Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“What do you mean, she isn’t here?”
“Ellory’s father said you’d been in an accident, that he needed to bring her to the hospital to say her final goodbyes to you.”
Addison stared at the woman in disbelief. How could this have happened? Brady wasn’t on the approved list to pick up her daughter.
“He was very convincing,” the woman fretted, not impressing Addison at all. “And when we called Ellory in, she seemed all right to go with him. She wasn’t afraid of him at all. In fact, when they left, he had his arm around her shoulders.”
Addison was furious . So mad, she could barely see straight. Someone was going to pay dearly for this fuck-up. She was going to chew out the principal and call the cops and make a report—wasn’t going to let anyone off the hook—but right now, she needed to find her daughter.
Spinning around, she left the office and sprinted for the parking lot. As soon as she was outside the building, she called Yana’s school. A sick feeling was spreading in her gut, and she had a feeling she knew what she was going to be told when she got a hold of someone there.
She was right. Yana was gone too. Ellory and Brady had taken Yana out of school. And now she couldn’t get a hold of either Ellory or her ex.
Suddenly feeling lost, not sure what to do or where to go, Addison did the only thing she could think of. She called her husband.
“Hey, you think of something I need to pick up on the way home?” Ricky asked in lieu of a greeting.
“Ellory and Yana are gone.”
“ What ?” Ricky said, immediately all business.
“I arrived here at school to get Ellory and was told Brady picked her up earlier. He told them we were in an accident and in the hospital, and he needed to bring Ellory to see us.”
“He’s not on the list to pick her up,” Ricky said, his voice hard and flat.
“I know ,” Addison practically wailed. “But the secretary is new—which isn’t a fucking excuse and someone’s head’s going to roll once we find our kids. But she let him talk her into it. She said Ellory went with him without hesitation.”
“If she thought we were hurt, of course she would,” Ricky said. “Yana too?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m on my way home right now. I’ll get the boys before they can get on the bus and— Wait, did you call their school?”
“No.” The sick feeling increased tenfold. What if Brady had taken Artem and Borysko too? She couldn’t bear even the thought. It was too much.
“I’ll call them right now. You go home, Addison. Drive safely, I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m calling Julie Hurt. She’s the closest to our place. You met her at Caroline’s, remember?”
“Uh-huh.” It hurt to think. All Addison could see in her head was Ellory. The day she was born. When she turned one, and stuffed a piece of cake in her face. At six, when she learned to ride a bike. The first time she had to take her to the emergency room because of pain in her belly. How she looked just that morning. The memories were painful.
Would that be all she ever had? Bittersweet memories?
And Yana. The little girl had to be scared out of her mind. She’d be so confused, unsure what was going on. At least Ellory was with her…Addison hoped.
“Addy!” Ricky barked, clearly realizing he’d lost her for a moment. “Listen to me. We’re going to find them. No one is taking our girls from us. I’m sending Kevlar and Blink to find Vogel. They’ll make him tell us what’s going on. Where our babies are. Hear me?”
“Yeah.” The world was coming back into focus.
“I’ll have Smiley and Flash meet you at the house too. They’ll probably beat me there, since I’m going to get the boys. Safe will meet up with Wolf and his team, and they’ll start scouring the town to see if they can find the girls. Wolf will call Tex. Trust me when I say, Tex can find even the smallest trail. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Breathe, Addy. We’re going to find them.”
Knowing Ricky and his friends were on this made Addison feel much better. The sick feeling receded a fraction. She’d heard all the stories about the infamous Tex. Knew that he’d gotten Blink and Josie out of that prison in Iran. That he’d helped find countless others over the years. The ass-kicking he’d clearly done when Artem, Borysko, and Yana had been taken by CPS. She had to believe he’d find her daughters too.
“Hang on just a little longer. For me.”
“I’m better now. Knowing you’re on this, it makes me feel not so alone.”
“You aren’t alone. You’re never alone. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Drive safe and lean on our friends. I love you, Addison. So much.”
“I love you too. Drive safe yourself.”
“Always.”
The familiar back and forth went a long way toward snapping Addison out of the weird head space she’d been sucked into.
She hung up the phone and hurried to her Bug. Maybe by the time she got home, Ellory and Yana would be there.
Once more, hoping against hope, she clicked on Ellory’s name on her phone, sagging in defeat when it went straight to voicemail. It was either off or dead…she’d hoped for a second that her daughter would answer and ask why her mom was freaking out so badly.
With nothing else to do but go home, Addison did just that.
* * *
MacGyver’s head was spinning. He was furious that both schools broke protocol and allowed Vogel to take Ellory and Yana without permission. He was frustrated that Ellory’s phone wasn’t answering—the first thing he’d done was try to call her. He was terrified that Vogel had done something horrible to the girls.
The odd thing was…why? What did he have to gain? Where would he take them? MacGyver had too many questions and no answers. Until Kevlar and Blink found Vogel and interrogated him, they’d have to be patient.
He’d call the police as soon as he got home, but he wanted to give his teammates a head start on finding Addison’s ex. They would use techniques the cops couldn’t to get answers. They’d get him to tell them everything about why he’d taken the girls.
He’d been unbelievably relieved when he’d called the boys’ school and found that they were still there. He told the secretary that he’d be picking them up and sent a quick text to Addison, letting her know that Artem and Borysko were safe.
The boys were confused about why he was getting them from school, instead of letting them take the bus. After they’d stepped outside, MacGyver went to one knee in front of them.
“I have some bad news,” he said solemnly.
Both boys stared at him with wide, worried eyes.
“Remember Brady? Ellory’s biological father?” He refused to say “real dad” because that’s who he was. He may have only known Ellory for a little more than a year, and he certainly hadn’t been in any kind of fatherly role for long, but he still felt deep down that he was her real dad. It might’ve taken him twelve years to find her, but now that he had, he knew Ellory was his own. It was the same gut feeling he had when he’d met Artem, Borysko, and Yana in that fucked-up situation in Ukraine. Some inherent knowledge that they were meant to be his.
“Yes. She no like him very much,” Borysko said.
“Right. Well, he picked up both Ellory and Yana from school today, and we don’t know why. We also don’t know where they are. We’re looking for them now.” MacGyver did his best to downplay the magnitude of what was happening.
But Artem’s eyes widened in his little face, and he began to tremble. “He take them?” he asked.
MacGyver refused to lie. Not to these boys, who’d already been through hell and back. “Yes. But I swear that my friends and I are doing everything we can to find them and bring them home.”
Artem turned to Borysko and began speaking urgently to him in Ukrainian. MacGyver didn’t interrupt. Didn’t ask what he was saying. There were times Artem seemed like the eight-year-old boy he was; other times, like now, he oozed vibes of someone ten years older.
Both boys seemed extremely worried and freaked out by the time Artem looked back at MacGyver. “Yana is scared. But Ellory is with her. She loves Ellory.”
“Yes to all three things,” MacGyver said.
“What we can do to help?” Artem asked.
“I need you to look after Addy. I also need you to trust my friends and me. We are doing everything in our power to find Brady and your sisters. The last thing I need is you two running off, thinking you can find her yourselves. This isn’t that bombed-out city in Ukraine. There, you two were the experts. You knew where to hide, where to find food. But Riverton is my city. My friends and I will find Ellory’s biological father and make him tell us what’s going on. Okay?”
“Addy scared too,” Borysko said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah, she is, buddy. She’s terrified. Not only for Ellory, but Yana too. Will you help me keep her calm? Hold her hand if she cries? Give her hugs?”
Both boys nodded solemnly.
The trip home was unnaturally quiet. MacGyver was lost in his own head, worrying about what Vogel could possibly want with the girls. And the boys were most likely thinking about how scared Yana was. They’d been watching over her for quite a while now, and this had to be extremely difficult for them…not knowing what was happening or where she could be.
When MacGyver pulled up to his house, there were several cars already parked along the street. The three got out of the Explorer, and Artem and Borysko ran up to the door with MacGyver hot on their heels.
Addison stood when they entered, and the look on her face almost broke MacGyver. It was obvious she was hoping it was her daughter and Yana coming through the door. When she saw the boys, the control she was desperately holding on to broke.
Tears streamed down her face even as she held her arms open for Artem and Borysko. They ran to her and threw their arms around her. Addison rocked back on a foot, then sank to her knees so she could hold the boys better.
“Ricky’s gonna find them,” she told the boys. “We just have to stay strong until they come home. I’m sure Ellory is taking care of Yana, she’s okay.”
None of them knew what was happening with the girls, but MacGyver hoped like hell Addison was right. Love for this woman spread throughout his body like a warm blanket. She was devastated herself, and yet she was still doing her best to be positive for the boys. And the confidence in her voice, the absolute conviction that he would find Yana and Ellory, made him desperate to live up to every word that came out of her mouth.
Looking around, MacGyver saw that Julie Hurt had arrived, her husband, Patrick, at her side. Smiley and Flash were there as well. Flash was standing off to the side, looking frustrated and concerned, and Smiley had his cell up to his ear.
They weren’t the only people who’d shown up. Abe, Benny, and Mozart were also there. As was Caroline. She was standing by the couch, where she’d been sitting with Addison when they’d arrived.
As he waited for Addy to be done reassuring the boys, the door behind him opened. Turning—and now fully understanding the hope and expectation he’d seen on Addison’s face when he’d arrived—he saw Remi, Josie, Wren, and Maggie.
Addison and the boys were soon surrounded by the women. Everyone was hugging and crying, saying reassuring words to encourage their friend.
It made MacGyver feel incredibly grateful to have these people at their backs. Men and women who would drop everything simply to show their support. But he needed to talk to Addison. See if she could tell him anything else that might be useful in finding Ellory and Yana.
As if she could read his mind, Addison extracted herself from their friends and walked over to him. She practically collapsed into his arms, and MacGyver held her as tightly as he could. “Ricky,” she whispered into his ear, as she held him with her own iron grip.
“I know. We’re gonna get them back.”
She nodded. And that small nod made MacGyver even more determined. His Addy trusted him with the most precious thing in her life…her daughter. And he wouldn’t let her down.
He walked backward with Addison, putting a little space between her and the suddenly very crowded living room. He put his hands on her face and stared at her for a long moment. Her eyes were red, her skin was blotchy from crying, and her hair was mussed, but she wasn’t broken. Not in the least.
“That asshole took our babies,” she said, her voice trembling not with fear, but anger. “Why would he do that? He doesn’t even really like Ellory.”
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find him, and our girls, and make sure this never happens again.”
Addison nodded.
Just then, Smiley announced, “They found him.”
Addison spun around so fast, she would’ve fallen over if MacGyver hadn’t grabbed her hips. “Where are they? Are they bringing them home?”
“They’ve found Vogel, not the girls,” Smiley told her quietly.
“What?” Addison whispered, shock clear in her voice.
MacGyver’s own stomach clenched. If Ellory and Yana weren’t with Vogel, where were they?