Chapter 21
Cole
Getting that phone call from Amber made me lose my mind. I couldn’t believe Amaryllis was missing. I called the guys right away and asked to meet at Carter’s. When I walked inside, Lex greeted me with a hug. “Cole, I’m so sorry. I know how much that sweet girl means to you. Take all the time you need here. The girls are upstairs. The rest of the guys are in the kitchen.”
“Thanks, Lex. I appreciate that.” She went upstairs as I made my way to the kitchen. I’d given Vinny a heads up because he was the one who helped me with the private investigator that looked into Miller. I wasn’t sure if this was him at play, or if Amaryllis just somehow got turned around. It broke my heart to think about her out there, somewhere, walking around, and alone, but I tried to imagine someone would try to help her to keep me from losing it. I just hoped.
“Hey guys.” Vinny, Hudson, and Carter were sitting at the dining room table. How many times had we met like that for one reason or another? I don’t know, but we could always count on each other.
Vinny didn’t hesitate. “Hey, buddy. Let’s get right into this because I called my guy when you called me, and he already found Miller. Amaryllis isn’t with him, so it wasn’t him.”
“While that brings me comfort, knowing she isn’t with him, it’s still driving me out of mind not knowing where she could be.” I stood up and paced the kitchen.
Hudson spoke up. “Let’s head out and look for her. That’s all we can do.”
***
We’d been out for hours looking for Amaryllis, starting at the bookstore, then went down all the possible paths she could’ve taken if she left the bookstore. “Vinny, I know what you said, but where is Miller staying? I wanna go there anyway.”
Vinny rattled whipped out his phone and rattled off his address so we headed for his place.
Carter asked from the backseat, “What are we trying to do, guys? He’s crazy, aint he?” I could tell in his voice that he really was worried that we didn’t have a plan.
I tried to reassure him, “He’s a fucking junkie. I’m not worried about him being crazy other than taking a little girl he has no right to take. Something tells me, in my gut, that he has her. I’m not worried about it.”
Carter was adamant though. “Well, I’m glad you’re not worried about it, but it would be really fucking stupid of us to go in there unarmed.”
“You don’t have to go in, but I’m not waiting,” I said to him.
“Of course, I’ll come with you, but goddammit, Cole…” Carter was scared, and I understood that. He had a family at home.
Vinny interrupted to say, “We’re almost there,” as he rounded a corner next to an industrial looking building.
“He lives here?” I asked.
Vinny said, “Yeah. They turned these into lofts a few years ago.”
It was starting to get dark, but it was still light enough to see. We had time. It wasn’t a bad neighborhood by any means, but I wanted to find her before it got dark. There was a park across the street from the lofts and there were kids and parents all over still.
“Look, the park. Let’s walk around there,” I said.
Hudson spoke up. “Ok, sure. Four grown ass men walking around the park with no kids in tow. Not creepy at all.”
He was right, so I said, “Whatever. Fine, let’s sit in the car but scan as much as you can. Look at every face of every kid before you move on to the next one.”
Carter said, “I can’t believe there are so many kids out still. It’s gonna be dark soon. Lex would never let the girls play outside this late.”
My eyes scanned face after face of almost every kid. Sitting over on the ground in the far corner of the playground, was a little girl with long brown hair. She was staring at the ground and not playing. I watched as another kid walked up to her and tried to talk to her, but she didn’t budge. “You guys, look. Far corner of the playground. I think it’s her. Do you see Miller around?”
Vinny shouted, “There! There’s Miller. He’s on the bench, not even paying attention to her,” Miller was talking to some woman.
Excited, I yelled, “Let’s go, now!” All four of us hopped out of the car and moved toward him. We were fast, but not too fast, so he wouldn’t notice us until we were right up on him. I said, “Watch him. Yell for me if he moves and fucking stop him if he heads toward her.”
I didn’t want to cause alarm. I was a black man approaching a white child in a park at night. I knew that some of the parents would probably say something. I tried to be calm as I walked across the field and into the playground area. Walking around the playset, I called for her. “Amaryllis…” She looked up but didn’t see me. “Amaryllis…” When she spotted me, she jumped up.
“Coley!!!!!” She started running toward me, so I scooped her up in my arms, giving her the biggest hug. She was crying.
“It’s ok, sweetheart. Ssh. I’m here. You’re safe.”
“I want my mommy, Coley. I wanna go home. Please don’t make me go back with him.”
“Never, baby girl. Hold on tight. We’re gonna go.” I rushed across the playground, holding Amaryllis tight to me. Looking around, I saw Miller get up and head toward us and that’s when Vinny stood in front of him, pushing his finger into his chest. Carter and Hudson were with Vinny. You could see them exchanging words and I could see Miller wiping his nose incessantly. Fucking junky.
The guys backed away from Miller and started making their way to us. I got in the backseat with Amaryllis since we didn’t have a car seat. We didn’t think to have a car seat, nor was there any room for one with all four of us in the car. Amaryllis snuggled into my chest. Carter got in the backseat with me. Vinny drove and Hudson was in the passenger seat. He just kept looking back at us. Vinny kept looking at us through the rearview mirror. Amaryllis cried herself to sleep in my arms. I tried to call Delaney and Amber, but no one answered the phone. Vinny knew to head straight to Delaney’s house.
Vinny pulled up in front of her apartment as I slowly woke Amaryllis up. We all got out and Amaryllis wrapped her arms around my neck. “Coley…”
“It’s ok, sweetheart. We’re home. I know your mama is right inside and she’s going to be so happy to see you.”
She nodded but laid her head on my shoulder. We went up the front steps and rang the doorbell. Delaney’s dad answered the door, “Oh my God. Come in, hurry. Is she okay?”
“She’s ok. She’s sad and tired, but she’s okay. Where’s Delaney?” Just then, she came out of the kitchen and stopped in her tracks.
“Amaryllis…” She said in a low voice like she couldn’t believe she was seeing her.
Amaryllis lifted her head from my shoulder and said, “Mama.”
Delaney lost it. She started crying as she rushed toward us. I handed Amaryllis off to her. “Baby, what happened? Are you ok?” Delaney was looking her up and down, inspecting for anything that could be wrong.
“I’m ok, mama. I’m tired, but Coley found me.” Amaryllis reached for me again, so I took her back. She hugged me and rested her head on my shoulder again. Everyone had gathered around. I reached for Delaney. She started crying harder and grabbed my hand. I pulled her into me and held her and Amaryllis. She laid her hand on Amaryllis’ back. I had my girls. They were mine and I didn’t care what Delaney said. We belonged together.
I squeezed Delaney around the shoulder. “Let’s take her to bed, Laney girl. She can have a bath tomorrow. She’s so tired.”
Delaney’s mother went up to her and said, “Go, honey. I’m so sorry this happened. We’ll make sure everything gets cleaned up down here.”
I grabbed Delaney’s hand to follow me upstairs so we could tuck Amaryllis in. Delaney got her changed into her pajamas and tucked her in. We both sat, one of us on each side of her bed. We made sure she was tucked in, up to her neck with all her stuffies. “Amaryllis, are you ok? Do you want to talk about what happened?” Delaney asked her.
Amaryllis closed her eyes for a second and then opened them. Going back and forth between Delaney and me, she said “Coley, please don’t leave. Will you be here tomorrow?”
I didn’t know how to answer that, but I didn’t have to because Delaney answered for me. “He’s not going anywhere, baby. He’ll be here when you wake up.”
Delaney looked at me and looked sad but hopeful, so I said, “That’s right. You’re not getting rid of me that easy.” I leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Mama, please don’t let the bad man take me ever again.” Damn. It killed me knowing what she must’ve been through over the years to know her own father as the bad man. She couldn’t even call him dad. My heart broke for her.
Delaney was fighting tears. “I promise you, baby. No one will ever take you from me and Coley again.” Amaryllis gave a small smile. Delaney went on, and said, “Go to sleep, okay? We’ll be right downstairs.” She kissed her goodnight, so we stood up to leave.
Just as we were leaving Amaryllis yelled, “Wait, no. I don’t want to be alone.”
I said, “Delaney, stay and sleep with her. It’s ok. I’ll make sure everyone gets home downstairs and the house gets locked up. I’ll be up later.” I grabbed her chin, tilted it up to me, gave her little kiss, and said, “I love you.” She smiled; eyes glossy with tears. I looked at Amaryllis and said, “And I love you too!”
She smiled a bigger smile that time and said, “I love you, Coley!”