Chapter Fifty-Four
Adam
By the time I returned to the bakery, it had been turned into a mini command center.
Alan was nowhere to be found, but before I could ask where he’d gone, Brian caught my eye and subtly shook his head.
My brother did some illegal shit then got the hell outta here. Got it.
I gestured with my head for him to step away, out of earshot of everyone else.
“What happened.”
“Alan found where the cameras were.”
“Where?”
“In her shower and bedroom.”
I felt my blood pressure spike, thinking about how badly her privacy had been violated.
I guess, mine too, if I thought about it. But that didn’t make me want to kill someone with my bare hands like the thought of someone watching her when she’d been most vulnerable did.
“Where’s it coming from?”
He glanced around. “The Schillings’ farm.”
“What the fuck are we doing here, then? Someone’s going to the hospital tonight. Or the morgue.”
Brian put his hand on my arm. “Calm down. I need you with a clear head. Angus is getting a warrant, and he’ll legally find out everything Alan just did.”
“Okay. Where’s my brother?”
“Where do you think?”
That my brother was already on his way to the Schillings’ made me feel a little better.
“So, uh, anything you want to tell me before we serve the warrant and obtain any footage?”
Fuck.
Although I wouldn’t mind a copy of our shower romp. That had been hot as fuck. But for my eyes only. I didn’t want these assholes watching me pound Lainey’s pussy as I pressed her against the shower wall.
“How about Angus just gets a warrant to figure out who’s looking at the footage, but not actually get the footage.”
“That’s kind of what I thought. Unfortunately, I think you might be too late with that request.”
Maybe Alan worked some magic for me.
Angus had his phone to his ear while he stood next to two guys whose fingers were poised over the keyboards on their laptops.
The Chief said something into the phone and then nodded his head at the duo, who then proceeded to furiously type.
Two minutes later, one of them announced, “Got it.”
Brian leaned over and murmured, “Alan found it way faster.”
Angus looked at what had been found, and his face twisted in disgust.
“Where the hell is this being broadcast to?”
The other computer guy shouted an address.
The Chief repeated it back in disbelief, then added, “The Schilling place? How is that possible? We seized all the electronics. We had dogs in there and everything.”
Brian’s phone softly buzzed in his hand, and he looked down, then replied, “We didn’t check the barn,” before we headed toward the door.
Angus yelled, “Wait!” and I reluctantly turned around, prepared to tell my new boss to take this job and shove it.
I was going to get Lainey back now , and I wasn’t waiting around for SWAT or some other specialized team to arrive, then survey the property, then come up with a plan, before finally acting on it.
A lot could happen to her in the time it would take for all that shit to occur. I tried not to think about what she could be going through right that second.
“You guys be careful and use your heads. I’ll send SWAT as soon as they get here.”
~~~~
Brian and I found the pullout a mile up the road from the Schilling house where Alan had parked, and Brian pulled in beside the Bronco.
“That is a nice ride, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
We got out and went to the trunk where Brian held up a rifle in one hand and a shotgun in the other.
“Which are you better with?”
“Probably the rifle.”
He handed the long gun to me, grabbed an ammunition bag, then closed the trunk.
I moved toward the woods where we were meeting my brother, but Brian stayed put.
Turning around, I looked at him with raised eyebrows.
He responded to my unspoken question. “You ready for this?”
The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and I responded, “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
He shook his head.
“No, I mean are you ready for the condition we might find her in. He’s had her for hours now.”
I couldn’t even allow myself to think what Earl may have done to her. Especially knowing he’d been watching her when she’d been naked probably since she moved into the apartment.
“No, I’m not ready. But I’ll be there for her, no matter what.”
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“What the hell do you think it means?”
“I dunno, that’s why I’m asking.”
“Well, Hugh basically told me to put a ring on it, but I think that might be a little premature. But I’m ready to admit that I love her and want to be with her. And nothing that happened today is going to change that.”
“Fuuucking finally!” He racked the shotgun and declared, “Let’s go get our girl.”