Chapter 12
“My sisters and I came here four days ago,” she said through the tablet.
“Why?” Brody asked. “A holiday?”
She shook her head. “No, because we’re searching for Monroe’s husband. She’s my middle sister. Dotty is my oldest sister.”
“You were searching for him in that bar tonight?” Cash asked.
“Yeah, you see, we don’t know where to find him.”
“She doesn’t know where to find her husband?” Ink asked. “He’s missing? Has that been reported to the police already?”
“Oh no, he’s not missing,” Addie said. “He’s just well, we don’t know. Unlocatable?”
What the hell did that mean? If he wasn’t missing, then how come she couldn’t find her own husband? Unless he was running from her?
Irritation filled Cash. He wasn’t used to waiting for answers. He wasn’t exactly a patient sort of guy.
“Monroe got married in Vegas,” she said.
The fact that this was all being said in Batman’s voice should have amused him, but he was well beyond that point.
“She’d only just met him. They got married, spent the night together in the casino where she works, but when she woke up the next morning, he was gone. And there was no note or anything.”
“What the fuck?” Butch muttered. “He just walked out after marrying her?”
She nodded. “And, understandably, she wants to get a divorce, but she’s got to show the courts that she’s been searching for him.”
“Not sure that the courts meant that you have to go halfway across the country and into dangerous bars to try and find him,” Cash said to her.
“I know, but Monroe never does anything by halves. He told her that he worked in a bar in Billings. So we’ve been going through them all searching for him. Dotty wanted to hire someone to look for him, and then show the courts the receipts so they’d grant the divorce. But . . .”
“But what?” Brody asked.
“I think that Monroe really wants to find him in order to ask him some questions.”
“Why did she marry him?” Ralen asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Monroe’s always been spontaneous, and she’s always searching for something but never finding it.
Maybe she thought she found it in him. I just don’t know.
All I know is she was going to come here on her own, and Dotty didn’t like that, so Dotty decided to come with her. ”
“And you decided to come too,” Ink asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t like to be on my own and I wanted to help my sister.
I’m a bit of a liability, though. It’s not like I can ask many questions.
I get too anxious around people I don’t know.
I don’t do well in crowds. I don’t do well with people who are drinking.
Basically, going into seedy bars is kind of like my worst nightmare. ”
“But you still did it for your sister,” Brody said. “That’s brave.”
“I’m not that helpful,” she told them. “I went to the bathroom, and when I came out, there was a brawl going on. I couldn’t find my sisters anywhere, and that’s when Cash told me to run.”
“So what happened next?” Ink asked her.
“I managed to get out of the bar after a close encounter with another man,” she said.
Ink frowned but didn’t ask any questions. She could feel that Cash had grown more tense though.
“I went outside, and I was in a back alley. I was trying to get back around to the front to find my sisters, but I had to walk along the back of the next building.”
“It has a parking lot next to it,” Cash added. “That’s where we parked.”
She nodded. “I must have hidden beside Cash’s truck. That’s when I saw it.”
“Saw what?” Ink asked, his eyes narrowing. “Did you see something happen to your sisters?”
Addie shook her head frantically. “No, not my sisters. Oh my God, I don’t think it was them.”
What if it had been? She hadn’t actually seen whose body it was. She just had this weird feeling it was a man. But no, if it had been Dotty or Monroe, she would have recognized their clothing. This person had been dressed all in black just like the man that was carrying him.
“Was that when you saw the man with the body?” Cash asked.
“A man with a body?” Brody said. “Nobody said anything about a man with a body.”
“We only just heard about it on the way here when I told Addie that she was in trouble, and Addie thought I meant because she saw a man with a body.”
“Right. That’s not confusing or anything,” Ink said.
“What is she in trouble for?” Brody asked.
“And that’s not exactly the question to ask, Brody,” Ink added.
“We stopped on the way here so Addie could be sick. Ralen’s a sympathy puker, so he threw up as well, then he walked off to the gas station to get water. While I was helping Addie, this guy stopped his car and got out, demanding the keys to Crystal. When I refused, he and his friends attacked us.”
“Jesus,” Ink said. “Could you two not stay out of trouble for five minutes?”
She thought that was quite unfair, considering she seemed to be the one getting everybody into trouble.
“I think I’m the troublemaker,” she said in Batman’s voice.
Ink shook his head. “If you knew these two, you’d know how much trouble they get into. They thrive off it, nearly as much as the twins.”
He had twins? Wow. She could imagine that meant plenty lot of chaos.
“Hey, I resent that,” Ralen said. “We don’t get into trouble. It just seems to find us. Hey Bat girly, maybe that should be your new nickname, Trouble.”
“Bat girly?” Brody asked. “Unusual nickname.”
“I know. That’s why I’ve changed it to Trouble,” Ralen replied.
“Not sure that Addie likes that one either,” Brody said, giving her a look of sympathy.
She really didn’t mind what Ralen called her. Not after everything he’d done for her.
“Okay, so back to how you ended up in the back of Cash’s pickup,” Ink said. “What happened? Who was the man with the body?”
Did he think she knew who the man was? Because she had no clue.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just saw him carrying a body and which he put into the trunk of a car. I got scared he might see me, so I hid. I couldn’t really see his face. He was dressed all in black and had a hat on, but his eyes seemed so dark and cold.”
They were all silent, staring at her.
She knew what was coming. No one ever believed her. It was probably something to do with the fact that she struggled to talk. People didn’t take her seriously.
“I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m making it up, or that I imagined it, or something, but I can only tell you what I saw. That man was carrying a body, and he put it in the trunk of a car.”
This time, they all stared at each other.
“Nobody thinks that you made it up,” Cash told her firmly. “At least, I believe you.”
“So do I,” Ralen said.
Something eased inside her.
“Did you see him do something to the body?” Butch asked.
Addie shook her head. “No. But he wasn’t conscious when that guy put him in the trunk.”
“Fuck,” Ink said as he leaned back. “Excuse my language, Addie.”
She nodded. Swearing didn’t bother her. Dotty did it all the time. And she understood the urge to swear after hearing her story.
There was a part of her that even wondered if it had happened, or if she’d imagined it.
“So what happened next?” Brody asked.
She really wished she could pull Snaggles out of the backpack resting by her feet.
“I kind of panicked, so I got into the back of the truck I was next to and slid under a tarp.”
“It’s a wonder he didn’t hear you moving,” Ink said.
“I’m very quiet, and there was a lot of noise from the people coming out of the bar.”
“Knew it as soon as I saw you,” the voice said into the room.
“Quiet and stealth, like a mouse who can hide in sneaky little places. Calling you a mouse before wasn’t a criticism.
If I’d called you a mosquito, you could have taken offense.
Of course, I quite like mosquitoes. Deadliest animals on Earth.
Even more deadly than humans. Well, not all humans. ”
She gulped. What on earth did he mean by that? That he was deadly? Or that someone else in this room was?
Addie had no idea, but she decided not to ask.
“Then before I could get up the courage to leave, the pickup started, and we were driving.”
“So, you guys had no idea that she was in the back?” Ink asked.
Cash shook his head. “No, not until we got home and found her there. We took her inside, warmed her up, and put her phone on charge. Addie tried calling her sisters and tracking their phones, but their location showed as still at the bar, and they weren’t answering any calls or messages.”
“So you went to their hotel room, saw that message, and decided that you needed some help from us,” Ink said. “On your way here, you pulled over to the side of the road because Addie got sick, and then these guys set upon you.”
“That’s it,” Cash said.
“So why was she in trouble?” Brody asked.
“What?” Cash asked.
“You said that she was in trouble, and Addie thought you were talking about the man with the body, but what were you actually talking about?”
“I told her to hide when those guys attacked, and instead of hiding, she went to the back of my truck and tried to get to the crowbar. Putting herself in danger.” Cash frowned at her
“Without my help, they might have hurt you, and then where would I be?” she said.
It might have been her imagination, but Batman’s voice even sounded annoyed.
“Oh, so you only helped me to help yourself, did you?” There was an amused look on his face that she didn’t appreciate.
“Yes,” she told him, before crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a stubborn look.
Cash just smiled.
“So these guys had nothing to do with the people that trashed Addie’s hotel room, right?” Ink asked.
Cash shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. They just were driving by and saw an opportunity to steal Crystal.”
“Crystal?” Brody asked, looking confused.
“My pickup.”
“Right. Here’s what we’re going to do,” Ink said. “Brody, I need you to find out if there are any cameras in the lot where Cash’s pickup was parked by that bar. Can one of you help Brody figure out where your pickup was parked? You guys might have to do a physical run by the place.”
“I can help him with that,” Ralen said, sitting up straight.
“Good. The guy with the body worries me, but he isn’t our main focus.
The message in the hotel room likely has something to do with Addie’s sisters, and we need to find them.
Butch, can you head out to that bar and see what’s going on?
Get inside it, check for any missing phones, handbags, women.
You’ll need to call Stone and get him to go with you.
I don’t want anybody going anywhere on their own, not with a man going around carrying a body.
I’ll get Sable to see if there are any police reports on what happened at that bar.
” Ink turned to her and Cash. “Addie, do you know the name of Monroe’s husband? ”
She nodded.
“Good. Write it down for me. I need to see if we can find him.”
“His name is Vextar Lime. Do you think he had something to do with my sisters disappearing?”
“I don’t know, but it’s a place to start. First priority is finding your sisters. Second priority is discovering what that guy with the body was doing. I’ll also get Sable to check if there are any missing person reports, although it might be too early for that.”
Everyone left except for her, Cash, and Ink.
“I need your sisters’ phone numbers,” Ink said. “And then I really think that you need to get some rest. You look pale and shaken. I’ve got a safe room here where you can stay.”
“Maybe I should go back to the hotel and wait. Maybe my sisters will go there.”
“That’s a good point,” Ink said. “I need to send someone to the hotel room to go through it and see if there is any evidence left. They’ll wait there for your sisters.”
She typed a message on the tablet. “They’ll be scared.”
“Don’t worry, my guys will handle it.”
Addie couldn’t really argue since Ink was helping her, so she nodded.
“When you can, I’ll need as much information as you can remember about the guy carrying the dead body. Do you think you saw enough to draw his face or work with someone who could draw him?”
“Like a sketch artist?”
Addie felt like she was living in one of those TV cop shows. It all felt surreal, like this was happening to someone else.
Of course, that could also be because she hadn’t slept in close to twenty-four hours.
Addie didn’t think she’d seen anything of his face other than those eyes.
“I can try, but I don’t think I saw much.”
“Give it a shot, sweetheart,” Ink told her. “Just do your best, all right?”
She blinked back tears. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had told her to just do her best. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she nodded again.
“Write anything down that you think might help. Later, I will get someone to sketch a drawing. Be back in a minute, I’m just going to check the safe room for you.”
Did she really need a safe room? None of this made sense to her, and she could feel herself shaking.
“Hey, Addie, everything is going to be all right,” Cash told her.
How could he know that, though? It didn’t seem like it was. Someone out there was threatening them. Not to mention that there was a guy with a body in the trunk of his car.
No, this whole place didn’t feel very safe to her.
Part of her wished she could just go home, where things were safer. However, she had to find her sisters.
“You’re shaking. I’m going to keep you safe. Our priority is to find your sisters, and we will do that. Two women can’t just disappear.”
She nodded as Cash took hold of her hand.
“I’m going to look into this person with the body as well,” the voice said.
Jesus, was this man really Brody’s boyfriend? The more he spoke, the more terrified she grew. She wasn’t even sure why.
“That’s good, thanks,” said Cash, looking uncertain.
“Not for you, though,” the voice replied.
“There’s just something that seems a little off about all of this.
And I like a mystery to solve. I’m really good at solving the ones on TV.
Those murder mysteries, I always know who the culprit is.
Of course, often the murder victim really does deserve it. I’m going to go now. Bye.”
She turned wide eyes onto Cash. “D-does he m-mean that?” She didn’t bother using the tablet when it was just Cash in here.
“That he’s gone? I don’t know. He could still be listening.” Cash gazed warily around the room as though searching for the camera.
“Is he r-really good at s-solving murder m-mysteries?” She really needed some more water.
“Oh, yeah. No doubt he is,” Cash replied.
“Do you k-know him?”
“Not well, but I’ve met him. He’s not someone you want to mess with. Let’s just put it that way.”
Great. That wasn’t worrisome or anything.