Chapter Twenty-Two
Itake a deep breath as I climb into the driver’s seat of one of my burner cars. I have to put eyes on the Walker household. I have to have something to tell Sara. In truth, I haven’t gone back there, only allowing a couple of my men to do a drive-by. However, it’s easy to see that Sara isn’t going to give up until she knows they’re safe.
Fuck. I turn the engine over, listening as the knocking of the motor grows more pronounced. It’s definitely time to use it and lose it, and that’s going to happen today. I’ve already put in the call for extra men, and I leave Carlos to deal with figuring out who. I trust him to make the best decision. All my men have been vetted anyway.
Not that I trust them completely, though. Carlos has a strict order to keep them out of sight of Sara—and Sara out of their sight. I floor the gas and head back toward the suburbs, to the place I hate. One day, when it all settles down after Ron’s death, I’ll go back and take care of Will. But raising suspicions right now isn’t a good option. Not with Sara having disappeared as well.
I make the grueling journey to the house, deciding to drive right up instead of playing sneaky stalker. I don’t particularly want Will to see me, but at this time of the morning, he should already be at the convenience store and restaurant. This leaves the girls and Sara’s mom.
Sara’s mom.
That’s what I’ve always called her. Before I ever reached the point of looking at the woman as my own maternal figure, she had morphed into something I didn’t want to claim. Not to mention, she had married someone that I viewed as evil.
And still do.
However, torturing Will through the death of his brother feels good—but not when I think about the kids that are involved now. I saw the worry written all over Sara’s face this morning. I don’t understand it, mostly because Will never laid a hand on young girls. He only beat older ones and took out his other urges on little boys.
I park alongside the curb across the street, thankful for a car that fits in. The windows are tinted, though not beyond the legal limit. I don’t want anything to draw attention to me. I put on a baseball cap and lean back against the seat, watching as the girls file out of the house for school.
How are they going to get to school?
The question is immediately answered as I watch Sara’s mom stumble out of the house, her gray hair in a mess on top of her head and her sweats hanging loosely from her thin frame. She looks like hell, and the dark circles under her eyes only serve to emphasize how rough she is.
She shouldn’t be driving…
And yet, I watch as she climbs into the SUV parked outside of the garage. The oldest girl—Eliza, I think her name is—has a look of disdain on her face. I crack the window, hoping to catch a hint of the conversation.
“We could’ve just taken the bus,” I hear Eliza say, her voice carrying loud enough for most of the neighborhood to hear.
“Well, catch it next time,” Sara’s mom snaps at her. “Let’s go.”
I raise my brows at the attitude, though I have to admit that she sounds… sober. I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but I know when she’s not in her right mind, mostly because of how she talks. There was no hiding it while I was growing up in the house. That being said, maybe she’s on something else.
It’s that notion that leads me to follow the car to the school. I know that Sara would want me to make sure they got to school safely, and from here, I’ll have to figure out what the fuck I’m supposed to do. I can’t let Sara become trapped by her mother’s addictions.
I take a deep, steady breath and put the car in drive, whipping around to follow them once I get some distance. I don’t think Sara’s mom will notice—she’s not the observant type and never has been. I keep a good distance between myself and the SUV anyway. My phone distracts me, its incessant ringing filling the air.
Swooping it up, I see Carlos’s name.
Fuck.
“Yes?” I answer, not bothering with a greeting. We’re not friends, and I don’t pretend that we are.
“Security discovered a vehicle lurking around your house,” Carlos says, his voice flat and tinged with fatigue. “Just thought I would let you know.”
“And you stopped the vehicle, right?”
“Uh, no…” His voice trails off, immediately causing anger and frustration to bubble up in my chest. “I didn’t think that would be a good idea. The extra men haven’t arrived, and I can’t be watching the house and chasing down suspicious cars at the same time.”
Fuck me. I should’ve just stayed.
My jaw tenses, but I force myself to relax as I watch the SUV turn into the school complex. Thankfully, the elementary, middle school, and high school are on the same campus, so the girls have made it safely now.
“I got the plates,” he says to my silence. “That has to count for something.”
“They’re probably stolen,” I reason, shaking my head. “I don’t know who the fuck would be this interested in us.”
“Uh, I’m not sure, but someone is, and we probably should figure it out before Grenado finds out. I don’t think he’ll like our inability to handle this.”
“We are handling it,” I seethe. “I know what I’m doing.”
“With all due respect,” he clears his throat. “Your head seems to be all over the place. You’re adding extra security to the house, but it’s leaving the warehouse with less, and that’s probably not a good thing.”
“Then we’ll hire more for the warehouse.” I don’t like the fact he’s pointing out issues that I should see to myself, but at the same time, Carlos is a smart man. That’s why he was gifted to me as a right-hand man.
“Do you want me to take care of that for you?” He offers it up like a favor, his voice brightening. “You rarely let me handle things, but I can do this.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek. “You’ll have to vet them, Carlos. Don’t trust anyone, even if they’re a friend.”
“I know, boss.”
“Then take care of it.” I hang up with as Sara’s mom whips out of the parking lot and heads back in the direction of the house again. Part of me wants to follow her there, but the other part of me knows it’s a long drive back to Sara, and that’s where I should be, winning her trust over. Protecting her. However, as I navigate out of the busy school parking lot, my eyes fall on a flyer attached to a telephone pole.
And I brake.
What the fuck?
I pull off to the side, fighting the urge to climb out of the car. But I know better than to do that. Instead, I squint from inside, a few feet away.
Have you seen me? Sahara Walker.
My stomach tightens at the sight. Who the fuck reported her missing? And why would they have? I left a fucking note. Did they not find it?
“Or did they not believe it?” I ask the question aloud. I hadn’t expected this. Don’t get me wrong, I knew that more than likely the girls were attached to Sara in some capacity, but who would post this? Why wouldn’t they just accept that she’d walked away to start over?
I grit my teeth. Surely, Ron’s death was deemed a suicide. My hands tremble as I clutch the shifter. It would be a big fucking problem if the authorities thought Sara was somehow involved, although the flyers only say that she is missing. It isn’t pointing the finger at her. Still, my paranoia is ravaging my thoughts. I pick my phone back up and dial Carlos again.
“Yes?” He answers it the exact same way I did, and while normally, I might find it entertaining, today, it annoys me.
“Was the bastard I killed deemed a suicide?” I demand, not wanting to utter the pervert’s name.
“Yes sir,” he replies quickly. “It was. There weren’t any questions. Had a funeral this last weekend. It all went the way it was supposed to. Just like always. You’re skilled at what you do.”
My lips flatline. “What about Sar—Sahara,” I correct myself. “What about her? I just saw a missing flyer hanging on a telephone pole.”
“Uh, yeah, well, I don’t know about that.”
My shoulders slump as someone honks from behind me. I smash the gas and whip out, making a mental note that the flyers need to be taken down ASAP. “I need you to look into it. I need to know if a report has been filed. Now.”
“I’ll look into it, but, boss, one thing,” he says, his words strikingly careful.
“Yes?” I snap.
He sighs. “Don’t take offense, but you can’t hide her away forever. It’ll never last that way. Her love for you will die out with the light inside of her.”
Then I’ll die with it.