Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
Max was fuming by the time he’d made it to the store where everyone else had been waiting when Jose had called him and told him they’d found Desiree’s vehicle, his heart stopped beating for several minutes.
He had to admit he’d feared the worst but cheered when they said she still hadn’t been found. To him, that meant there was a chance that she was still alive.
When he arrived at the store, he’d found where the others were standing around quickly. Tiny blocked his path when he rushed to get to her vehicle.
“Slow down, Max. We need to process the scene the proper way, by the book. Jose has called in forensics and asked for a warrant for us to look at the surveillance footage from the store cameras. Let us do our job so that we can find her and deal with the fucker without him getting off on a technicality.”
“What did you find?” Max asked through gritted teeth.
“Nothing. That’s why we need the footage from the security cameras.” Tiny admitted as he continued to block Max’s way to his wife’s truck.
“How long until you get that warrant? My wife is probably being tortured by whoever took her. I can’t let them hurt her, Geramie. She’s my everything.” Max pleaded with his brother, for what he didn’t really know at the moment.
“I know, brother. Trust me, I know this. We are doing everything in our power to bring her home. Just be patient with us. Please!” Tiny softly pleaded with his brother.
Max stared at his brother, seeing the pain in his eyes. He knew Tiny was hurting over Desiree’s disappearance just like he was.
To him, Desiree was his baby sister, just because she was Jose’s baby sister. But now that she was married to Max, that made it even more solid in Tiny’s eyes.
He would do anything in the world to find her and bring her home. He knew that without a shadow of a doubt.
It just killed him being away from her like this and not knowing what was going on with her. He knew that no matter what condition he got her back in, he would never leave her side.
She was his and he would make sure no one ever harmed her again once they got her back. Time for him to become the villain he said he would be if anyone laid a hand on his wife without her permission.
He was going to burn the whole fucking planet just to find his wife. He wasn’t waiting for them to do what they needed to do.
As he turned to walk away from Tiny, Jose came up to them with a piece of paper in his hand. He prayed it was something important to find out where his wife is.
“We got the warrant for the cameras. I’m headed in now to get a look at them.” Jose announced once Max and Tiny met up with him.
Max followed Jose and Tiny into the store with Andrea, Iris, and Nightshade following behind them. They all went up to the cashier and asked for the store manager to meet with them.
When the manager showed up, he was stuttering, his face flushed, and wringing his hands. “H-how can I help you officers?”
“Are you the manager for this store?” Jose asked the squeamish store manager.
“Y-yes. What seems to be the issue?”
“I need to see your cameras for earlier today. I would say from three this afternoon until the time we showed up on the scene. We’re looking for a missing woman who may have come here to this store.”
“Oh. Um sure. Please follow me.”
The group followed the manager to his office and waited for him to pull up the cameras. For the next hour they went through the camera, frame by frame, inside the store and in the parking lot.
Inside the store, they found Desiree going through the aisles grabbing the essentials that she would have needed to make dinner for a large group of people. She’d even gone through the beer freezer and grabbed Max’s favorite beer for him to have to relax with this evening.
What had Max freezing was the fact she went through the feminine aisle and started looking at pregnancy tests and put one in her basket. He didn’t even flinch when the group turned to look at him.
Was it possible that she was pregnant with his baby right now as they watched this video? They had to find his wife.
“No one was watching her inside the store. I didn’t see anyone looking out of place and she didn’t look like anyone gave her the slightest issue. Let’s check the outside in the parking lot.” Andrea cleared her throat and suggested, patting Max’s upper arm in support.
Twenty minutes later, since they now knew the time frame she was in the store, they found the footage they were looking for. When she had come out of the store, she was by her vehicle when someone must have called her name or said something to get her attention.
When she whirled around, she was hit hard in the face and fell to the ground with both Mutt and Daniels laughing and high fiving each other at their accomplishment. Four men growled when they saw the punch connect to her face.
“He’s a dead motherfucker when I find him” Max’s voice went low and cold.
“Fuck doing things official, Jose. We take those assholes down and leave no bones behind to be identified.” Andrea agreed with Max, her own voice going ice cold.
“Why are they targeting her, though” Jose questioned, rubbing his face with his rough calloused hands.
“I think I know why.” Irish big her lower lip as she looked at her phone before looking up at everyone.
“Well, share with the rest of the class, please.” Tiny softly huffed, his patience on a tight rope, not at Iris but the whole situation.
“Andrew “Longshot” Stephens is still alive and he’s here in Fayetteville. He faked his death to join a classified squad with the CIA and wound up going rogue six months ago. He’s suspected of killing his wife and daughter about a year ago.”