Chapter 15 #2
“I don’t think so. Just scared to death. Probably hungry too. Angel has some blood on her paws, but I don’t think it’s hers.” Just saying the words made the anxiety rise up within him once more.
“I’ve got them. Don’t worry, you guys just do your thing. Angel and Whiskers will be fine,” Gillian said, her voice only wobbling a little.
“Thanks,” Lucky said.
Gillian nodded and headed toward the back of the house with Kinley and Riley. He briefly wondered where Logan and Bria were, but assumed Riley and Oz had found someone to look after the kids for a while.
Grover opened his mouth to ask his teammates how they should start trying to figure out where Devyn had gone, but just then, the door behind Lucky opened.
All seven Deltas turned to see who’d arrived.
Spencer.
He looked like absolute hell.
Someone had beaten the shit out of him. Both his eyes were almost swollen shut and his lip was busted. His nose was crooked and he had blood in his hair, all down his shirt, and he was limping.
“What the fuck?” Grover asked as he headed for his brother.
But Spencer held a hand up. “They took Dev—and it’s my fault,” he rushed out, his voice shaking. “I’m done trying to hide what a shithead I am. I figured he’d come for me…but instead he took her. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!”
Lucky didn’t give a shit how sorry Spencer was. Everything made sense now.
He took a step toward the man, ready to physically make the asshole tell them everything, but Grover got there first.
“What are you talking about, Spence? What’s your fault? Who is he and why was Devyn taken?”
Doc grabbed ahold of Lucky’s arm and held him back.
“Let go of me,” Lucky growled, trying to shake off his teammate’s hold.
“You’ll kill him, and we need answers,” Doc said calmly.
He was probably right. Lucky wanted to take his turn with Spencer. Continue beating on him, but that wouldn’t help them find Devyn.
“I’m pretty sure she’s alive…at least for now,” Spencer said, refusing to look at Grover.
Grover surprised all of them by swiftly cocking his fist back and slamming it into his brother’s face.
Spencer went down like a sack of potatoes, crumbling to the floor and not even trying to get up or defend himself.
Grover reached down and hauled him upright. He put his hands on his brother’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Whatever happened, we’ll make it right. But you need to tell us everything.”
Spencer nodded. “I will. It’s time. I’m done. Dev was right the whole time, I need help, and if she dies because of what I’ve done, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“We’ll worry about forgiveness later,” Grover said. “For now, we need information.”
Spencer nodded.
“I’ve called the cops, they’ll be here any second. Let’s get you an ice pack and a wet towel in the meantime.”
Lucky wanted to protest. He wanted to shake Spencer until he told them what he knew. Who took Devyn. Lucky knew the why, but not the other info.
As glad as he was that it seemed Spencer was finally ready to get help for his addiction, it was too little, too late. Devyn was in trouble. He knew it deep down in his gut.
He needed to find her. She was out there somewhere. Hurting. Possibly dying. It ate Lucky up inside and he felt completely helpless. He needed information. Now.
Thirty minutes later, Spencer was holding an ice pack to his face and sitting on Grover’s couch surrounded by seven very intense Delta Force operatives and two detectives from the Killeen Police Department.
Gillian, Kinley, and Riley had bathed his pets and were now standing off to the side, also listening.
Trigger had called their commander, Colonel Robinson, and while he wasn’t there, he’d told them whatever they needed, he’d do his best to get for them.
Lucky didn’t give a shit if the entire town of Killeen was listening, he just needed Spencer to get on with it already.
“What happened today?” the detective asked.
“It wasn’t today. It was two days ago,” Spencer said softly.
Lucky suspected Devyn had been gone a while, but hearing it verified made his blood boil. His fists clenched at his sides.
“I went over to see her. I knew she was dating Lucky, and I’d already followed her home from work the day before, so I knew where he lived. I went over there the afternoon you guys went out into the field. I wanted to apologize for what happened back in Missouri and—”
“Wait, what happened in Missouri?” Grover asked.
Spencer sighed. “I hurt her. I didn’t mean to.
You know how we are; when we argue, we get handsy.
I pushed her and she fell backward into her table.
I guess she got a big bruise or something.
But I didn’t mean to shove her so hard! I was just so irritated.
And she pushed me first,” Spencer added, as if that made it all right.
“You put your hands on our sister?” Grover growled.
Lucky realized for the first time that while he was pissed at Spencer, it was Grover they probably needed to be worried about right now.
He glanced over at Doc and Oz, and they nodded, moving closer to Grover so they could prevent him from doing something in front of the two police officers that might get him thrown in jail.
“I didn’t mean to!” Spencer protested again.
“I thought she got that bruise from her boss,” Lefty said with a frown.
“She lied,” Lucky said, not waiting for Spencer to respond. “She didn’t want Grover to think badly of his brother, so she made up that story.”
“So why’d she leave Missouri then, if it wasn’t because of her boss hitting on her?” Brain asked.
“Spencer?” Lucky asked, looking at the man with one eyebrow raised. He’d be damned if he was going to tell Devyn’s secrets; it was up to Spencer to man up and admit what he’d done.
“She left because of me,” Spencer confirmed. He looked down at his lap as he spoke, not meeting anyone’s gaze. “I’d been on her to borrow money, and it got to the point where she didn’t think I was ever going to leave her alone, so she bolted.”
“Why’d you need money?” Grover asked in a low, deadly tone.
“I swear I thought I’d be able to pay her back almost immediately, but it didn’t turn out that way! I…I’ve run into some trouble paying back my debts,” Spencer said.
“Stop fucking around and say it like it is,” Lucky ordered savagely. “The longer you sit there and hem and haw about your pathetic shit, the longer Dev’s in trouble—because of you.”
Spencer took a deep breath and nodded. Then he looked up into his brother’s eyes.
“I’m a gambling addict. I thought I’d be able to make back what I lost. But the next thing I knew, I was deeper and deeper in debt.
Devyn gave me money at first…but then she got suspicious when the amounts got higher and higher, and she started asking questions.
I finally admitted why I needed it. She cut me off.
I got upset, she got upset…and she left. ”
“Are you shitting me?” Grover asked.
“No,” Spencer said in defeat. “I didn’t want to ask Mom and Dad, and I knew Angela and Mila didn’t have anything they could lend me.”
“And you didn’t ask me because you knew I would’ve told you to pound sand,” Grover bit out.
Spencer nodded. “After Devyn left, I started borrowing from a guy I knew.”
“What’s his name?” one of the detectives asked.
“Rocky.”
“What’s his real name?”
“I don’t know. He goes by Rocky. That’s all I know.
I swear. Anyway, I kept losing, and it got to a point where he wouldn’t give me any more and wanted me to pay back what I’d already borrowed.
I didn’t have the cash, and he started threatening me.
I figured it would be good to get out of town for a while… give me some time to earn it back.”
“So you came here. To ask Devyn for more money?” Grover asked bitterly.
“I didn’t want to but I was in a bad spot,” Spencer said. “You don’t understand! Rocky’s got a reputation of always getting what he’s owed. And I just needed some more time.”
Grover shook his head in disgust.
Lucky had known about Spencer’s gambling problem.
Devyn had told him about the fifty grand, and he’d suspected the debt would lead to nothing good for her brother.
But never in a million years did he think it would touch Dev.
Not when the loan shark was in Missouri.
Hindsight being what it was, it was a stupid assumption to make, and one that could end up hurting the person he loved most in this world.
If he’d known how dangerous the situation had become, he would’ve told Grover. It could’ve changed everything.
As if the man could read his mind, Grover turned to glare at Lucky.
“I didn’t know about Rocky,” Lucky told him.
“I knew about Spencer’s problem, but it was his problem.
We certainly didn’t think a loan shark would come after Dev.
She didn’t want to tell you, something about ruining your family dynamics.
She’s been holding guilt about being sick when she was little for a long time, and I think she saw this as one more way she would somehow be breaking up the family,” Lucky explained.
“That’s bullshit. This is Spencer’s issue, not Devyn’s,” Grover said with a shake of his head.
“We know that. But she didn’t,” Lucky said. “She tried to find the time to talk to you about Spencer before our night training, especially because he was staying with you.”
“She’s going to be all right,” Riley said firmly. “She might not be here right this moment, but Oz and I know firsthand that sometimes things turn out all right in the end.”
She didn’t raise her voice, but Lucky knew she was right. When Logan and Bria had been kidnapped, they’d all thought the worst, but by some miracle, they’d been returned relatively unscathed. Lucky had to believe that would be Devyn’s fate as well.
“Can we get back to what happened the other day?” the detective asked. “You borrowed money from a loan shark who wanted it back. You didn’t have it, so you came to Texas. What happened then?”