Chapter Twenty-Two #2
Chad paced furiously. Back and forth. Back and forth. Every molecule in his body was screaming at him to do something. Not stand in the house and listen as Lincoln spoke with the police officers who’d shown up after getting both his and Victor’s 9-1-1 calls.
Walt was on his way to the hospital. He’d been hit over the head pretty hard and had a concussion, but the EMTs on scene hadn’t seemed overly ... rushed as they were loading him into the ambulance. Which Chad was taking as a good sign.
But the fact that no one had any idea where Britt or their mom was made Chad’s belly churn. He’d been in precarious situations before. All his brothers had. But this was different. It was personal. This was their mom . And the woman he loved. He’d just found Britt; he couldn’t lose her already.
Done waiting, Chad headed for the door.
Knox and Zach immediately joined him.
“Wait, where are you going?” one of the officers called out.
Chad ignored him. There was only one person who could shed some light on what the fuck was happening. Otis Calvert. His son had kidnapped Mom, and Chad had no doubt Otis was actually behind whatever was going on. If not directly, he had information.
His plan was to go to Otis’s small house and do whatever it took to get the intel he and his brothers needed to get their mom and Britt back.
To his shock, a car came down the driveway as Chad was heading toward his truck.
Otis’s car.
“What the fuck?” Zach mumbled from behind him.
Chad didn’t hesitate. He headed straight for Otis. Their former family friend had barely shut the engine off before Chad had his door open and was yanking him out.
“Where are they?” he growled.
“Easy, Chad,” Knox said, grabbing his shoulder.
Chad shrugged it off.
“Where’s who?” Otis asked with wide eyes. “I saw on the local social media page that there were a bunch of emergency vehicles here and I got worried, so I came down. I know we’ve had some tough times recently, but you’re all still my family. Where’s Evelyn? Is she all right?”
He was lying through his teeth.
Chad saw red.
Knowing if the police got involved, he wouldn’t get the information he needed, he hauled Otis toward the huge aluminum shed they used in the boat storage area of the property.
It was big enough to fit maybe three lobster boats side by side, and it cost an arm and a leg for customers to rent it for the winter, but for those who wanted their boats to be under cover, it was a price they were willing to pay.
It was empty at the moment, as the owners had long since picked up their boats for the summer. It was the ideal place to question Otis, away from the prying eyes of the cops.
“Wait, Chad ... Where are we going? Is your mom okay? Stop!”
But Chad ignored Otis’s stammering. Relief swept through him when he reached the huge building without being stopped by any of the officers inside the house. He was grateful Lincoln was dealing with them, keeping them occupied.
Knox and Zach were right there with him as he entered the building, and his brothers shut the door as Chad practically flung their former employee into a nearby chair.
The chair tipped but didn’t fall. Otis stared up at him with terrified eyes.
Good. He should be scared.
“Where is he? Camden. Where did he take my mom?” Chad barked.
“What? Camden? You think he’s with your mom? I don’t know what’s going on.”
Chad wasn’t in the mood for this. All he could think of was how scared Britt and his mom must be at the moment.
He hoped they weren’t hurt, but it was likely they had been.
And anyone involved in whatever this scheme was would pay for every bruise, every scrape, every damn mark he found on his family.
“Cut the shit,” he growled. “I want to know what the plan is. Why your son came onto Lobster Cove property and kidnapped our mother!”
“I don’t know!”
Chad was done.
He whipped out a hand and grabbed Otis by the throat, tipping the chair backward. The older man instinctively grabbed Chad’s wrist with both hands, keeping himself from falling as he stared with bulging eyes. His pupils were dilated with fear, and the scent of piss wafted up from his lap.
Chad wasn’t hurting him. Wasn’t squeezing his throat, wasn’t cutting off his air. Was simply making a point. Making sure Otis was well aware that he held no cards here. He might be fit and strong for his age, but at the moment ... he was at the mercy of the Young brothers.
Chad had no doubt that either Knox or Zach would step in if they thought it was necessary. But he also knew none of them would back down until they had the info they needed to go and get their family members back.
“Listen to me, and listen hard. We trusted you. You were my dad’s best friend—and you stole from him for years .
Stole his hard-earned cash and made him question his skills as a businessman.
All the while eating at his table, spending holidays with him, and acting as if you had his best interests at heart.
And if we didn’t come home to help Mom? You would’ve bled her dry.
Forced her to sell Lobster Cove. You threw away decades of friendship—and for what? Money!
“You’re the lowest of the fucking low, and I couldn’t give a shit about your problems or the reasons behind why you did what you did. But your fucking son drove up to our house today and kidnapped my mother. I want to know why, and I want to know where he took her— now .”
He held Otis’s gaze. Letting him see the darkness that lived in his head.
Chad had seen a lot of bad shit. Had killed for his country. He loved his family more than he loved his country—and he’d definitely kill to protect them.
Apparently, whatever Otis saw in Chad’s eyes convinced him to give up the charade of concern he’d tried to hold on to since first opening his mouth upon his arrival.
“I just wanted a chance to talk to Evelyn! To explain! I need this job!” Otis babbled.
“I don’t know how it started ... it was fifty bucks here, a hundred bucks there.
But things spiraled. Camden moved in with me, and money got tight.
She and Austin had so much more than they’d ever need or use. They wouldn’t miss the money!”
“Where’s Mom?” Knox asked in a low, menacing tone. “Forget about you being a fucking asshole and a shit friend. Where. Is. Our. Mother?”
“We can’t go to jail! I won’t do well in jail,” Otis cried.
Something inside Chad snapped. He tightened his grip on the man he’d once thought of as an uncle. A second father.
The pressure on his neck seemed to finally do the trick. Otis broke. “We have a camp! He was supposed to take her there! I was gonna go out and talk to her. Convince her to drop the charges.”
“Bullshit!” Zach said in an explosion of breath. “There’s no way our mom would agree to drop charges against you and come home like nothing happened, as if she hadn’t been kidnapped ! Where is this fucking camp?”
Chad abruptly let go of Otis and backed away. The chair thudded down on all fours, surprising the older man, and he fell forward onto his hands and knees on the concrete floor.
Chad’s fingers flexed as he glared down at Otis.
He’d had to let go. He was too close to the edge.
It would’ve been too easy to kill the man with his bare hands.
And that wasn’t the kind of person he was.
Yes, he’d killed while he was a sniper, but every life he’d taken was a stain on his soul. He wasn’t going to add one more.
Not only that, but killing Otis wouldn’t give him and his brothers the info they needed. It would only add to their problems. Spending decades behind bars would take him away from Britt. Would end any chance he’d have of asking her to marry him. Of having a family with her.
“I didn’t agree with him!” Otis added quickly.
“I just wanted to talk, I swear! But Camden, he ... he thought he could use her as bait. Get you and your brothers to come after her. Then take you all out. He thought we could start over in Alaska. Without anyone to press charges against me, I’d have time to destroy files.
Any embezzlement charges would have to be dropped! ”
Chad curled his lip in disgust. “How was he planning to lure us to wherever he’s got Mom stashed?”
Otis stared at the floor, his shoulders slumped, suddenly looking every second of his sixty-eight years.
“He said he’d wait a while, make sure you were good and freaked out over Evelyn being gone, so you’d be willing to do anything to get her back.
Then he’d call you one at a time. Tell you he saw someone he knows take your mom and give you the address.
When you arrived, he’d take each of you out. ”
Chad blinked. “That makes no fucking sense!” he exclaimed. “We’d never go somewhere one at a time. The first thing we would’ve done is call each other. What the hell? You had to know this asinine plan was totally illogical.”
“And you went along with this stupid plan?” Knox asked.
“No! No, no, no! I just wanted to talk, you have to believe me!” Otis swore.
Yeah. He was talking out his ass. They all knew it.
“So why come here now? Just to put on this show? To play the part of the concerned friend?” Zach asked.
Otis hung his head and didn’t respond.
Chad was done. “You two were planning on killing all of us. Me, my brothers, Mom, Britt ... and for what? The cops would know you did it, Otis. They found Camden’s fingerprints all over Mom’s car.
A consultant is already digging through our accounts, finding evidence of your embezzlement.
You wouldn’t have gotten away with anything .
Did you show up here to gain sympathy? Or so the cops would see you here, give you an alibi?
The police aren’t that stupid. We aren’t that stupid. ”
“You’re pathetic,” Knox added with a shake of his head. “Where’s this damn camp of yours?”
For a second, Chad didn’t think Otis was going to give up the location. But he sighed—a long, defeated sound—and told them the address.
Then finally, his head came up and he met Chad’s gaze. “Don’t kill him. He’s my boy. The only thing I have left.”
Knox snorted. A disgusted sound that Chad felt down to his soul. This man was going to kill his entire family without a second thought ... and he was begging for mercy for his son? Screw that.
Chad turned to leave the garage without another word. He wasn’t promising shit. Especially not to Otis. He’d do whatever needed to be done. If his mom and Britt were hurt in any way, there was nowhere Camden Calvert could hide. He’d find him and exact his own form of justice.
He stopped at the door to the storage building and took a deep breath. He heard his brothers hauling Otis to his feet. He turned and saw the older man was weaving unsteadily between Knox and Zach, who both had a firm grip on his upper arms as they towed him toward the door.
“We’re going to the house, and you’re going to tell the cops everything you just told us. Word for fucking word. Understand?” Knox ordered.
“I can’t go to jail!” Otis wailed yet again.
“You should’ve thought of that before you stole from Lobster Cove. Before you schemed with your son to kidnap two innocent women. Before you betrayed your best friend by turning on his family,” Chad said coolly.
Now that he had an address, the calm he’d perfected from being a sniper had begun to take over.
He was focused on what needed to be done.
Camden was lying in wait for him and his brothers with the intent to kill, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Not a chance in hell. Camden was an incompetent piece of shit.
No way would he get the drop on the Young brothers.
They’d all spent too much time in the trenches in their various branches of the military.
Chad was more worried about what shape he’d find Britt and his mom in than any threat Camden might pose.
Still, he and his brothers needed to be smart.
If one of them was forced to take Camden’s life, they had to be sure they wouldn’t end up behind bars as a result.
Taking a contingent of officers to the Calvert camp wasn’t ideal, but he’d do whatever was necessary to have a long, happy future with the woman he loved.
He left the storage building, striding across the property toward the main house. The police and Lincoln needed to be updated on the situation, Otis needed to be detained, and their mom and Britt needed to be rescued.
Hopefully before the day was out, their family would be back at Lobster Cove, safe and sound.