Chapter 26
Holly
My body shakes as strong arms lift me bridal style making my whole body tingle and I grip Alex’s cut and cry my heart out now I know I don’t have to be strong and true fear consumes me.
Someone’s taken her, someone has taken my baby.
“I’ve got you, darling,” Alex chokes as Doc commands, “Brothers back in church now! Mama, call the hospital and get them to arrange cover for Tank and me as a precaution, Honey, stay with Caleb!”
I hear Caleb cry out in protest, and I flinch, clutching Alex even tighter, wishing I could try and be strong for him, but I-I can’t…
My baby, someone has my baby.
“Dirty, we can sit with her,” I hear some woman say, but Alex ignores her, holding me tighter while I sob my heart out, my body trembling.
I look as we walk into a large room. The walls are all dark oak with pictures lining them and a large TV at the back and a big table sits in the middle.
Ever so gently, Alex sits me in one of the seats. He cups my cheeks as everyone crowds in, and I hear a door closing.
“Talk to me, darling, what happened?” Alex asks quietly.
I choke, “Mrs. Trivers came to find me when I was setting up the c-classroom. She said Lyra went to the bathroom but didn’t come back out, and Sandra giggled.” Alex tenses. “She admitted to handing Lyra over to someone because she couldn’t have you out of revenge.”
“Fuck,” Ace chokes out.
My tears fall, and I cry, “She said you-you were always hers, that-that she wanted you in college but-but she had to-to settle.”
Alex’s face hardens before he declares, “She’s dead.”
“Find her,” I plead, “Find our-our daughter p-please.”
He nods and quickly kisses my forehead before he stands and rounds the table just as two strong hands cup my shoulders tightly, and I grip the right one, knowing it is Ace, while my body trembles and breathing becomes difficult as my thoughts spin.
What if she’s being hurt?
I choke back another sob as the TV switches on and the school's back door comes into view before the footage fast forwards really quickly then suddenly goes at normal speed and Mrs. Jones who is dragging Lyra outside, who is screaming and kicking at her into view, before the woman smacks her across the face, and I flinch as the sob leaves me, but what I see next is what has the blood draining from my face.
“Who in the fuck are they?” I hear Doc snap as Sandra waves, a serene smile on her face like kidnapping is completely normal, while Lyra is shoved into a car.
My breathing comes out harsher and I choke, “Mrs. Collins and Freya…”
“You know them, darling?” Alex confirms, and my tears fall as I look at the now still image of Freya’s scared face as she watches her mama shove Lyra into the car.
“They are her biological father’s mother and sister,” I admit numbly.
“There’s a protection order in place. They’re not meant to step near Lyra or me, but it didn’t stop Freya calling and texting for months after years of silence.
She demanded access to Lyra before her mother tried to sue for full custody last week. ”
Alex kneels, cups my cheeks, and makes me look at him as tension fills the room.
My tears fall as he asks, “Why is there a protection order, darling? Speak to me.”
I should have told him long ago, I… oh god this is all my fault.
“Her father, Adam, was my first boyfriend,” I admit, “I gave him my virginity,” Alex scowls, but I don’t stop, knowing I need to get this out before Mrs. Collins hurts our daughter.
“The next day, he got high and cheated on me at a party. I ran away from him, but he chased me, he hit me,” Alex face grows cold, “He told me I was his and he shoved me into his car and while everyone tried to stop him, he ran over the girl he cheated on me with, and sped down the road, all while I sobbed in the passenger seat, scared.”
My eyes cloud over, his crazed hazel eyes hitting me.
“What happened next, sweetheart?” I hear Ice ask when I don’t continue.
“He said it wasn’t cheating, that I wouldn’t give him what he wanted, that I was his, that I loved him when I didn’t,” I mutter before the crunching metal of the car hits me and I flinch as I choke, “When the police put their lights on, I relaxed a little. I thought I was safe, but I wasn’t because he said if he can’t have me, then no one can, and he swerved the car towards a tree. ”
“Fuck,” someone mutters.
I shake my head and look into Alex’s eyes, which have grown cold.
“I thought quick, I got the seatbelt on and forced it to lock before he hit the tree and the last memory I had was my high school boyfriend, lying half way in the car, head through the windshield, his eyes wide, dead and next thing I know I’m waking from a two month coma finding out he raped several girls and the only reason why he didn’t rape me is because I gave myself to him willingly, not realizing how dangerous he really was all while his mother cried that I was at fault for everything,” I sniffle, “She went crazy after that, told the town who already heard the truth that I turned her son into a monster. I stopped eating, and I could barely function. I didn’t want to see people I thought were my friends who originally stood back believing Adam and me were messing around, too drunk to see the real picture before the girl he cheated on me with screamed at them to help me.
When I collapsed, my dad rushed me to the hospital, where I was told I was pregnant despite us being safe. ”
“His mama wants what she believes is hers?” Stone confirms as he comes into my view, and I nod once.
“She said it was her son's baby, that she was him reincarnated or something stupid like that, and Freya has always stayed on her mother's side, even knowing she is wrong,” I choke.
“What about his dad?” Doc asks, and I flinch.
“He told me to get rid of the rapist’s baby, and so did my parents,” I admit on a whisper, “His dad relocated and made a new family when Mrs. Collins went off the rails, and my parents, they-they kicked me out when I didn’t have an abortion.
My aunt Lyra’s funeral was the first time I’d seen them in eight years, though apparently my dad has kept tabs on me. ”
“Dirty?!” Ace says, but Alex doesn’t look away from me, from my past, “You need to follow the cameras, brother, the woman is unhinged and could hurt Lyra.”
I flinch again, and Ace squeezes my shoulders in apology.
“That’s why everything came back to you? Why you struggled after what you walked in on, after you killed Cheryl?” he confirms, ignoring Ace.
I nod timidly, “Even though you didn’t cheat, all I could see was my past, and then all I could see was Adam’s cold, dead eyes…”
His jaw ticks, and he nods before he places his lips against my head, then moves back to his computer, and my tears fall.
Alex is barely holding it together.
My body trembles as I watch Alex type away quickly, and I furrow my brows in confusion.
How can he find her?
Does he know someone?
Sensing my confusion, Ace leans down and mutters, “He’s a tech genius, and the fact that he didn’t put your name in the database, which he most likely wanted, should show you how much he loves you, sweetheart. He’ll find my niece, if anyone can, it is him. He learned from the best.”
My mouth parts. I knew he was good with computers but not hacking kind of good.
The brothers all nod with confirmation, and I look towards the TV, seeing an aerial view of the street one down from the school, the car that they dragged my daughter coming into view, and I sit up straighter and watch as he tracks it to the motel on the other side of town, where by the time stamp, it still sits.
Oh my…
“Found her,” Alex growls before he stands, and I stand up, adamant to go get her, but he shakes his head at me sternly.
No.
“Alex–” I begin, but he cuts me off as he rounds the table and stops before me, cupping my cheeks, his eyes shining full of fear I can see he’s trying to hide, and I grip his wrists.
“You’re not coming,” he instantly says, and my tears fall.
He wipes them away and whispers, “I promise I will bring her home, that I’ll protect her with everything in me but, darling, please don’t let what I’m about to do touch you, don’t put yourself in that kind of situation, don’t put me in it because I wouldn’t be able to breathe if you looked at me differently. ”
My eyes race between his, and I swear my heart breaks.
He's going to hate me for this, I just know it.
I give him a nod, and he sighs before I hear Doc announce, “Brother, take her outside, my old lady will sit with her, brothers take a seat, we need to plan a way of getting around that building without them noticing us, we can’t risk them hurting Lyra.”
“Come on, darling,” Alex whispers, and I nod as I grip his wrists tighter before he gently places a kiss on my forehead, then lets go of my cheeks, wrapping an arm around my waist.
My grip goes from his wrist to his cut, and I allow him to guide me out of the room he calls church with trembling legs and into the common room.
Brit and Summer instantly come to me and I let the love of my life guide me into their waiting arms while I put a plan in motion.
The urge to tell them I need the restroom is at the tip of my tongue, but I wait until Alex is back in that room.
“I promise, darling, I’ll bring our daughter back,” he whispers before kissing my head, and I close my eyes as I tremble while silently praying he’ll forgive me for this, for putting him in the situation he doesn’t want to be in.
I need to get to my daughter.