Chapter Twenty-Six
chapter twenty-six
RYDER
“Did you see?” Kira says, appearing in my office out of nowhere. “Violet got in!” She runs over and jumps into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Thank you for taking care of that.”
She peppers kisses all over my face, and my heart warms at how easy it is to make her happy.
“I need to fill out the forms and email them over to them. Can I use your laptop?”
She bats her pretty lashes, and I chuckle.
“Of course. You know, if you want one of your own?—”
“My phone is fine,” she says, shaking her head. “And since you don’t mind me using yours …”
“Not at all.” I lift her and then stand, setting her back down on my seat. “You fill out the paperwork while I start lunch.”
Since I’m home today, we’re grilling and spending the afternoon in the pool.
I lean over and give her what’s supposed to be a chaste kiss, but it quickly turns heated.
“Later,” I murmur. “I need to get the grill going.”
“Fine.” She pouts playfully. “Later.”
With one more kiss, I head out of my office and down to the kitchen to get lunch started, noting to wake the girls up soon from their nap.
It’s been a little over a week since Brian showed up and we filed a police report on him. Our attorney is going through the proper channels to have it investigated since it’s our word versus his and he’s got an alibi, saying he was in his home state—nowhere near Kira—when the report was filed. The asshole thinks he’s smart, but I have the money and means to make sure he doesn’t get away with this.
I’ve just finished making the burger patties, and I’m firing up the grill when Kira and Violet come down the stairs.
“Hey,” Kira says, leaning over the plate I’m holding and giving me a quick kiss. “Patties look good.”
“Did you finish filling out the paperwork?” I ask.
“Almost. Violet woke up, so I figured I’d make the side dishes and finish the paperwork after dinner.” Kira glances at her daughter. “Want to help me make the mac ’n’ cheese?”
“Yes!” Violet exclaims. “Can we make it double cheesy?”
“Of course.” Kira taps Violet’s nose, and the two of them disappear into the kitchen.
I turn the grill on and scrub the grates while it heats up. Once it’s ready, I place the patties on the heat and close the lid.
I head back inside to check on the girls, but when I get into the kitchen, it’s empty. My phone rings, and I pull it out of my pocket, seeing Kira’s name and picture on my screen.
“Are you calling me from inside the house?” I laugh.
“No.” She laughs back. “We were out of bacon for the mac ’n’ cheese, so we ran to the store. I pulled into the parking lot and realized I didn’t tell you. Sorry, my mind is all over the place.”
“It’s okay. But you shouldn’t have left without me. You don’t have Jacob with you.”
Since I was working from home, I told him I’d call him when we needed him. There’s no point in him hanging out outside the house.
“Oh shit,” she hisses. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think. I’m already here. I’ll just run in and out.”
“Okay, but stay on the phone with me,” I insist.
I hear Kira turn off the car and speak to Violet about taking her hand so they can hurry. The sound of the wind from her walking through the parking lot fills the silence, followed by the opening and closing of the store doors.
Some would say I’m being paranoid and over the top, but when it comes to my girls, I’m not taking any chances.
“Oh, hey,” I hear Kira say. “Yeah, just grabbing some bacon.” There’s shuffling and another voice, and then Kira says, “Hey, Ryder, I just ran into Marie. Let me call you right back.”
Not wanting to sound like a crazy person, I agree and then stare at my phone, waiting for her to call me back.
I remember that the meat is still on the grill, so I run out and flip the patties.
Still no call back.
When the burgers are done, I plate them and turn off the grill, then head back inside.
But she still hasn’t called me back.
Ten minutes later, Addie wakes up from her nap, so I grab her and change her diaper and then call Kira—because what the fuck?
Her phone doesn’t ring, instead going straight to voice mail, so I call again and again. After the third time, I start to freak out, so I pull up the Find My app on my phone and click on Kira’s name. It shows she’s at a park, which makes no damn sense.
I try to call her again, but it continues to go to voice mail. So, I do the only thing I can think of and go in search of her.
After strapping Addie into her car seat, I take off down the road, following the tracker the best I can. Fifteen minutes later, we pull into the park, and the tracker takes me toward the back, where there’s a lake.
My heart is pounding against my rib cage, telling me that something is wrong. Shit’s not adding up. How the hell did she go from the store to the park? And why would she do that?
I click Refresh, but it still shows she’s here. And then the status changes to Unknown, making my gut clench. This makes no sense.
I get out with Addie and walk toward the lake, and that’s when I notice tire tracks in the dirt. I’m not an investigator, but I find it weird that a car would drive straight toward the lake, the tracks disappearing into the water.
I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s wrong, and I’m not going to waste my time trying to figure it out on my own. Instead, I call the police and explain what happened.
An hour later, they’re pulling my fiancée’s SUV out of the water. Julian picked up Addie because she was hungry and cranky, and I was freaking out—still fucking am.
“Sir, there’s no one in the vehicle,” the officer says. “And the inspection camera hasn’t located any bodies in the lake.”
“Then, where the hell are they?” I yell because it’s not every day your fiancée’s vehicle gets pulled out of the fucking lake.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m thankful as fuck they’re not in the vehicle, but we still have no idea where they are.
He shakes his head. “We’re having a team search the area, but there’s no sign of struggle from the vehicle. It looks like someone left the keys in and let it roll in.”
“This doesn’t make sense! Her phone showed they were here.”
“And her phone has been recovered. It was in the vehicle. But they aren’t here. Is there any reason she would want you to think she disappeared?”
I open my mouth to say that she would never do that, but then it hits me.
“Brian,” I hiss. “Her ex. She has a restraining order on him because he assaulted her. She went into the grocery store and … Marie!”
The officer is looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, so I explain, “Kira and Violet went into the grocery store, and she ran into her friend Marie. She might know what happened to her.” Except I don’t know her last name or phone number.
“If you know her login information, you can log in to her phone from yours,” the officer explains. “Everything is saved on the cloud.”
Oh shit. He’s right.
“I need to file a missing persons report for Kira and her daughter.”
“We can do that. Why don’t you go home and see what you can find out about that friend of hers, and an officer will meet you at the house to file the report?”
“Thank you,” I choke out, knowing deep down that something is wrong.
Kira would never leave without telling me, which means someone took her. And based on the scene in front of me, they were hoping to either make it look like suicide or steer me in the wrong direction long enough to get her out of town.
Fuck! I promised Kira that I would keep her and Violet safe, and I’ve fucking failed.
When I get home, I wake the computer up, hoping since Kira was working on it last, I can figure out what her login information is. I minimize the screen with the school forms, and another screen pops up—her email. I look at the most recent one that’s opened and see an email from Marie but no last name. It has a list of available properties to rent in Houston.
What the actual fuck?
For a second, my heart stutters, and I think the worst—I was wrong. She left me. But then I remember who Kira is, and I know damn well she would never do that. If she didn’t want to be with me, she would tell me. She wouldn’t take off to go get fucking bacon and not come back, and she sure as hell wouldn’t drive her car into the lake.
I don’t know why she has an email full of properties for rent, but I have no doubt there’s a reason, and once I get my fiancée and her daughter back home, we’ll discuss it.
I do a search and find an email she sent to herself with usernames and passwords. I copy and paste them and send them to myself.
I’m trying to log out and log in when the doorbell rings out through the house. Assuming it’s the officer, I run downstairs, but when I swing the door open, I find Nora standing on the other side. She’s dressed differently than she used to—in a pair of jeans and a flowy top—and her hair is darker and one color, the highlights completely gone. Whereas she used to scream money, she now looks normal.
“What are you doing here?”
“I want my family back.”
Jesus fucking Christ, this can’t be happening right now.
“How the hell did you get through the gate?”
“You put it as our daughter’s birth date.” She rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t difficult to figure out.”
She steps through the door, and I lift my hand to stop her.
“ My daughter, not yours,” I point out.
“That’s why I’m here,” she says, stepping closer to me. “I made a mistake, Ryder. I miss you.”
She presses her hand to my chest, and I swipe it away, moving out of her touch.
“I can’t do this right now. My fiancée and her daughter are missing, and I need to find them.”
“No, what you need to do is focus on your family. Kira is obviously focusing on hers.”
The fact that she knows my fiancée’s name has me taking a step toward her.
“What the hell did you just say? And how do you know Kira’s name?”
“I know a lot more than you think,” she says with a shrug.
Her nonchalant response sends a chill straight up my spine. Something is off … a lot of fucking somethings , and I have a suspicion that, somehow, my psycho fucking ex is caught up in the middle of it all.
Stalking toward her, I reach out and slam my front door closed, and then I wrap my fingers around her neck, pushing her against the wall. “Tell me how the fuck you know my fiancée’s name! She’s missing, Nora!” I tighten my hold on her enough to make it clear my threat is real. “I swear to God, if you had something to do with that, I will make you pay.”
“She’s not missing,” she chokes out. “She’s back where she belongs. She left with her husband because they’re a family.”
“She wouldn’t do that.”
“Yes, she would!” she screeches, making me flinch. “She belongs with him, just like I belong with you. I messed up, but I can fix it. I can be a good wife, I promise. I can be a better mom than her! I was just struggling, but I’ve fixed everything.”
My blood turns cold, and the worst feeling passes through me.
“Nora, what did you do?” I ask, trying to remain calm because killing her won’t get me answers.
“Did you know she’s still married?” she hisses, ignoring my question. “She was never yours. She’s his, just like you’re mine.”
“Nora …” Fuck, all the pieces are clicking into place, and I’m not liking the picture they’re creating at all. “Tell me you didn’t do something you can’t take back.”
“Adeline was calling her mom!” she cries. “She’s not her mom! I am. This house is mine! You’re mine! The money is mine!”
And then it hits me …
“Are you Marie?”
She smirks. “That bitch is too trusting.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Now, it all makes sense.
“Where is she?” I ask, tightening my hold on her a little more, done with this bullshit.
My ex-wife is off her fucking rocker, and she’s the reason Kira and Violet are missing.
“Where she belongs. With her husband!”
“He’s abusive!” I yell, losing my cool and slamming my hand against the wall beside her head. “If you handed her over to him?—”
A knock on the door cuts me off, and I rush over to it, swinging it open and praying it’s Kira even though she would never knock.
It’s not her though. It’s two police officers in uniform.
“Ryder Du Ponte,” one of them says. “My name is Officer Glen, and this is Officer Remington. We’re here to file a missing persons report on a”—he glances down at his phone—“Kira and Violet Miller.”
“Her last name is Williams!” Nora says, further confirming that she knows who my fiancée is and is most likely responsible for her being taken. “She’s married and with her husband.”
The officer glances from her to me in confusion.
“Kira has a restraining order on him,” I explain. “His name is Brian Williams. If she’s with him, it’s against her will and even more imperative that we find them as soon as possible. I have reason to believe that my ex-wife has something to do with it.”
“Stop worrying about her!” Nora screams. “She’s not yours. She’s his! I’m yours. Focus on me.”
“Let me tell you something,” I say, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward me. “If I find out that you had anything to do with Kira’s disappearance, I’m going to make sure you rot in prison.”
I shove her toward Officer Remington. “She’s trespassing. We have a legal agreement stating that she’s not allowed to come within five hundred feet of my residence. I want her arrested. And if you don’t believe me, I can show you proof.”
I pull up the restraining order on my phone, and as I do so, Nora tries to run. Before she can make it to the door though, I slam it shut, refusing to let her get away.
The officer approaches her, letting her know that he’s going to take her to the station, and when she smacks him in the face, he pulls her hands behind her back and says she’s under arrest for assaulting an officer.
Once she’s gone, Officer Glen says, “Do you have any idea where your fiancée could be?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Her phone and car ended up at the bottom of the fucking lake.”
“Maybe she has another device,” he suggests. “An Apple Watch or?—”
“The iPad!” Fuck! Why didn’t I think of that sooner? “Violet never goes anywhere without her iPad mini, and it’s trackable.”
I pull out my phone and scroll down. And sure enough, her iPad mini is on my list since it’s on my account.
“It’s showing she’s about thirty minutes north of here.” I turn my phone around so the officer can see it. “I need to get to them. With her car in the lake, someone had to have taken them there, and I have no idea if they’re okay.”
“We can get a team together,” the officer says. “If her ex is armed, you don’t want to just barge in there.”
“Okay,” I say, snatching up my keys. “Then, let’s do this.”
On the way, I contact Kira’s attorney to let her know what happened. She lets me know that if Brian took her, he’s fucked. The charges that she’ll throw at him will send him to prison for years. Then, I call Julian to check on Addie and update him.
“Nora is Marie?” Ana gasps.
“She all but confirmed it,” I tell them. “Marie is her middle fucking name. It didn’t even click into my head. I feel so fucking stupid.”
“Fuck that,” Julian says. “Nobody would have thought like that unless they were as crazy as she is.”
“It makes sense,” Ana says. “She bailed every time I was there. She knew I’d recognize her in a heartbeat.”
“She changed her hair color and dresses less high-class, but, yeah, if you saw her, you’d recognize her. Only Kira’s never seen her because I have no pictures of her in the house. Fuck!” I slam my fist against the steering wheel. “If something’s happened to either of them …”
“They’re going to be okay,” Ana says. “Just stay positive.”
“I was supposed to keep them safe,” I murmur. “I failed.”
“Nobody could’ve expected any of this to happen,” Julian says. “The important thing is that you know where they are, and you’ll get to them before anything goes down.”
We hang up, and I focus on following the tracking information for the iPad. The police officers took down the location as well, but I can’t stop watching it in case they move. It’s my only shot at getting to them.
The tracking app takes us down a dirt road off the beaten path, and we end up in front of an older house. Officer Glen has me park down the road, not wanting to alert anyone that we’re here. He wants me to hang back, but I refuse. If something’s wrong with my girls, I need to be there. This is all my damn fault. I took them into my home and promised I would keep them safe. And I’ve failed.
I wait by the bushes, so as not to give them away, while they quietly surround the perimeter. I don’t know what’s happening, but after several minutes, one of the officers knocks the door in, and several guys rush in.
A few minutes later, an officer comes over and says, “We found the suspect in the kitchen. He’s been injured, and we’ve called for an ambulance. We did a full sweep of the house, and it’s empty.”
“What? That doesn’t make sense.” I run toward the house and inside, not giving a shit about anything but finding Kira and Violet.
The second I see Brian lying on the ground, blood oozing out of his head, I push past the officers and grab him by his shirt.
“Where the hell are they?” I demand.
“That bitch damn near killed me,” he slurs. “I need help. She drugged me.”
“Where are they?”
“Hopefully dead in the fucking woods.”
I throw him back onto the floor and go in search of Kira and Violet. When I spot Violet’s mini backpack, it confirms they’ve been here, and for her not to take it with them means Kira probably acted quickly, and then they ran out.
“Don’t touch it,” an officer says behind me. “It’s evidence.”
“I’m going to look for them,” I say. “They have to be somewhere.”
And who the hell knows if they’re okay? It’s late, and it’s pitch-black outside. They must be terrified.