Chapter 28
“Ijust gotta get something from my desk,” I said to Monica, as she headed over to sit on Paul’s chair. Paul entered from the back of the station, eyes lighting up seeing his wife.
“Oh great, now she’s here to boss me around at work too,” he said jokingly, dropping a kiss on top of Monica’s head as she glowered up at him.
“Fine. I won’t hang back just to say hey next time,” she teased, pretending to be offended.
“Oh stop. You know I adore you and worship the ground you walk on, Angel,” he said. “How’s Becks?” he continued looking over at me with his hands lightly rubbing Monica’s shoulders.
“She’s good.”
“Yeah, she said Lucas here took very good care of her,” Monica interjected, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Oh really?” asked Paul, glancing up at me.
“Shut up,” I told them both. “I do think she was really shaken up. She talked about leaving last night, even tried to push me away.”
Monica gasped, “She what?”
Paul hushed her.
“It's okay. I…talked her into staying. I told her there wasn’t anything in the world I wouldn’t do for her and she had people that cared about her and Natasha now. No one was going to let her go through this alone and she wasn’t a burden to people that loved her.”
I looked up at the silence to find Monica staring at me with tears in her eyes, “You told her you loved her?”
Aw, hell. Of course that was what she focused on. Now this woman wasn’t going to let me forget it.
“Well I mean….”
“Lucas Marshall! You romantic!” she crowed, getting up, crossing the room and launching herself at me to hug me tight.
Paul laughed, “Welcome to the club, man. Did she say it back?”
“Not yet. But she’s been through a lot. I know she does,” I said, patting Monica’s back who was still sniffing beside me.
“You two are beautiful together. I cannot wait to help plan the wedding!”
“MONICA!” her husband and I exclaimed together, me panicked and him laughing so hard I thought he was going to pee himself.
“OH what?! Like it's not going to happen?” she scoffed.
She crossed the room again, kissing Paul soundly on the lips, “I love you, you big idiot. I’ll see you at home tonight. Hopefully the girls will be asleep,” she added, winking, “Then you can take great care of me!”
I covered my ears, acting disgusted as they both laughed.
“I love you too, firecracker,” He replied, kissing her one more time before watching her leave.
“Tell Becks I’ll be there in a minute,” I yelled after her.
She nodded, waving behind her, already out the door.
“You are well and truly fucked, my man” Paul said, with a shit eating grin.
“Shut up,” I replied, throwing a pencil at him.
“Have you taken her to see your Nan yet?” Paul prodded, curiously.
“I was planning to ask if she and Nat wanted to go tomorrow. They’ve talked to her on the phone a few times. I think Becks was trying to keep her distance. She was really close to her grandmother, and I think she’s scared of hurting mine if she had to leave again. Nan knows I’m head over heels. She even gave me her diamond engagement ring and told me to get it over with,” I said, pulling it out of the drawer I kept locked, and showing him the box.
“God help you, Lucas! These women are plotting against you,” he laughed.
“It's not like I haven’t thought about just asking her,” I shrugged. “People have gotten married knowing each other less than half a year. We’ve been through enough together in that amount of time. I just don’t want this shadow hanging over us.”
He nodded in understanding, then glanced over my shoulder, doing a double take. The look in his eyes hardened and I found my stomach dropping before I’d even turned around.
Monica was ushering the girls through the station doors towards us with a panicked look on her face, and Becks wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Natasha and Lexi were in tears. Lacey even looked close and she hardly showed any emotion but attitude anymore.
Something had happened.
“What is it?” I asked, meeting them at the same time Paul did.
“Its Becks,” she sniffled, “I got to the ice cream parlor and the girls were finishing up and said Becks had needed to step outside for a minute because she needed to return her boss's phone call. Lucas, she’s nowhere. Her purse and phone, keys and everything, were in the entrance to the alley. I looked everywhere and screamed her name. No one had seen anything. It's the middle of the day!” Monica broke off, close to losing it, clearly trying to keep it together for the girls.
“Alright, honey,” Paul said, drawing her to him tightly, “We’ve got this.”
I tuned them out, feeling like I had turned into a block of ice. This had turned into some kind of living nightmare. I refused to believe what I was hearing. Becks was gone? Just like that? In the middle of the day? I watched as Monica and the girls went to the back of the station, into the witness room to calm down and wait. Natasha was sobbing and it was her tears that broke me out of it.
I strode after them, dropping to my knees in front of her, “Peanut,” I said, reaching out and grabbing her tiny hands in mine.
Her blue eyes met mine, tears streaming down her face, “Lucas, you gotta find Mom,” she begged, sobbing harder.
My jaw clenched and my teeth were grinding. I’d kill that fucker. First, for laying a hand on my woman. Second, for putting tears in this little girl’s eyes.
“I promise you, Natasha,” I said, gripping her hands tight and holding her eyes, “I’m bringing your mama back home to us.”
I rose to my feet, meeting Monica and Paul’s eyes across the room. They were working on consoling their girls. I nodded to Paul before exiting and crossing to Nick who had overheard Monica and already gotten on the radio.
“All units be on the lookout for anyone fitting the descriptions incoming,” Nick announced, glancing over at me. “Marshall, you got an updated picture of Becks?”
“Already sending,” I replied, tapping on my phone. “You’re not keeping me out of this, Nick,” I said leaving no room for discussion, staring him down.
He nodded tersely, in grim acceptance.
“I’m on the clock, so I’m heading to my vehicle now to start patrolling the streets,” Paul said, coming up behind me. “We’re going to find her, Lucas. We’re going to bring her home.”
“There’s no alternative,” I replied, watching him walk out of the precinct, my jaw clenching again. The diamond ring I’d placed in my pocket was heavier now.
“Lucas, we’ve got everyone on patrol scouring the streets. Someone is at the scene where her items were gathering information. Someone will be coming in to take the girls’ and Monica’s statements. Can you handle the radio?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked incredulously. “You think you’re going to stick me here behind the desk?”
“Man, you know this is protocol. You’re too damn close to this situation. You would make any one of us do the same fucking thing if it was our woman,” Nick returned, glaring at me.
My jaw ticked, teeth grinding,“Fine. But the second we get any news of seeing her I’m in my fucking truck. To hell with anyone who tries to stop me,” I snapped.
He raised his hands at me, “Sounds like we have a compromise then.”
I glanced over through the window to the witness room, watching another coworker bend down to Natasha’s level and talk to her gently. She looked over, blue eyes meeting mine, with every question in the world in their depths. I nodded at her reassuringly and she turned back to answer his questions.
I sat at the radio, readying myself to gather any information coming in, and listening to my force rallying trying to find the woman that had become my whole world.