Chapter 12 Ignition
“WHERE! THE FUCK! IS NICKI?!” Tyler screamed through the Compound so loud the windows shook.
The crew wore sickly faces, thinking of the worst.
“Her phone keeps showing up here!” Vinnie said, immersed in his laptop.
“Well, she couldn’t have just vanished into thin air!” Tyler shouted.
Sasha walked back into the living room.
“Did Cliff find anything on the cameras?” Tyler asked him hastily.
“Not yet, still looking. He’s going backward. Definitely no one came to the house and she didn’t leave. Her car is here, and there was no breach of the grounds.”
Lion Tyler pounced on him, knocking Sasha to the floor; his paws digging into his neck.
“You had ONE FUCKING JOB to do!” Tyler wailed at him; new veins spread across his forehead.
“Tyler, Tyler, let him go, bro, let him go!” Jake shouted, coming between Sasha and Tyler on the ground.
Tyler released his hands hesitantly and the bloodshot-eyed Sasha rolled to the side, clutching his neck.
Tyler paced the floor.
“Where the fuck is she?! It’s been fucking hours since anyone saw her! Trev, did you check the basement again?” Tyler yelled.
“Every room, and every bathroom, brother. The lake house too.”
“Fuck me. OK, so the last time anyone talked to her was when she asked Sasha and Cliff for the mail at around noon today, right?”
He walked up to Sasha again who winced at his presence.
“Right?” Tyler demanded, grabbing Sasha by the ear.
“Yes, boss. That’s right, she asked if there was any mail. That was the last time,” he answered, looking down.
“Well then think! Did she say anything unusual? Did she act strange? Did she want to go anywhere new? Other than for a walk by herself the other day and was stopped by Vinnie because he is not FUCKING USELESS!” Tyler screamed into Sasha’s face.
Sasha shut his eyes and jerked his neck back at Tyler’s verbal assault.
“Yes, actually. Sa…Saturday,” Sasha said quietly, trembling.
Tyler motioned over to his T-shirt, lifting it up and displaying the butt of a handgun peeking out from the waistband of his gray trackpants.
“Are you gonna say it or should I shoot it out of you?”
Jake approached Tyler again. “Brother. You have to chill so that we can all focus on finding Nicki, OK? We are all here to find her. Take it down a notch, Alpha.”
Tyler remained silent, nostrils flaring as he breathed heavily. He finally covered up the gun while continuing to eye Sasha coldly.
“Speak.”
“Saturday. I drove her to the kid’s center like usual. But then instead of yoga after, she asked me to take her to the cell phone company where her friend works—”
“Tanisha,” Tyler interjected.
“Yes, Tanisha. They had a coffee together there, in her work lounge room. Miss Nicki asked me to stay and wait for her in the lobby. That’s the only thing that I can think of that was different.”
Tyler scoffed.
“Sounds like Miss Nicki is even smarter than we thought. Get in the cars. We’re going to go and have a little chat with our girl Tanisha.”
“Bye, Celia! See you tomorrow!” Tanisha yelled walking out into the underground parking lot after her shift.
She dug deep into her oversized bag for her car keys and smashed into Sasha standing at her car.
“Oh! Um, Sasha? What are you doing here?” she asked.
He remained straight faced. Silent.
Tanisha turned around to the eerie feeling coming at her back and gasped at Tyler, planted a foot away. Just as stone cold.
Shit.
“Oh my God, you scared me, Tyler. W… what’s going on?” Tanisha asked.
“I was hoping you could tell me, Tanisha.”
She looked around and saw Vinnie, Jake and Luca on either side of her, approaching closer.
There was no one else in the parking lot. It got colder.
“Umm, can I help you with something?” Tanisha asked, clutching her purse. Her voice was particularly breathy and she could feel her heart beating.
“Yes, actually you can. You can tell us where Nicki is.”
Tanisha looked down nervously. “Ummm, Nicki?”
“Yeah, Nicki. Where is she?”
“She’s gone?”
Tyler approached her even closer. So did the men.
She held her breath.
“Tanisha, listen to me. Breathe. We’re not here to hurt you, we just need to find Nicki. Now, any friend of Nicki’s is a friend of mine. So, you don’t have to worry about anything, OK?” Tyler said, tilting his head.
Tanisha nodded nervously.
“Umm, I don’t want to get in trouble with my job—”
“Sweetheart, I promise you, your job is safe.”
“OK, umm, well, I don’t know where Nicki is… but… I—”
“Yes? Tell me, honey,” Tyler pressed, now just a few inches away, towering over her. His shadow crept over her face in the fluorescent cement parking lot light.
“She asked me to help locate your… your brother. I… I have his coordinates.”
Tanisha was now trembling.
“Shhhh, it’s OK, honey, you did a good thing. What state? California? Or Montana?” Tyler’s head now tilted to the other side.
“M…Montana. I can give them to y—”
Tyler smiled wildly.
“I don’t need them. Thank you, honey. But why don’t you go ahead and see if you can reach Nicki on the phone right now.”
Tanisha nodded nervously again and reached into her bag for her phone. She fumbled the phone but managed to scroll to Nicki’s contact and dial.
Tyler took the phone from her and listened to the endless, unanswered ringing, carving out his heart, until he heard the voicemail prompt.
“Thank you, honey,” Tyler whispered, handing the phone back to her. Visibly heartbroken.
“Luca!”
Tanisha gasped and flinched at his sudden yell.
“Yes, boss!”
“You’re going to drive our friend’s car home for her, to make sure she gets home safely. And stop at the gas station on the way, fill up her gas tank on us, for the trouble we’ve caused her today,” Tyler ordered, not taking his eyes off of Tanisha’s.
She didn’t dare argue.
“On it,” Luca said.
“Vinnie!” Tyler shouted, now walking back to their cars. “Make arrangements for the PJ. Boys’ trip to Montana.”