CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Am I the only one bothered by the fact that this guy literally could be driving by our property every fucking day?” frowned Finn.
“Finn, we’re all bothered by it,” said Ham, “but you know as well as I do that area is huge. It’s filled with tiny little islands, swamps, backroads, and people are seriously protective of their neighbors. We have to do this the right way.”
“I know that,” he said with a frustrated sigh. “It’s just that Nicole is still out there somewhere suffering at this guys hands. There has to be an easier way to get to him.”
“We’re doing everything we can, Finn,” said Quinn.
“I know, I know,” he said shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I just can’t sleep until he’s caught. I worry every damn day that Willa goes down to the clinic. What if he happens to drive by there and sees her.”
“Finn,” chuckled Gator, “she’s working in the ICU ward upstairs. No one can see anyone from where she’s located. She’s safe. Even Cruz, Doc, and Wilson are there during her shifts.”
“Okay. I get it. I’m overreacting,” he said staring at the table.
“You’re not overreacting,” said Kev. “You’re protecting my daughter and I’m all for that. She’s all we have, Finn. Her mother and I could only have the one.”
“Yes, sir,” said Finn nodding.
“I think I might have found someone that can help us,” said AJ.
“Well, don’t leave us hanging. Who?” asked Jak.
“His mother.”
“His mother?” repeated Finn.
“She’s alive and still living on that damn compound in Iowa with another ‘master’. It won’t be easy getting to her, but it could work. If she were to come down here and speak to him, maybe, just maybe he’d listen to common sense.
“In the meantime, we’ve got drones getting programmed to go up and search. If that doesn’t work, Sniff and Lucy said we can use the dogs.”
“What about Alvin?” asked River.
“He’s out there doing his thing but that’s a lot of ground to cover and he doesn’t really know what Tyler looks like,” said AJ. “Give it time. We have the others safe and all together right now. We just have to get Nicole back.”
“He wants me,” said Willa standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. They all turned with their mouths open. She watched as her father slowly stood but it was Finn that charged toward her, gripping her upper arms.
“No! Abso-fucking-lutely not! Have you lost your mind? This man has killed dozens of women. You will not be the next one,” he said with tears in his eyes.
“Finn, I don’t want to be the next one but I don’t want Nicole to die either.” Kev watched his daughter and Finn, knowing that he was saying all the things that Kev would say.
“I don’t want her to die either, Willa. And damn me to hell all you want but if it’s between you and her, there is no contest.”
“I’m not asking you to choose. I’m saying, like so many other women here who have said the same thing in the past. I’m saying use me. You know that I can lure him to me. Right here at the café. You would all be there. He would get nowhere.”
“I can’t risk that,” said Ham before Finn said a word. “Let us see if we can find them this way first and get his mother down here. Don’t do anything stupid, Willa.”
“I promise. I won’t do anything stupid. Just know that I’m willing to do something stupid if you ask me,” she grinned. Standing on her toes, she kissed Finn and winked at him. “Come home. Soon.”
Finn nodded at her as she left the room, then turned, rubbing the pain in his chest.
“Hurts like fuck, doesn’t it?” said Kev. Patrick nodded at his son and the others all laughed as well.
“I think I’m having a heart attack,” he said sitting down.
“Nope, you’re just having your first experience with a very opinionated, very stubborn wife,” said Patrick.
“Wife. God, she’s going to be my wife and act like that all the time. I’m going to die young.”