Chapter 41
DEMITRI
Ihave officially worn a groove in the floor, pretty sure I will be bald soon with the amount of times I have run my hands through my hair.
Hutch hasn’t come out of his bedroom since we found their phones.
Thank God I have the best hacker in the state on my side.
The last I heard, he was hacking street cameras to see if we can finally get visual on this damn stalker.
I have slipped into the memories, getting the call from my parents that Stasi was kidnapped.
Trying my best to get men, I knew and trusted to help look for her back home.
Asking, and asking again and again if they would grant me leave to go home and help look for her.
The feelings of being so completely out of control and helpless.
I was still trying to focus on missions while deployed. I needed to keep these men safe and get them sent back home in one piece to their families. Myself, on the other hand, I was shocked I made it home at all.
As soon as I got the call, they found her body.
I was done. Hutch, being the loyal best friend he is, kept me from snacking on a bullet on day one.
I no longer wanted to exist in a world where the brightest part of my family was snuffed out.
Her body was found in awful shape. Callum was at home at the time, so he offered to help my parents take care of everything.
The Hutchinson family took my family in and made the plans no family should ever need to.
“Dee, get up here now!” Hutch’s holler startles me out of all those awful thoughts.
Once I snap back into reality and realize he must have found something.
I take off towards the stairs. Climbing them two at a time.
I run down the hallway to where Hutch is leaning in the doorway.
Arms crossed, basketball shorts slung low on his hips, and his hair tousled probably from the stress and dripping wet.
I wish Nyx were here. She should be able to appreciate him leaning like a book girl's wet dream.
“Dude, I’m not into dick. Why are you leaning here like every bookish girl's wet dream?”
“Oh, I took a quick shower while I ran a couple of programs. And as soon as I got out, it dinged it was done, so I just threw some shorts on so I wasn’t fucking naked.” He laughs and walks over to his desk.
A bright glow from the wall of monitors lights up the room. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee lingers in the air. The asshole has a Keurig just for his room. He claims it's easier to make a cup quickly when he’s in the thick of looking for someone or something than going down to the kitchen.
“Coffee?” he asks before sitting down in his massive navy blue gaming chair.
“Sure, I doubt either of us are sleeping tonight.” I pull over the plush chair that sits in the corner usually and plop down in it as the coffee machine spits and gurgles. The hint of caramel mixes in with the smell of coffee. “Do you keep a stash of my favorite pods in here?”
“Of course, you never know when we are in here combing through footage. Again, it’s quicker to make a cup here than going down to the kitchen.” An empty laugh leaves my throat, and Hutch looks at me with worry written all over his face.
“I’m fine, Graham. Let’s find our girl.” He turns back to his computer and pulls up some traffic cam footage, and another screen has the footage from the parking lot for the river walk.
“Okay, so I found this car that also ends up pulling into the parking lot.” It’s a nondescript black SUV. The back windows in the cargo area are all tinted black and cannot be seen through.
He shows the SUV driving down the street before pulling into the lot and parking next to Nyx’s bright blue SUV.
The low-quality footage for the park shows two large figures climbing out, with hoodies and baseball hats pulled over their eyes.
About ten to fifteen minutes later, both forms reappear on the camera and have what appears to be the girls slung over each of their shoulders.
They load the girls into the back of the truck. The two guys linger in the back area, probably restraining them, before they climb into the truck. As they pull out of the park, the street camera gets a perfect view of their license plate. Bingo!
“So I pulled the license plate info up, and you will never guess who this car belongs to.” Hutch glances my way, waiting for my answer.
“I don’t have the energy to play guessing games, Hutch. Either you have the answers or you don’t.” I lash out at him. I know I’m being a jerk right now, but I can’t bring myself to care, and I know he understands.
“This plate is registered to none other than Nicholas Gordon.” Hutch announces.
It takes me a few minutes of wracking my brain before it clicks. “The asshole I threatened and made to pee himself?”
“That’s the one.”
“God fucking damn it. He didn’t get the hint after I threatened him within an inch of his life.” I growl.
“We have a starting point. I am going to dig into absolutely everything about this dick. There will be no stone unturned.” He turns back to the computer and starts to type.
I drag the chair back over to the corner where it came from and leave the room. He will come and get me as soon as he has more information. I have very little knowledge in computers unless you count Facebook, so I will leave Hutch to the computer sluicing.
I have spent a few hours out at the indoor gun range.
I have gone through hundreds of rounds and so many targets, there is tattered papers littering the floor.
I thought putting rounds through my guns would calm my brain.
Bring a calm over me that I only find at war.
Channel some of this energy towards perfecting my craft to protect my loved ones.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The rhythmic sound of my handgun soothes my anxiety enough that my heart doesn’t feel like it is going to beat out of my chest. I’m finally calm enough that I realize Nyx left her shirt here from our date.
I pick up the black t-shirt and bring it to my face.
Inhaling her warm scent brings back the memories of that day, and I just cling to those memories and the faith we will find them.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see Hutch’s mug on the screen.
“Yeah, what have you found?” I answer the call.
“Where the hell are you? I have searched every corner of this house, and you are nowhere to be found. Your truck is here, so you couldn’t have gone far.” He sounds worried, and I really didn’t mean to cause him more worry.
“I’ve been at the range. I was hoping the smell of gunpowder and the repetition would calm me.”
“Did it help?”
“It quieted the racing thoughts for a moment, but I know you haven’t been searching for me to discuss my mental health.” I start to clean up my spent brass and the destroyed target paper.
“You’re right, Dee, come back up to the house. I found some info on Nick.” He hangs up the phone, and I make sure to lock up my guns before heading out. The remainder of the brass will need to be cleaned up later. Finding Nick to rescue Nyx and Kyra are more important.