8. Chapter 8
I frown as the phone just rings again and again. However, instead of hearing Mary’s sweet voice answering the call, I get her voicemail for the fifth time.
“Maybe she went to bed, son. You said she’s been feeling sick lately,” Dad says as he nurses his whiskey.
“Maybe… I’m going to walk over. Make sure she’s okay. If she is asleep, at least then I’ll know she’s okay.”
Dad gives me a weird look, but nods.
Thing is, though, I don’t think Mary’s sick.
She’s put on a bit of weight the last few months, but I don’t know if she’s noticed it or not. She’s also switched from coffee to tea suddenly. Not to mention she gets nauseous around spicy smelling food.
I think she’s pregnant, but I’ve been trying to figure out exactly how to bring it up to her. Surely, she’d tell me if she knew, but maybe she doesn’t know. I’ve learned over the past few months that her periods have always been light and erratic ever since she started getting them, so it wasn’t like she could rely on them to let her know.
Pocketing my phone, I grab my keys, slip on my hoodie, and head out into the night. Mary had given me a spare key a while ago when we both had decided we wanted to marry after we graduated. Thankfully, graduation’s only a couple of months away. I already have her ring picked out, and it’s sitting in my sock drawer, waiting for me to ask her the night we graduate.
I take a deep breath and instantly regret it. It’s early April and the brisk air has me shivering. I start jogging down the sidewalk, careful not to slip on any black ice, and head over to her house next door, eager to check on Mary and get out of the cold.
When I reach her door, I pull out my keys, ready to unlock the door since all the lights are out when I suddenly stop.
There’s broken glass, glinting in the moonlight, in the flower beds below the large living room window.
My gut churns and I inch forward, looking into the window. Instantly I stumble back, tripping over the flower bushes and landing on my ass in the snow.
Hands shaking, I pull out my phone, and dial the one person who I know can help with this.
“Hey, Luke. Saw pictures of how the set’s coming along—,” Uncle Sam says before I interrupt him.
“Uncle Sam. Nikos, he’s… he’s…”
Instantly, Uncle Sam’s tone changes. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”
“Mary’s house. I went over to c-check on her because she wasn’t answering her phone. She… She asked me to call her when I got back. The window’s broke a-a-and I can see Nikos on the floor…”
Tears stream down my cheeks, and soon there are hands on me, startling me.
“It’s okay, Luke. Sam’s going to call it in,” Aunt Ellie says softly as she wraps her arm around me, and I notice Brady’s behind her but keeping his distance.
Wait.
When did they get here? Did they run over here as soon as I called?
“Mary wasn’t answering her phone. Oh, shit, Mary! Mary, where are you, Siren?” I yell as I jump to my feet and strong arms band around my waist.
“Son, it’s a crime scene. You can’t go in,” Dad says, and logically, I know it’s true, but I have to find Mary.
“You don’t understand. I need to find Mary. She’s pregnant.”
His arms go still around me, but he doesn’t let me go. Uncle Sam looks at me over his shoulder, his phone glued to his ear as he pauses, keys mid-air and I realize he was going to unlock the door with my keys. I must have dropped them when I fell. I can see him tensing even more at my words. He nods and holds up a gloved finger before pulling out booties, slipping them on over his shoes. He pulls his gun out and then he’s gone.
I stare at the door, willing my Mary, my siren, to come running out toward me, but she isn’t the one that appears next.
Uncle Sam emerges and shakes his head while motioning me forward. Dad finally lets me go, and I numbly walk forward.
“I’m sorry, Luke, but she’s not here. Nikos is, unfortunately, already gone. There are signs of a struggle inside. I pulled up my security system to see if it caught anything,” he pauses as he sighs, running a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, but Mary was taken out of the house, unconscious, by two men. We’ll find her, Luke.”
He shows me the video and I know one of the people in the video, but not the other two. Though, I do notice similarities between the two men. I could also tell the driver was smaller, so maybe it was a woman? Regardless, as soon as the two men toss Mary unceremoniously into the trunk of their car, they get in themselves. Before their doors are even shut, the car takes off. I stumble backward when it stops.
Blood rushes through my veins and I see red. Turning, I stare Brady down, pointing at him.
“Did you have anything to do with this? You wanted her gone the minute you found out her mom caused your parents’ accident. Don’t you dare deny it because I’ve heard it out of your own fucking mouth. You’ve been buddy buddy with Isaac, her fucking bully and nightmare, for months. Did you have a hand in this?” I’m damn near yelling at the end of my rant, but Brady just looks worried, which instantly has the pit in my stomach growing even further.
“No, I didn’t, asshole. Yeah, I’m pissed at her because of what her mom did, but I would never sink to this extreme.” He steps forward, and it takes everything in me not to launch myself at him. But he’s been my best friend since forever, so I know when he’s lying.
And right now, he isn’t.
Still, I can’t help but flinch, my muscles tensing, when he places a hand on my shoulder. Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything about it. Things have been extremely strained between us ever since the night of the accident seven months ago with how he’s been treating Mary. He may be my cousin, my blood, but I’d choose Mary over him every time.
“We’ll find her and then you can give her the ring you’ve been hiding for the past few months.”
His lips kick up a little. How did he know I’d bought a ring? The next thing I know, he pulls me in, hugging me tight. Small arms circle around both of us as Alli joins us, however, I don’t know at what point she came over here.
“They’ll find her, Luke,” she says as she squeezes me tighter.
Fuck, I hope so. And I hope it happens quick. I’m scared about what those assholes will do to her when they find out she’s pregnant. I don’t want to lose my woman or my baby.
A few hours later, there’s a knock at our door. Instantly, I’m up off the couch and walking forward, yanking the door open.
Uncle Sam stands on the other side with two other cops behind him. He looks exhausted, but he gives me a small smile. “Can we come in, Luke?”
Swallowing hard, I nod and step back, letting the three of them in. Mom comes in from the kitchen and twists her hands in front of her nervously. “Would any of you like some coffee?”
Uncle Sam gives her a small smile. “Yes, please, Steph.”
She disappears and Uncle Sam turns to me. “Let’s sit down and I can fill you in on some of the things we found out.”
I gesture toward the living room, since that has more seating. After retaking my seat, I notice one of the cops frowning at Uncle Sam, but he doesn’t say anything. Uncle Sam huffs at him and he rolls his eyes.
“Relax, Wolfe. Luke is Mary’s fiancé and father of their baby.”
Officer Wolfe’s eyes narrow at me. “A little young to be engaged and bringing a baby into the world, aren’t you?”
His condescending tone has my hackles rising and I stare back at him, clenching my fists so I don’t do anything stupid. “We’ve known we wanted to get married for over a year, so no, neither of us thinks it’s too early. When you know you’ve found your other half, you hold on to her with everything you have.”
Officer Wolfe frowns at that for some reason. “How can we be sure you didn’t just send her off or cut her loose as soon as you found out she was pregnant?”
Anger runs through my veins, but Sam replies before I can. “Luke’s alibi checks out. He was at the school working on the sets for the play. His phone records were double checked and verified. Multiple people confirmed hearing Mary say she was going to head home because she wasn’t feeling well. She stayed over at a friend’s house, studying, until her father came home from work. We further confirmed that Mary hasn’t been feeling well the last few months. With the home test confirming that she is pregnant, that’s probably why she was feeling off.”
Reigning in my frustration and anger, I look over the other two officers more closely. Then, Officer Wolfe’s words come back to me. I frown as my gaze goes back to Officer Wolfe and then the other guy before settling back on Uncle Sam. “Why were they thinking I’d cut her out of my life? I love her. I’d never do that.”
He sighs, but before he answers, Mom comes in with coffees for them. He takes the cup and nods. “I know you do, but we have to look at all the angles.” He pauses and takes a sip of his coffee. “I called in a favor with a buddy of mine to look into things on the dark web.”
My chest tightens as the pit in my stomach grows. “The dark web? …What’d he find?”
Uncle Sam chews on his lip as he stares down at his hands for a few moments before finally looking up at me, his eyes are filled with sympathy.
“There’s a website where people can post what they’re looking for in a person. Like a want ad. There was one matching Mary’s description, and it was marked ‘fulfilled’ half an hour ago.” He pauses as he takes a deep breath and exhales shakily before his eyes harden and the muscles in his jaw clench. “There are also rumors about Mary needing to fulfill her duties to the family since she’s come of age.”
I’m out of my chair so fast, my hands buried in my hair as I take deep breaths while trying to rein in my anger. After a few moments, I turn back to Uncle Sam. Questions burning inside me.
“Did it say who posted the want ad?”
Uncle Sam frowns. “My friend is trying to trace that as we speak. Same for the rumors to see if they’re valid or not.”
“You realize I know who one of the people is that carried her out, right? From your security footage?”
Uncle Sam sighs. “Yeah, I know and I know him, too. Same for the second guy. We can’t ID the driver. He or she was keeping their face hidden the entire time.”
I pause at that. “Who?”
The muscle in Uncle Sam’s jaw ticks again.
“We aren’t—” Officer Wolfe starts, but Uncle Sam cuts him off.
“Diego Vasquez.”
My blood runs cold at his name. “U-Uncle Sam… Mary showed me a news article clip that Nikos found—”
“Not too long after he and Eileen divorced. About her true origins. Yeah, he showed it to me, too,” he says as he stands, walks over to me and lays his hand on my shoulder. “We won’t stop looking for her, but I need to be honest with you, too.”
The pit in my stomach grows at the look of fear and frustration on his face, but there’s also determination there, too.
“The only ones we’ve found from the human trafficking ring that we think Diego is associated with are the ones they let us find and every single time, it was too late to save them. They’re either already dead or they end up dying shortly after finding them. We’ve never been able to infiltrate their ranks or find clues as to where they keep or how they move their victims.”
I swallow thickly. Determined not to let Mary end up that way. “I’m not going to stop looking for her.”
Uncle Sam nods and squeezes my shoulder. “I know, Luke. We’ll keep you updated as much as we’re able to.”
Movement behind Uncle Sam draws my attention and I frown when I see the other two officers sharing a look. Unease swirls throughout me, because it’s not a look of concern or worry on their faces. They wore smug, arrogant smirks. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but I saw it.
Uncle Sam heads toward the door and the other two officers move to follow him.
I purposefully move so that I’ll be able to see who the other officer is.
Moments later, he passes me on his way to the door and I can finally read his nametag.
O’Grady.
I’m going to be keeping my eye on him and Officer Wolfe. Something doesn’t sit quite right with me about them.
Determination fills me once again as my anger simmers just below the surface. Tomorrow I’m going to head out to the edge of town. There’s another group in town that might be able to help me. I’d known for a long time that I wanted to join their ranks. Mary was a little worried before since there is a danger element to it, but I’ll do whatever it takes to bring my Siren home.
And to do that, I need to start prospecting with the Steel Archangel’s MC.