Chapter 19 #3
“He’s on his way to federal prison. And I’m not supposed to say this, but fuck it, I’m saying it anyway.
I know a guy who knows people. Not my friend from Colorado, but another one.
A retired Navy SEAL who likes to pretend he’s a simple beach bum living in Hawaii with his wife.
But the man has contacts, men and women on the wrong side of the law, and he knows how to make deals.
He’s calling in a marker with someone who has people on the inside.
Bad men who’ll do just about anything for a few luxuries they wouldn’t otherwise get while behind bars.
Colvin won’t live long enough to hurt anyone else. I give you my word on that.”
Penny didn’t like the person she was at that moment.
Someone who actually wished for the death of another human being.
But she was a flawed human herself. And Colvin Jackson had hurt her and Bowie for too long.
He’d sold her daughter like she was a piece of trash.
Fuck him. Karma was a bitch, and she’d always take her chunk of flesh, given enough time.
Penny couldn’t be upset that Colvin’s time was up.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay,” Tex echoed. “I’ll keep you informed. Let you know when the FBI will be making their move. When they find them.”
He’d said when, not if. It would have to be enough. “Thank you.”
“Not doing this for thanks,” Tex drawled.
“Tough. You’re getting them anyway.”
“You’re welcome,” he said quietly. “I’ll be in touch.”
Penny hung up, not sure whether she felt better or not. It was a relief that Colvin wouldn’t be a threat to her or anyone else, but that knowledge didn’t make her daughter magically reappear. Or Pyro.
She couldn’t think about what they were going through. What Pyro might be doing to keep Bowie safe. Because she knew without a doubt that he would die if it meant protecting her daughter.
And as much as the thought of Pyro willing to sacrifice himself for Bowie filled her with unbelievable gratitude, it was also soul-crushing.
Pyro was her other half. She’d been through hell and finding him was a miracle.
He made her happy, she trusted him with her whole heart.
The odds of two foster kids finding each other and clicking as fast and as completely as they had were extremely low.
She’d just found Pyro. She couldn’t lose him already.
Penny had resumed her pacing, and she had no idea how long she’d been wearing a hole in her carpet when her cell rang once more. Looking at the screen, she saw it was almost five-thirty in the morning.
Surprised that another day was dawning, and feeling sick because with every tick of the clock meant time was running out to find Pyro and Bowie alive, Penny swallowed hard.
She didn’t recognize the number on the display, but it was a local area code.
She didn’t want to answer it, afraid it was one of the detectives telling her that they’d found a body.
But it was also possible it was someone from the FBI calling, telling her where to go to pick up her daughter.
Letting her know they’d found her safe and sound.
Clicking on the green button, Penny took a deep breath and answered.
“Hello?”
“Mommy?”
Penny’s knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor. The sound of Bowie’s voice on the other end of the line was almost unbelievable. But she’d recognize her daughter anywhere.
“Bowie?! Oh my God, where are you? Are you okay?!”
“I’m okay. I don’t know, but Kylo-Pyro said to call you as soon as I found someone with a phone. He’s hurt, Mommy! The bad men are coming!”
Penny panicked. Leaping to her feet, she burst through her bedroom door and rushed into the living area of the apartment.
Edge was in the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee and staring off into space. He looked like she felt. Like hell.
At her abrupt entrance, he slammed the cup on the counter and stalked toward her.
“Bowie’s on the phone!” she exclaimed.
She heard the other women sleeping in the room stirring, but she only had eyes for Edge.
“Put her on speaker,” he ordered, gently but firmly.
Penny clicked on the button to do just that and said, “Are you with someone, honey?”
“Yeah. Shawn and Bud. They’re on a pier fishing.”
“What pier? Where?” Penny asked, almost desperately.
“I don’t know.” Bowie sounded scared now.
“It’s okay,” Penny soothed, trying to calm down so her daughter would relax as well. “You’re safe now, that’s what’s important. Can you let me talk to the nice men who let you use their phone, so they can tell me where you are?”
“Uh-huh. But, Mommy, I need to tell you what Kylo-Pyro told me to say.”
“Okay, baby, I’m listening.” Just hearing Pyro’s name made Penny want to cry, but she controlled herself. She could fall apart later. Once she had Bowie in her arms and Pyro was home safe and sound.
“We were put in the trunk of a car. It was scary, and they hurt Kylo-Pyro. They hit his leg. He can’t walk so good.
I helped him though. We were taken to a house.
He told me to tell you it’s really big. Two whole stories.
It’s yellow, with white porches on the lower level, and the upper one too.
And it has a brown roof. It even had an elevator in it!
The bad men took us to the basement and put handcuffs on Kylo-Pyro.
It was smelly down there. I took a nap and when I woke up, Kylo-Pyro used the key in his boot to undo his handcuffs.
Then I went out the window because he couldn’t fit.
We were by the ocean, and I went to the water and walked and walked and walked until Bud and Shawn found me.
Are you going to send Casper and his friends to get Kylo-Pyro?
He’s hurt bad. He was crying! I’m scared, Mommy! ”
Penny’s heart was in her throat. The tears she’d been determined to hold back fell anyway.
By this point, she was surrounded by all her friends.
Laryn had an arm around her shoulders, Mandy and Zita were crowded against them.
Jen and Fred were in front of her, with Edge next to her.
Everyone was staring at the phone in her hand with scary intensity.
“Bowie, this is Edge. I’m here, and I heard everything you said. You’re such a smart little girl. And we’re going to go get Pyro right now.”
“Okay. He told me that when I was scared to pretend like I wasn’t, and it would help. I think that’s what he’s doing. I think he’s scared too. Of the bad men coming to steal him. And he can’t walk good. He needs your help.”
Penny covered her mouth to hide the sob that escaped. Bowie was safe, but Pyro was hurt. And scared. It was more than she could handle.
“Mommy?”
Penny swallowed hard. “Yeah, baby?” she croaked out.
“Kylo-Pyro said he wants to marry you. And when he does, I can be Bowie Mullins and he would be my daddy.”
That was it. Penny’s legs wouldn’t hold her anymore. She crumpled to the floor once more, and Edge took the phone from her hand as she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
“Pyro will be the best daddy ever,” Edge said, his voice sounding more gruff than normal. “Can you give the phone to one of the men you’re with now? I need to find out where you are so I can send Casper and the others to get you.”
“Will you come? And bring Mommy? I want Casper to go find Kylo-Pyro.”
“Yeah, sweetheart. I can do that.”
“Okay. I love you, Edge!”
“Hello?” a deep voice said through the speaker.
“Where are you?” Edge asked, skipping any pleasantries.
The man gave him the address of the pier where he and his friend had been fishing. “I heard what she said. I can’t believe…Holy shit,” the man said. “My friend Bud and I saw her below the pier. She walked here along the shore…I can’t…this is…”
“She’s a special girl,” Edge agreed, cutting the man off. “Please look after her until we can get there. We’ve been desperate to find her.”
“I will. I have a daughter too. She’s safe with us. I give you my word.”
“Thank you. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“We’ll be waiting. You’ll see my dark blue pickup truck. I’ve got some water in a cooler and some snacks for her if she’s hungry.”
“Sounds great. Do. Not. Leave,” Edge said forcefully.
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Good. Again, thank you so much.”
“Of course.”
“See you soon.”
Edge clicked off the phone and crouched down in front of Penny. “It sounds as if they took them across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and are near Kiptopeke Beach pier. I know where that is. Pyro has to be nearby. I’ll call the guys as soon as we’re on our way. Let’s go get your girl, Penny.”
She nodded. She didn’t know where those places were that Edge mentioned, but all that mattered was that Bowie was safe and they were going to do everything in their power to find Pyro.
Standing, she dried her tears and headed for the door. It was time to end this once and for all. And bring her daughter and Pyro home.