Chapter 27
Max
Tonight was interesting, Megan and I got our McDonald’s before heading home for the evening. Or what I thought would be the whole evening. After dinner she curled up on the couch watching some random show on tv and fell asleep. I can only imagine what she is going through. Rebecca Paxley was a piece of work and Rick knew it. He plans on sending a car out to the uncles house in the morning to check the ankle monitor. It shouldn’t be easy to get off, but I know Megan had her doubts that it would stay on.
My phone begins to ring from the table by the couch. I quickly walk over and grab it; Roark’s name lights up the screen.
“Dude, it’s late,” I whisper into the phone, irritated that Megan is stirring on the couch thanks to the intrusion of Roark’s call.
“Yeah, I know but if you would’ve answer my five texts I wouldn’t have had to call,” he sounds annoyed and pissed off. Great.
“What happened now?” I groan, expecting someone to have pissed him off. One of the many ladies with benefits leave him high and dry, or maybe Tony and his insufferable ramblings about Ally and how perfect she is, despite her not catching feelings like he is.
“I’m at the warehouse. We have a problem,” Roark’s words make my blood run cold. We visit our guests every day in shifts, Tony’s shift was last night and everything was fine.
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” I snap. If Ryan got out or that piece of shit Roy got free, someone would pay.
“Roy and Ryan seem to be chatty today. Did you know they knew each other?” Irritation flares the more Roark speaks. “Ryan is friends with Roy’s son, Jeff. Ryan might know something about the trafficking ring.”
“I’ll be right there,” I hang up and move to the couch, sliding my hands beneath Megan and cradle her in my arms. “Baby girl, I have to go meet up with Roark to help him with some stuff. Let’s get you to bed,” She sleepily nods at me, cuddling into my chest.
Ugh, why the hell do I have to go?! She is so fucking cute right now. Her hair pulled up in the messy bun, the way her lips part as if they’re waiting for me to kiss them. It’s frustrating.
I walk her upstairs and straight to our room. I switched rooms around after the Sandra bullshit. I torched the bed like Roark recommended and I got all new sheets and blankets. I moved into the room across the hall when I decided Megan was staying here.
Ally and Tony have been staying at Megans so that way neither of them needed to worry about their former roommates. It seems like a good thing for them. I pull her closer to me letting her vanilla perfume wrap around my senses, breathing it in as I pulled back the comforter and wrap her up in bed. I kiss her on her forehead as she rolls into my pillows and takes a deep breath. I plug her phone in on her bedside and close the door.
I am slowly becoming okay with leaving Megan in the house alone. I grab my keys and wallet and set the alarm. I can deactivate it from my phone when I get home. I just want her to be safe. I lock and close the front door; my duffle bag of clothes is already in my car. Tonight is going to get messy.
I cut the engine as I pull up into a parking space outside of one of the many abandoned warehouses by the river. Roark’s car is here, but so is Tony’s. I guess this is an all-hands-on deck kind of night.
I’m itching for a fight, especially after what Ryan’s mom did to Megan earlier this evening. The Paxley’s will regret ever messing with her when I am done. I push open the door and walk into the building. There were a few windows that were missing some glass, the doors also a little messed up, we’ve had to use a chain and lock to keep them closed.
Inside was rather bare. Exposed beams, half the lights worked, but most didn’t. The place has concrete flooring and brick walls so not much sound gets out of here. Not that anyone lives close enough to hear anything. There are a few rooms in the building. Two old offices, what I assume was a conference room, and the main floor of the warehouse. I have no idea what this place was before we acquired it, but I like the isolation.
Footsteps echo off the walls as I walk to the back of the room. Two chairs were in the middle of what I assume was a production floor. Both occupied with the two males who have been a focus of my rage over the last few weeks. A month went by since we brought Ryan back here. I was hoping I could deal with him a little sooner, but Megan has been the sole focus of my attention when I’m not at work.
“I see you put them on display,” I say as I enter the back office where Tony is seating in an office chair, feet propped up on the desk like it’s his own person office.
“I didn’t, Roark did. I think that he might have roughed them up a bit to before Andy and I got here,” Tony looked past me at Andy sitting in the corner. Roark was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is our brooding knight?” I ask, leaning against the wall. Tony and Andy both shrug at the same time. The door swings open and in wafts the smell of cigarettes and cedar. Oh boy, tonight might end in a fucking blood bath.
“I needed to step out,” Roark says as he tosses his keys down on the desk in front of Tony. He looks at me and nods. I nod back knowing not much more needs to be said.
“What are we looking at? How do you know they know each other?” Andy asks from his chair. Glad he cut the tension that was brewing. Roark looks over at him, but Andy doesn’t waver.
“I had the idea of putting them in a room together to show them what I am capable of. I took off the bags from their heads, made them look at each other, and noticed the spark of realization on Ryans face. I walked away for a little bit, turning on the mics in the room. To say that Roy was bitching Ryan out for something would be an understatement. Max, you’re not going to like what they were saying,” Roark’s words were like chips of ice hitting the ground so hard they shattered. There’s only one thing I can think of.
“He was playing the long game wasn’t he?” I ask, knowing I probably don’t want to know the answer to that.
“More then that. All the women we’ve gotten close to over the last month are being watched courtesy of Ryan Paxley. Only reason they weren’t taken sooner was because Ryan was quote playing with the goods. Megan, Ally, her sister Alice, her cousin Lexi. All are being watched. I called Rick first and told him to put a detail on all the houses, including yours,” Roark just checked me with a verbal gut punch.
Tony slammed his fists on the desk, “You called us here knowing the women we love are alone?!” He pops up from the seat charging around the desk. He goes to swing, but Roark dodged the hit, shoving his knee into Tony’s gut.
“I called you once the protective details got outside the houses. You think I’m fucking stupid? Where Max is dating Megan, her brother is friends with mine. He is protective of his sisters and his cousin. If anything happens to them, my brother will force me to get involved. I took the precautions need,” Roark wasn’t dumb, and if he called Rick then he must have found out something big.
“Who’s the ringleader?” I ask, hoping there was an answer in the madness. I watch Roark’s face twist with anger.
“Michael Paxley,” Roark spits out the name as if it was poison on his tongue.
“His fucking father?!” Andy yells out like we didn’t know who Michael Paxley is. Roark nods, I want to vomit. Megan has been in that man’s presence on multiple occasions. The man hosts at least two speeches on his campaigning tour at the library where she works at. Could that be how he met her?
“He’s on track to win the votes for governor. This can be very tricky,” Tony says, and I know he’s right. Michael Paxley got into politics ten years ago, and has held prominent seats on city councils, he tried skipping the line to run for a senate position but failed.
“He is the literal term of wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Andy says, pulling out his laptop and tapping away on the keyboard. “He’s squeaky clean on paper. No bribes taken, nothing suspicious with his bank accounts or his hotels. It looks like they are trying to open a new hotel in Rehoboth. No idea where it will go, that area is built up as it is. Wait, there is a plot of land that the family owns in Claymont near the river. The building permits for the area are sealed up, that’s odd.”
“Want to bet there is a house or some type of storage on the property?” Tony says, they continue to discuss the possibilities of the Paxley’s involvement in the kidnappings of children and women. I just kept thinking of Megan, hopefully still sound asleep in our bed, curled up to my pillows.
“What do we do?” Andy asks, snapping my attention back to him. I notice the entire room is looking at me now. I became the lead guy on this a year ago when we found out about a few dirty cops who were apart of gathering these people on unsolicited charges and just never brought in, or who had always happened to be on search parties for missing victims.
Three of them were a part of a search and rescue for Christina and Avery. I had gotten a little handsy with Officer Metcaffe and ended up beating him within an inch of his life when he confessed to kidnapping sex workers and taking them to a drop off spot. He never confessed to taking Christina or Avery though.
“Did Jeff ever make it to our wonderful establishment down state?” I ask, Tony just smiles.
“We got him at the Wilmington Airport trying to hop a flight to Nashville. Pete has been keeping an eye on all flight activity since we got Roy. Jeff did a good job at hiding, but he’s on his way here. Pete and Marty roughed him up a bit, they had him in the city for most of the day,” Tony checks his phone, placing it down on the desk in front of him. “They’ll be here with him shortly.”
“Good, put Ryan back in his room and leave Roy in the main room. When Jeff gets here, we’re going to put him in Ryan’s vacated chair. Let them see that we have them both, they may talk to save their lives,” I say before storming out of the room.
The heavy footsteps behind me tell me Roark is on my heels. “I wouldn’t have called you away from her if I didn’t think this was a bit bigger than her,” He blurts out.
“I know, this isn’t just about her safety or her families safety or even her friends safety. It’s about all the women and children who need saving,” I stop, turning around to look him in the eyes. “Two will die here tonight. It’s up to them if it’s at the same time or if one gets to watch the other go.”
“Rough them up for information, then take them out?” He asks, knowing that I need to let out some frustration.
“Yes, but Ryan lives to see tomorrow. He will watch them both die.,” I say, the threat and promise in my words makes him smile. Tonight, will be the start of the end for the Paxley family.