Chapter 16 #2
He was all about someone Tasing either Seth or Vanessa, but they needed to hurry the hell up. Doing his best to move to the side to give the cops some room so they wouldn’t accidentally hit him, Oz pushed harder on the door, widening the gap so Seth was clearly visible.
“Come out here, now!” one of the officers yelled.
“Fuck you!” Seth shouted.
A second later, Oz heard the sound of the electrical current going through the Taser. When Seth fell to the ground with a loud thump, it was easy enough to slam the door open. Vanessa fell backward over her boyfriend, and then the officers were there.
Oz backed off with his hands out to the sides, doing his best to show that he wasn’t a threat in any way. But obviously the officers had been in touch with the 9-1-1 operator, because they seemed to know he wasn’t the aggressor.
Seth fought with two officers, even with the Taser barbs still embedded in his chest. Vanessa had gone from fighting mad to hysterically crying. She had to be dragged out of the house by another officer.
Oz hated that Logan was witnessing this fucking mess, but his concentration was on finding Bria.
The yard seemed to be swarming with police now. It ultimately took three people to subdue Seth, who continued to scream obscenities and accuse the cops of violating his human rights. That they had no right to go into his house and he was going to sue everyone.
“Can you tell me what’s going on?” a female officer asked after Seth was subdued and in the back of one of the squad cars.
Oz did his best to explain why they were there, then asked, “Please, can I go inside and find my niece?”
The woman looked sympathetic, but she shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
“Can the CPS worker go in, then? Or one of you? My niece could be inside freaking out. Or she could be hurt.”
The woman nodded. “We’re on it. We have to clear the house to make sure there isn’t an additional threat inside. We’ll find your niece. Just please back up and let us do our jobs.”
Oz ground his teeth together. This was taking too long. He’d hoped this would be an uneventful visit, although he’d already been dreading having to leave Bria behind. He knew it would devastate Logan. This was even worse than anything he could’ve imagined.
He backed up and heard the doors opening on his Expedition. Then Riley was there. She curled into him on one side, and Logan pressed against him on the other. Putting his arms around them both, Oz did his best to get himself under control.
“Well, that didn’t go well,” Riley said softly.
Amazingly, Oz found himself grinning. “Ya think?” he asked.
“Oz, where’s Bree?” Logan asked.
“I don’t know, Slugger, but the police are gonna go in and find her.”
Logan nodded, but he tightened his arms around Oz’s waist.
Oz was relieved that his nephew had turned to him for comfort, even while he was pissed that he had to in the first place.
The three of them watched as a handful of police officers entered the house with their weapons drawn.
“They aren’t going to shoot Bree, are they?” Logan asked, his voice shaking.
“No,” Riley said before Oz could. “They just want to make sure there aren’t any other adults in there who might hurt anyone.”
Keeping his eyes on the front door, Oz expected the officers to exit the house with Bria any second. But with every minute that passed, and they didn’t reappear, he began to get more and more nervous.
One officer came out and gestured to the CPS worker. She entered the house, and still Bria didn’t appear.
Then the same officer exited the house once more and walked over to where the three of them were standing. He said in a low, concerned tone, “We found the girl, but she’s scared and won’t come out.”
“I’ll get her,” Logan said. “If she sees me, she’ll come out.”
Oz was clenching his teeth together so hard, it felt as if he would crack a tooth. He didn’t know why Bria wouldn’t come out, but nothing about this situation was sitting well with him.
“I’m sorry, but no,” the officer told Logan gently.
“I’ll go,” Riley offered.
“No. I’m her uncle, I’ll go,” Oz said. If there were drugs in the house, or who knew what else, he didn’t want Riley or Logan exposed.
And he could tell by the officer’s demeanor that whatever was happening in the house wasn’t good.
Clearly the officer didn’t want Logan to witness it.
If the boy’s sister was hurt, it was the last thing that needed to be stuck in his head.
“Follow me,” the officer said.
Logan grabbed the hem of his shirt, and Oz looked down.
“Something’s wrong,” he whispered.
Oz kneeled in front of Logan and put his hands on his shoulders. “I know,” he told him, not wanting to downplay the obvious.
“Sometimes I played hide-and-seek with Bree. Usually when Mom had some scary people come over. I’d tell her she wasn’t allowed to come out until I said the magic words.”
“And what were those?” Oz asked.
“I’d tell her the Easter Bunny was there,” Logan said. “I know it’s stupid, but she always wanted to catch him in the act. I think she knew he wasn’t really there, but she’d always come out when I said that. And it wasn’t something anyone would accidentally say.”
“I don’t think it’s stupid at all,” Oz told his nephew. “I think it was extremely smart of you. I’m going to bring your sister out. Can you be brave for just a little while longer and stay here with Riley?”
Logan nodded.
Oz leaned forward and kissed Logan’s forehead. It was the first time he’d done anything like that, but the boy didn’t recoil from his touch. Instead, he threw himself into Oz’s arms and desperately held on for a long moment. Then he pulled away and wiped at a tear. “I’m okay.”
“I know you are, Slugger.” Oz stood and kissed Riley too. He needed her brand of softness and caring, but he didn’t have time to soak it in. He turned and jogged after the officer, taking a deep breath before he entered the house.
It was worse than he ever imagined.
There was trash everywhere. Stacks of newspapers. Milk cartons with sour milk spilling from them. He could even see rat shit littering the floor everywhere he looked. The place wasn’t fit for anyone to live in, but especially not a little girl.
He walked by a bathroom where an officer was taking pictures of powder on the floor and on the toilet seat. It wasn’t hard to guess what Seth had been doing while Vanessa was stalling the CPS woman at the front door.
The farther into the house he went, the worse it smelled. It was obvious one, or both, of the inhabitants were hoarders. There were stacks of clothing and boxes everywhere. He and the officer had to climb over piles of junk in order to get to the back bedroom.
The CPS employee was on her knees in front of what looked like a dog crate.
A fucking cage!
When she saw them, she stood, and the pain in her eyes was easy to see.
While Oz was happy that the woman still seemed to care about the children she was responsible for, he couldn’t help but feel bitter.
If she’d checked on Bria before today, maybe all this wouldn’t have happened.
He wondered how much longer the girl would’ve been forced to live like this if he hadn’t called, wanting Logan to have a chance to see his sister.
He knew the system was overloaded, but this was unacceptable.
“She’s scared,” the woman told him unnecessarily.
Oz nodded and braced himself before kneeling on the floor in front of the cage.
Nothing could’ve prepared him for what he saw.
A tiny little face stared back at him from the back of the cage.
It was filthy, and the stench coming from the crate was almost overwhelming.
Bria’s fingernails were black with dirt and it didn’t look like her hair had been brushed in days.
Weeks. The auburn locks were matted and greasy, hanging around her face as if she were a shaggy little dog.
“Hey, Bree,” Oz said softly, pushing back his revulsion and hatred for Seth and Vanessa. This precious girl was all that mattered right now. “I’m Oz…your uncle.”
Bria simply stared at him, not moving an inch.
“I know you’re scared, and I can’t blame you. This house is really scary. But your dad and his girlfriend can’t hurt you anymore. They got arrested.”
Bria shifted, turning her face away from him—and Oz saw the chain around her ankle for the first time.
His anger almost got the best of him, and he had to close his eyes to try to gain control of his emotions. He couldn’t lose it now. Logan, Riley, and Bria were counting on him. He was well aware of the officers and CPS employee standing behind him. He needed to get Bria out of there. Now.
“Do you want to know why I came here today?” he asked when he had himself under control.
It didn’t matter that Bria wasn’t looking at him, he knew she could hear him.
“Logan missed his sister. And the kicker is that I didn’t even know he had a sister.
I know, that’s crazy, right? How could I have a niece and not know about her?
Especially one as adorable as you. It took a while, but Logan finally decided he could trust me.
He told me all about you this morning. And here we are.
I got here as soon as I could. I’m sorry I didn’t get here before now. ”
He saw her eyes peer out at him from behind the mess that was her hair.
“Nothing would’ve kept me away if I knew you were here. And you know what else? Logan is here. He’s outside waiting to see you. He’s missed you like crazy.”
He heard a quiet whimper from inside the crate.
Feeling as if he was making progress, Oz shuffled forward a little bit until his head was just inside the cage. He lowered his voice as if he was telling her a secret. “And you know what else Logan told me?”
Bria shook her head, and Oz inwardly rejoiced. She was interacting with him. “He told me the Easter Bunny is here.”