Chapter Twenty-Four
Beck
I decide to head over to my apartment before driving back up to Rockport.
I’ve been living in the same couple sets of clothes for weeks now and I need to get a few more things.
I have no idea how long I’m going to be in Rockport this time, but I do know I need to start seriously thinking about the future and what I’m going to do next.
I can’t consider the ‘not being with Kelsey’ option anymore.
It’s just never gonna happen. I’m too far gone and I couldn’t walk away from her if I tried.
I’m throwing a bunch of clothes in a bag when I see the photo album sitting on my bed. Smiling, I pick it up and add it too, knowing Kels will get a laugh out of seeing these pictures again. Hopefully it will also reassure her that I’m totally serious about us, knowing I’ve kept it all this time.
Just as I’m about to take a quick shower, I hear my phone ring out with a text message. I smile when I read it.
Kels: You’d be so proud of me. I’m about to go out to the dock and tie up a loose boat…in a storm. ?
Above it is the message she sent earlier, the one in response to my needing to get reacquainted with her pussy.
That had said only two words; CAN’T WAIT, and I swear my dick had twitched just reading it.
Fuck, I can’t wait to get back to her, and not just to have sex with her.
I miss everything about Kels, and the thought of being apart from her drives me crazy.
How the fuck I’ve survived the last ten years is beyond me, especially when these last couple of days have been pure torture.
Exhaling loudly, knowing I’m gonna need to talk to Pop about my plan when I get back, I type in a quick response to Kels.
Me: Good job, baby.
I’m proud of her, knowing how much she hates thunderstorms. I wish I could be there to look after her, but as I glance at my watch, I know in about an hour I will be. Traffic is going to be a bitch, but hopefully it’ll be an hour and a half max.
Kelsey’s message comes back to me and it makes me smile.
Kels: Love you
I return the words, letting her know I’m leaving soon, and then throw my phone on the bed and head towards the shower, throwing my clothes into a pile on the floor.
Twenty minutes later, as I’m turning the water off, I hear my phone start to go berserk, the simultaneous sounds of text messages and phone calls ringing through the silence of my apartment.
I stalk towards the bed and pick up my phone, answering what looks like the third call from Finn.
“Finn,” I answer, my heart suddenly in my throat. There’s only one reason he’d be trying so hard to reach me.
“Beck, where the fuck are you?” he practically shouts at me. I can hear the edge in his voice, the anger and fear.
“I’m about to leave Boston, should be up in an hour or so, why? What the fuck has happened?”
Finn exhales hard. “He got her, Beck. The fucking asshole got her.”
“WHAT THE FUCK?” I shout down the phone. “I thought you were watching her, Finn? How the fuck has this happened?” I shout, trying to pull on my clothes and boots as I pick up my bag and grab my keys.
“I know, I know,” he says, and I can hear the anger and disappointment in his voice.
“Sam was watching her. Kels went out to tie up a loose boat and that’s where he got her.
Sam heard her screaming and raced out, apparently he had Jason in his sights, but couldn’t pull the trigger.
Just too green, I guess,” he says and I know he’s pissed too. “I’m sorry, Beck, really.”
I exhale hard. “Do you know where he’s taken her, any idea?” I ask, slamming the front door of my apartment as I run downstairs to my truck. Throwing the bag in the back seat, I jam my keys in the ignition and rev the car hard, my phone switching over to speaker.
“I got there just as he was taking off,” Finn says. “Got a name on the boat and we’re looking into it now.”
“A boat?” I ask, pulling out and cutting another car off in the process. Whoever it is blasts their horn at me, but I ignore it.
“Yeah,” Finn says. “He had one sitting at the end of the dock, I’m guessing he’s the one who untied her boat and got her out there.
Fucking Sam should’ve known better,” he says, his voice harsh.
“He should’ve gone with her and then this never would have happened.
Shit, Beck, I’m really fucking sorry,” my brother says.
Even though shit has just gotten real and I’m fucking livid right now, I know my brother feels awful about what’s happened. And knowing everything he’s been doing, not just looking after Kels, but running the rest of the town, I know he’s also pretty fucking exhausted right now.
I exhale hard, pulling onto the I95 out of Boston. “I know, Finn,” I say, meaning it. “Look, I know this isn’t your fault, okay? This guy’s clearly experienced at this sort of shit; he was a cop for fuck’s sake. Don’t beat yourself up about it, okay?”
Finn sighs into the phone. “Kinda hard not to, Beck,” he says. “I feel like fucking shit right now. I was supposed to be watching her for fuck’s sake.”
“I know,” I say. “But right now we have to focus on finding her. Tell me everything you know. I wanna pass on the details to Ryan too, see if he can’t track anything down from this end.”
Finn exhales hard through the phone and I can tell he’s trying to calm himself down so he can fill me in.
It’s not gonna do either of us any good fighting right now, and it’s sure as shit not gonna save Kelsey.
And I know Finn is hurting right now, that he’ll be blaming himself for this, even though it was the kid who should have been watching her.
“The boat was called Lucky Lady,” Finn says, a bitter edge to his voice now. “From what I could gather, it was about forty foot, standard motor, but it looked like he had someone else driving it.”
“Jesus Christ,” I say. “Okay, let me call Ryan now. I’m on my way, meet you at the station in an hour?”
“Yep, I’ll see you then,” Finn says. “Call me if you find anything.”
“Will do,” I say, hanging up on my brother.
I nearly hit a car trying to find my phone on the passenger seat, swearing as I swerve to the shoulder to avoid it. “Fucking hell,” I grit through clenched teeth, scrolling through my contacts for Ryan’s number.
“Beck,” he says, answering after the first ring. “What’s up, miss me already?”
“He’s got her, Ryan, the fucking asshole’s got her,” I shout into the phone, not bothering to say hello.
“What the fuck?” Ryan shouts. “Hold on, I’m coming over, I’ll drive you up. There’s no way you should be driving this pissed off.”
“I’m already on the way,” I say, knowing I have no patience to wait for anyone at the moment, least of all a chauffeured service to Rockport. “And I need you to do something for me here.”
“What, anything you need,” he says. “You okay to drive?”
“Yeah,” I say, undertaking some idiot who’s sitting on the speed limit in the inside lane, my hand on the horn as I do. “Look into a boat called Lucky Lady for me, will you? That’s how he got her.”
“I’ll head back to the station now,” Ryan says. “Keep me posted when you get back.”
“Will do,” I say. “And Ryan?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“No problem, Beck,” he says. “Drive carefully and let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
The drive to Rockport takes over an hour and with every minute that passes, I feel like I’m going to punch someone.
I have no doubt this fucking asshole knew I was back in Boston these last few days, choosing to make the most of my absence by going for Kels when I wouldn’t be there to look after her.
It makes me so fucking mad, even though I know there’s really nothing I could’ve done about it.
What I do know though, is this guy is fucking dead when I find him.
I pull into the station parking lot and slam the truck in park, hauling ass inside. Finn looks up as I do and shakes his head as if to say, nothing so far. I exhale and see Pop stand, walk towards me, and put a hand on my shoulder.
“They say she put up quite a fight, Son,” he says. “Made it hard for him.”
I nod but don’t say anything; afraid I’m going to completely lose my shit if I start to think about what’s happened to Kels.
“Anything on the boat?” I ask my brother.
“Nothing we can find. You?”
“No,” I tell him. “I’ll call Ryan again and ask him.”
Finn nods as I pull out my cell. I’m just about to dial his number when my phone rings, Ryan’s name lighting up the screen. I stab at the answer button and put it to my ear.
“I was just about to call you,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
“Sorry I took so long,” he says. “You back in Rockport yet?”
“Yeah just walked into the station, what did you find?”
“Nothing on that boat in Rockport,” he says. “It doesn’t come from there and it’s not registered in Boston either.”
“Fuck,” I say, exhaling hard.
“Beck,” Ryan says, his voice firm.
“What?”
“There was a Lucky Lady that was registered to a woman in Gloucester,” he says. “That’s not far from Rockport.”
“Yeah I know,” I say, trying to write down everything Ryan is telling me so Finn can keep in the loop.
“But a woman? Finn says there was another person on the boat, probably driving it, but a woman doesn’t make sense.
” Ryan exhales hard through the phone and my stomach seizes.
“What aren’t you telling me Summers?” I ask now.
“The woman who owns the boat is Rachel Hansen,” Ryan says. “But I don’t think she’s got anything to do with what’s happened to Kels because no one’s seen her for the past year.”
“What?” I practically yell. “What do you mean no one’s seen her?”
“I mean she’s missing, Beck. Family hasn’t seen or heard from her since she broke up with her boyfriend.”
“Jason?” I ask, a lump of dread now firmly lodged in my throat. Fuck if this guy does anything to Kelsey, anything at all, he is so fucking dead. I don’t give a shit about a fair trial or a long jail sentence; the only place this guy deserves to be is in the ground.
“Well, he wasn’t going by Jason back then,” Ryan says, interrupting the murderous rage running through my head. “To her, he was Tyson Carter.”
“Fuck,” I breathe out. “But you’re sure it’s him?”
“Yep,” Ryan confirms. “Sent a picture to the Gloucester police chief, he got the parents to come in and ID him. He’s our guy, Beck.”
“Fucking hell,” I say, scrubbing a hand down my face as I look up at Finn. “Thanks, Ryan, seriously. I fucking owe you one.”
“You don’t owe me shit, dude,” he says. “Just find her, quickly.”
“Oh I will, don’t you worry.”
“Good. I’ll be up as soon as I can. Keep in touch.”
I hang up the phone and relay everything Ryan told me to Finn and Pop.
They both stand there dumbstruck; neither of them able to believe just how far this guy’s gone.
Apparently a dirty cop and aggressive stalker is only the tip of the iceberg with this guy.
And the fact that this Rachel Hansen is still missing, and has been for quite some time, is enough to get all three of us thinking only one thing.
There’s a reason missing persons’ cases are scaled down after a while. When it moves from looking for a person to looking for a body.
“You gonna head up to Gloucester?” Pop asks, looking between Finn and me.
I turn to Finn and he nods. “Yep, I’ll leave the rest of the guys here in Rockport, have them keep an eye on things and Beck and I will head up there now.”
“Anything you need me to do?” Pop asks, glancing at me now.
I shake my head. “No, just be at home in case Kels’ calls. I’m gonna give you Ryan’s number too.”
Pop nods his head and after we exchange numbers, Finn and I head into his office to get ready.
“You got a gun?” he asks me.
I shake my head. “No, couldn’t bring mine. You got a spare I can use?”
Finn nods and opens his desk drawer. “It’s mine, not the force’s, so it’s clean; don’t worry.”
“Thanks,” I say, checking it’s loaded and the safety is on, before tucking it in the back of my jeans. “We ready to go?”
Finn exhales hard, his hands on his hips as he stares at me from the other side of his desk.
“What?” I ask him.
“We have to do this by the book, Beck,” he says, holding me with a hard stare. “I’m going out there as a Rockport cop, you’re a Boston detective. This shit is about to get real, but we gotta do it by the book.”
I stare at my brother for a few seconds knowing he’s right. “I know, okay. But just so you know, if that fucker threatens her or I think she’s in any kind of danger, then I’m not gonna hesitate to put a bullet in him.”
Finn nods once. “I know.”
We grab flashlights, extra ammo and a couple of other things before heading out to Finn’s police cruiser. Pop’s standing beside it and shakes both of our hands, only saying, “Bring her home.”
I nod once, knowing there’s absolutely no alternative to this.
“What’s the plan?” I ask as we both slide into our seats.
“I’ll call the chief over there on our way. Arrange to meet up at the station and go from there.”
“You know this Rachel woman probably, well…shit,” I murmur, staring out the window at the night sky as I try to face the reality of what’s happened to her. “I mean, she’s missing, and I don’t think it’s because she suddenly wanted to disappear.”
“I know, Beck,” Finn says, quietly. “But it’s only been two hours, okay? Let’s just go up there and get this done,” he adds, staring at the road as he radios the Gloucester chief of police.
I continue to stare out the window as Finn relays the details to their chief.
The car is quiet and I tune out Finn’s voice, giving me plenty of space to think about Kelsey and the possibility of losing her.
What that will do to me. Fuck, I thought walking away from her ten years ago was hard enough, but the idea of losing her permanently, of never being able to touch her, kiss her, see her laugh, fuck that kills me.
Whatever happens tonight, there is no other alternative but to get her back alive, and when I do, I’m gonna make damn sure she knows how much I love her.
How much I need her.
And how I’m never going to leave her, ever again.