked away too fast or stared too long. "Let's just go in already," Ryan insisted, but I was less than able to chase anyone down at the moment. Just in case Terry decided to make a run for it, we needed more men.
We were all hoping that it was Marco, but I had my doubts. I was disappointed, but not surprised that he didn't have anything to do with Lily's kidnapping. I was almost certain it was her father, the stinking rat-faced man.
My body relaxed at the sight of Ethan, Matt and Tyler approaching from afar. Thank goodness, we could get the show on the road. There were only two people on this earth who would like to cause harm to Lily. Marco and her dad. At this point, it was a process of elimination and man, was I glad we had someone to do the dirty work for us. My parents would shit themselves if they knew that I was involved with a prior mob boss. But that's why I was shielding them from this as much as I could.
As Ethan got closer, my eyes almost flew out of my head. "What the hell happened to you?" I rushed forward, wincing with each step and as I reached up to move his short brownish-blond hair away from his forehead. There was a split in the skin, the blood caking on the scar.
"Fuck, dude. What happened to your hand?" Ryan remarked and I dropped my eyes to his bleeding knuckles, waiting for Ethan to say something.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
His eyes darkened.
"I wish you would've warned me that your friend's a fucking psycho," Tyler said, shaking his head and patting Ethan on the shoulder.
"Yeah. He kind of lost it," Matt added. "But the bitch had it coming." A short breathy laugh escaped.
"Kind of lost it? I thought I was in control there for a minute, knew my every move and strategy. Oh, la dee da, go with two kind enough gentlemen with gentle spirits, I told myself. Do what I need to do to extract information and leave. I knew Marco probably wouldn't call the cops with all the drugs he'd have up in there. I was right about the drugs. I was wrong about being in control." Tyler turned his silver gaze on Ethan.
"He almost strung our necks up for the cops there. And man, would they be delighted to catch me. All these years managing to stay out of jail and one day with this psycho and I'm off to prison?" He grinned. "Can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing for Anne, though. Or that I haven't done worse," he resigned. "But damn, just warn me next time."
I was looking between the two of them, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"
Ethan hissed. "I almost killed Marco, okay? And I don't regret a damn thing." He stalked away from us and I stared at his back in amazement. Did I blame him? No. Was I shocked to my core? Yes. I even quivered a little.
"So what happened when you showed up at the old man's house?" Tyler ignored our shock and shifted the conversation without a beat.
After we filled him in on how we lost our shit, he grinned. Of course he did. There we were fretting over breaking and entering and Ethan almost killed someone. What we did was child's play.
"Alright, well, since I'm the most level-headed one here...never thought I'd say that a day in my life...why don't you guys stay out here and I'll go get your snake? I have a better chance anyway, he doesn't know me from Adam," Tyler offered.
Tyler
Okay, I was having fun. I'd been trying not to. Hung up my shoes a long time ago, remember? But it had been so long since I'd landed my fist into someone's jaw and reveled in the bones cracking, that I couldn't help the injection of thrill in my veins. Watching Ethan black out was like stepping inside his body for a moment and living vicariously through him. Oh, I'd been fighting it, focusing on this as a mission of love, not a mission of fun. This was the last place anyone should be having fun, but I was, damn it.
Can a tiger truly ever change its stripes?
I loved my life with my wife. Being good and sensible satisfied me. Watching adoration for me bloom in her eyes set my heart and body ablaze. But I couldn't help wondering whether she'd rip my clothes off just as fervently if she saw the pure satisfaction that rushed through my veins at the sight of a crumpled up Marco on the floor.
If she knew that I still craved that violence, would she still love me? There must be some part of her that was okay with it. After all, she was the one who asked me to get involved in this way. We could've financed a search for Lily, she could've advocated for Lily's case with the police, turned to the media and worked with the Women's Shelter to use their resources to locate Marco. I couldn't help wondering whether she asked me to use my special talents out of desperation, or because my wife wasn't as good or as innocent as she thought she was. That deep down, she wanted Marco to be punished in the most brutal way. And her own past had left her so traumatized and angry, that she hungered for revenge.
I let my thoughts run away with me, and they got me hot in a sick and twisted way. My depraved desires were less likely the reason she asked me. People suggest desperate things during desperate times. In fact, if I were a good human, I could've talked her down, persuaded her to take another route. I jumped right in with both feet because I missed this life. These guys were supposed to help keep me on the straight and narrow. But it was like walking with my own gang again, if my gang were in over their heads.
"Hello," I flashed a smile at the receptionist. It was intended to dazzle and distract her. It didn't. She looked at me with a blankness in her eyes. Hm. Must be gay or drained, because my charm always works.
"Is Terry Thornbread in today? I spoke to him about a purchase..." I stated, already spotting the shipping containers and knowing how good they are for hiding people. I've used them myself, back in the day. Pfft. 'Back in the day.' I'm only in my thirties. "He told me to come and speak with him today?"
"We can refer you to a sales executive or the purchasing department..." she suggested, already picking up the phone to make the call.
"He's not a sales executive?" I asked, interrupting her.
"No." She chuckled. "He's a crane operator."
"Ah." I chuckled along with her. Interesting, so he had direct access to the loading and unloading of shipping containers. That knowledge alone was suspicious enough. "Still, if you don't mind. Since I already spoke to him and he told me to come in today, I'd prefer to see him. I don't have long..." I checked my very expensive watch and looked out the door behind me.
She nodded. "Okay, if you're sure. If you don't mind waiting a minute, I'll see if I can get a hold of him. Is there a name I should give to him?"
"No. I didn't give him a name yesterday," I smiled. "He'll know who I am when he sees me."
Playing it cool, I headed toward the gray couch in the waiting area and pulled out my phone to 'look busy'. I was glad to see a text from my wife.
'Any news? I'm losing my mind here.' She wrote.
' It wasn't Marco. But I'm about to meet with Lily's deadbeat dad.' I texted back.
' Oh dear. It wasn't him? Please tell me you found that out before you did something drastic!' My wife responded and I was washed with beads of sweat. She's the one person who can make me sweat, and I gulped. I'd gotten my answer. When I didn't respond right away, she texted again.
' Please, Ty. Tell me I didn't say anything that caused you to do something to him.' She continued.
It had been reaffirmed that the darkness in me must remain locked away so that I wouldn't lose her. I was just not sure I was ready to suppress it again so soon.
'He's alive, baby. If that's what you're asking. Don't let yourself think of what I may or may not do to extract information. Just know that I'm doing what you asked me to do.' I sent. Oof. Was that too much?
'That's the problem. I shouldn't have asked you. This is nerve-wracking. What if you had killed him before you found out? That would've been my fault.' She panicked.
'No. It wouldn't have been. Forget about it.' I didn't know how to console her.
'Come home, Ty. We'll figure out another way to help Lily.' Her message read.
"Somebody here to see me?" A scraggly, wiry man with crazy eyes and crazy gray hair, thin lips, and a smashed-in mouth stood before me.
This was the guy they thought had something to do with Lily's kidnapping?
"Mr. Thornbread?" I took a guess, because I was blown away by the fly of a man, easily swatted away.
"Yeah. Who are you?" He jutted his chin out. Aw, bless, I hoped he didn't think he could scare me.
"Oh, you don't remember me?" I smiled over his shoulder at the receptionist who was looking in our direction. I couldn't tell if she was looking at us or daydreaming of a way out of this hellhole. "Why don't we step outside and we can discuss that thing we talked about?" I cocked my head.
He looked at me from head to toe as if trying to piece together where he could have seen me before. Of course, he hadn't, but I was guessing by the strong scent of alcohol, which couldn't be safe while operating heavy machinery, he didn't know his head from his ass. I'll give him credit though, the man must be a professional drinker, because he was steady on his feet, his words didn't slur, and if it wasn't for the scent of it on his breath, and my great skills of perception, he could've fooled me. Well, not me, but clearly, the people he was working with.
How did this man still have a job? What was he, eighty? Either that or life had worn him the hell down.
"Yeah, alright." He decided, stepping out the door, though his eyes remained shifty.
"You doing okay, man?" I asked, leading him toward the shipping containers where the rest of the guys were waiting. I got a buzz from knowing he'd soon be caught in the spiders' web, and that these spiders were a lot less controlled than I thought they were.
Ethan
"Tyler's heading this way with Terry now," I said after reading the text message and shoving the phone in my pocket. My chest tightened while I fumbled around my pocket for my wallet and whistled at the lone worker out for a stroll, nodding them over to us.
"What are you doing?" Ryan mumbled.
"We don't want too many people seeing our faces and knowing who we are," Matt reminded me as Eric peeked around the corner, keeping an eye out for Terry and Tyler.
"Shh." I hissed at the person sauntering over to us, mouth opened, ready to say something. Pulling out one thousand dollars in hundred-dollar notes, I hurried him over. "Hey, do you have any empty containers here, by chance?"
The worker wiped the sweat away from his brows and studied me. "Yeah. Why? You looking to buy one? I can work something out for you..."
"No. No." I shook my head, silencing him. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in letting me search inside the empty ones, though." I'd been eyeing those containers for a while and I'd been magnetized to them. Call it discernment or intuition, I didn't know.
"You a cop?" The worker backed off and looked around.
"No. Why? You got something to hide?" I asked, scowling at him as my blood heated in suspicion.
He fidgeted a little and I pressed my lips together, holding myself back from jumping to conclusions and jumping him in the process.
"Nah. Listen. I don't have anything to do with anything dodgy that happens here, man." He shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Anything dodgy?" I asked, while Ryan and Matt stepped forward.
"That happen around here a lot?" I stepped into him.
"Look man, I don't want no trouble." He started hurrying away.
"There won't be no trouble." I hissed at myself for scaring him off. "Not if you let us search the containers. There's even something in it for you. One thousand dollars. How often would you say someone drops that on your doorstep? Unless you get a lot more than this doing dodgy shit..."
"I told you. I ain't into all that." He eyed the money. "I don't know what you want me to do."
"What the fuck?" The voice I'd been waiting to hear cracked behind me. I spun around. "Listen, why don't we go talk somewhere else?" Terry Thornbread turned around as soon as he saw us and tried to escape, slamming into Tyler's body.
"Woah, woah. Where are you going, buddy?" Tyler placed two hands on Terry's shoulders and turned him back around to face us. At the sight of the stranger, his brows dropped. "Who's that?"
"Someone who might be able to help us out..." I sought confirmation through eye contact with the freaked out man.
Tyler hissed and shook his head. "You're a fucking wild card, you know that?"
"Listen, I don't know what's going on here. But I don't think I want to be a part of it." The worker began to back away.
"Go get help!" Terry shouted as Tyler punched him in the spine and he fell to his knees.
"You will do no such thing!" He called after the worker running off. "Watch this guy, won't you?" He scowled at me and Eric and Matt before taking off.
Folding my arms, I shifted from foot to foot, looking at the other guys and reddening from their disapproval.
"Where's Lily?" Eric reached down and grabbed Terry by the collar of his thin white work shirt. He slammed him into the side of the metal container.
"Wh-what?" Terry's wild eyes spazzed out.
Tyler returned a minute later scruffing the back of the trembling worker's shirt like a mother cat carrying her troublesome kitten.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Terry wheezes.
"The hell you don't." Ryan reaches in to wrap his hand around his throat. "Start talking."
"Well, he can hardly do that with your hand around his throat, can he?" Matt shoots him a look, and Ryan, realizing what he's doing, takes his time in loosening his grip. "So, what the fuck are you waiting for?" Matt directs his impatience to Terry.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Terry shoves against Eric's hands wrapped around the collars of his shirt. But even with bruises, Eric is stronger. When Terry pushes off the container, failing miserably to puff his chest up at Eric, he's slammed even harder into the side of the metal.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Eric grunts. "Now start talking."
Terry's gaze shifts between all of us before he lets out a sort of unexpected whine. Even his brows raise in surprise.
Meanwhile, Tyler snarls next to me. "What do you want with this loser?"
"I need his help looking into all the empty shipping containers," I muttered while the guys worked their intimidation tactics on Terry. "I have a feeling she's in there."
Grudgingly, Tyler nodded. "I thought the same thing might be possible. Okay." He turned his attention to the helpless worker. "Listen, you're going to help us, and you're not going to tell anyone about this. You will do what needs to be done to ensure no one finds out about this, or I will find you and I will kill you. Make no doubts about it. Understand?"
If this guy was innocent in all this, I was going to regret getting him involved. He was reduced to a youth with tears in his eyes. I sneaked the thousand dollars into his hand, but not before Tyler caught me.
"The fuck is that for?" He reached for it, but I put my hand out to stop him.
"For his trouble," I said.
He shook his head. "You must like spending money. Whatever. Hurry up." He nodded toward the containers. "And open every single empty one."
Tucking the cash into his pocket, the worker removed the collection of keys with shaky hands. He approached the containers with trembling legs. I waited for Terry's reactions. If he had something to do with this, he'd give himself away.
"I haven't seen that bitch since you kicked me out of the house," he wailed.
"You want to be careful about your language." Matt stepped in closer to him.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot you're her little bitches, aren't you?" he mocked.
Ryan released a dry laugh and raised his brows in disbelief. "You see this?" He asked Eric and Matt, before turning to me and cocking his head toward Terry. "He still thinks he has some sort of leverage here."
Terry spat in Eric's face. "Nothing but lap dogs. Did she send you here to scare me? Finally gave you the go ahead to get your own on?"
Eric released his shirt and as Terry smirked, straightening himself up, Eric sailed his fist toward the middle of his face. Terry's head jerked back and bounced off the metal. If this were a cartoon, there would be tweeting birds flying in circles around his head as he struggled to stand straight.
"Even lap dogs can be dangerous. Don't you think so?" Eric grabbed him up again before he could fall. "If you don't start talking, there's a lot more where that came from." "Come on, wake up." Matt reached in to slap his face, his control slipping.
"Guys." Tyler got our attention as the first container was opened.
"What the hell is he doing?" Terry's speech was slurred. "He's not allowed to do that!" He yelled, launching forward but was stopped by Eric's grip.
"Woah, woah. Got something to hide there, buddy?" Tyler mocked. All of us ran to look inside as Tyler kept an eye on Terry.
Empty. Disappointing.
"You ain't gon' find nothing. You're just wasting your time," Terry spat.
"We'll see about that, won't we?" Tyler asked as the other container was unlocked.
"You really think she might be in one of these?" Ryan gulped.
Matt reddened. My jaw locked. On one hand, I was hoping that she was here so we could get her back, but on the other hand, of course I didn't want her to be locked away in one of these dark, windowless containers.
"I don't know," I hissed, tapping my feet to keep up with my racing pulse.
When the next container opened and there was trash inside it, Matt sighed and rubbed his head.
"There are about fifteen empty containers. We'll be here for a while," the worker warned.
Imagining her lying on the floor of one of these had my own chest tighten and my own oxygen restricted.
"Well, then hurry it up," I motioned, looking toward Terry.
Something clicked. He was jittery. He kept glancing at one container in particular.
"Wait... Open that one," I gestured at the one that had captured Terry's attention.
He stepped forward, and I almost started clapping. "This is ridiculous," he began to complain. "She's not here."
The tremor in his voice urged me. "Hurry up," I barked at the worker and walked toward him, ready to jump in and pull my woman out of there.
My heart got trapped in my throat as the latches were removed and the hinges of the doors gave way.
Terry inched closer.
I ran inside as soon as one door was opened up.
My feet echoed against the metal.
And it was empty, just like the rest of them.
Terry heaved a stumbling breath and lurched forward. He flung his hands toward the empty box. "See, I told you!" He joined me inside and leaned up against a metal wall. "I don't have Lily. I don't know where she is. Haven't seen her since the last time. Now, will you please fuck off?"
Needing a moment to catch my breath, I hurried outside, out of the view of the rest of the guys and pulled in as much air as I could. Trembling from the weight on my chest, I fell to the ground, breaking apart in sobs. I was certain she'd be in there.
"Keep checking!" Eric wailed.
"You better not be lying to me, old man," Tyler's voice bounced off the walls of the container they were still standing in. "Or I will make you regret it. That's a promise."
But I needed a moment. I couldn't stand up yet. We'd be here for hours and with each disappointment, the wind was slapped out of me.