Axel
Some old woman with a cane was walking across the entrance to Summer’s apartment complex when I drove up. I hung the left but had to stop and wait for her to shuffle by. Annoyed, I revved my engine. She shot me a glare.
Finally, she got far enough down the sidewalk that I could get past. I drove into the parking lot and stopped outside Summer’s building.
I didn’t see her car, but maybe the guy in the SUV had dropped her off.
Who was he? Buzz and Hammer hadn’t said anything about her having a boyfriend. But they were half useless, so maybe they didn’t know about him.
Looking around, I gritted my teeth. I didn’t give a shit who Summer was fucking. But if the asshole thought he could come between me and the kid, he was sorely mistaken.
I parked and went up the stairs to her apartment. Buzz had figured out where she lived, so at least he’d done something. I was about to knock, but instead I tried the doorknob. Locked.
Irritation flashed through me. We hadn’t seen any sign of her since the guy in the SUV had gotten away in front of the train the day before. The three of us had split up, but no luck. I’d wanted to keep watch over her apartment—she had to return eventually—but they’d said it was a waste of time.
Assholes.
But I didn’t need them.
I knocked a few times and waited. No answer.
“Hey, Summer,” I called, forcing my tone to sound nonchalant. “I just want to talk. No big deal.”
Still nothing.
Where the fuck was she?
I’d driven by the diner, but it was still closed. I thought about going to the school again, but they’d been too suspicious when I’d tried to pick up Nate. If I went back, they’d probably call the cops. Which was bullshit. I was his fucking father. Who did they think they were?
I started down the stairs when a woman across the parking lot caught my eye. She was staring at me with her mouth open.
That didn’t necessarily mean anything, but it did make me wonder if she knew Summer.
I raced the rest of the way down and jogged across the parking lot. “Wait. ma’am, I have a question.”
She hesitated, her eyes darting around nervously as I approached.
“Do you know Summer?” I asked.
She glanced away. “I’m not sure.”
“She lives up there.” I pointed. “Has a son named Nate. It’s really important that I find them.”
“Um…”
“I get it,” I said, my tone soothing. “I look scary. But I promise, I’m not here to hurt anyone. You don’t need to be afraid of me, and neither does she.”
“Are you her ex?”
“No, I’m her brother.”
Pressing her lips together, she shook her head.
“I don’t know what she told you about her family, and that’s not important now.” The lies came easily. “Our mom is in the hospital. It’s serious. Summer won’t take my calls, so I’ve been trying to find her so I can let her know. She needs to come see Mom. It might be the last time.”
“Oh no.” The woman put a hand on her chest. “That’s terrible.”
“Yeah, it’s rough. Our stepdad is with her now. It’s hitting everyone hard.”
“I didn’t even know she had a stepdad.”
“She has a whole family who misses her.”
The woman glanced away again. “I can’t tell you anything.”
Anger flashed through me again, but I kept it off my face. “Look, Summer would want to know. And there isn’t a lot of time.”
“I don’t know where she is,” the woman said. “That’s the truth. She didn’t tell me where she was going.”
“Where she was going? Do you mean she left?”
“Um…” She sputtered a little. “No. I don’t know. She just said she didn’t need me to watch Nate after school anymore.”
The bitch was pissing me off. Squaring my shoulders, I stepped closer. “Tell me where she is.”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
She flinched away. “I really don’t know.”
I leaned in, dropping my voice to a growl. “Where the fuck did she go?”
The woman’s eyes filled with tears. “She didn’t tell me. She just said she was leaving. I swear, I don’t know where she went.”
“But she isn’t coming back?”
“I don’t think so.”
Stepping back, I looked the woman up and down. I doubted I’d get anything else out of her. She wasn’t worth my time.
Without another word, I turned and strode back to my bike. And when I left, I made sure the woman heard me go.
A block up the street, I parked again, swung off my bike, and veered around the back, coming around through the gap between two buildings. The woman was gone, so I went up the stairs to Summer’s apartment again.
Without bothering to knock, I pulled a wire out of my pocket and picked the lock. It opened easily.
Inside was quiet, but their stuff was still there. It didn’t look like they’d vacated the place. There was furniture, dishes, clothes, food in the fridge. The kid’s room had a neatly made bed, a shelf full of Lego shit, and a cartoon poster on the wall.
Something about that poster enraged me. A fucking cartoon? My kid—the future of Mayhem—lived like that? With cartoons and fucking Legos?
Rage built to a breaking point, and I didn’t try to stop it. I unleashed, leaving destruction in my wake.