64. Bailey
64
Bailey
Tuesday
T he next morning, there still was no change in the news about Ed. Officers were now flooding the streets, and police dogs were brought in. I thought I had seen a helicopter, but so many news stations came into our little town that I couldn’t tell if it was police or news.
Dad walked into the room, drawing my attention. “I want to come,” I demanded.
“Enough, Bailey.” We had been going at it all morning. Dad had called a few local farmers, his buddies, and they were going on a manhunt. “This goddamn police station isn’t what it used to be, that’s going to change! I’ll see to it. Incompetent fools,” he snapped, talking to himself again.
Ethan walked through the room with his shoes on and stood, waiting for my dad. “No way!” I jumped to my feet, the motion so fast, I became lightheaded, but Nolan put his hand on my back, steadying me. “You are going?”
Ethan didn’t say anything. Of course, he wouldn’t. He just stared at me, his lips pressed tightly together.
“I am able!” I turned on Dad. “I can shoot a gun just as well as you, and you know that.”
“Then, stay here and protect your mom,” Dad said, reaching for the keys and walking out the door, Ethan close behind.
I followed them. Chase and Lachlan were already standing on the porch, talking, when we got outside. “She can shoot better than both of us combined, and you know that too!” I called from the porch while they made their way to Dad’s truck, completely ignoring me. “Assholes,” I whispered under my breath.
I stared at the police car parked at the end of our driveway. He should be out there looking for Ed as well. Instead, he was babysitting me. They all were.
I went back inside and put my shoes on before going to grab my keys, but my keys were gone. I frowned as I walked back outside and down the steps toward my truck to see if someone had left them inside.
“They aren’t in there,” Chase said.
I turned around, glaring at him.
“I’m not telling you where they are, either.” He was a lost cause, but… I softened my glare and looked to Nolan.
Nolan shrugged. Damn it, they hadn’t told him. My gaze shifted to Lachlan. “You see why this is ridiculous, right?”
Lachlan sighed, walking down off the porch and holding his hand out to me. I took it, letting him pull me into a hug. “Would you just be a good girl and let them protect you? Maybe not running off toward the murderer?”
“It’s not that I’m trying to run to him, it’s that all of this is going on, and I’m not chopped liver, Lach.” I didn’t want to see Ed ever again
He chuckled. “I know.” Lachlan’s phone started vibrating in his pocket, but he ignored it while his hand expertly began massaging the back of my neck. I tilted my face up to his, and he met my lips, kissing me tenderly, sweetly.
His phone started vibrating again, and I drew back. With narrowed eyes, Lachlan reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He frowned at the name and stepped back from me, answering the call.
“Hey, I—” Whoever was on the other line had cut him off, and that’s when his entire demeanor changed. I wasn’t even sure if Lachlan was breathing. His whole body went rigid, still, as he listened to whoever was on the other line.
Lachlan swayed like he might fall. I reached out to steady him, but his hand snapped, grabbing my wrist firmly. When his blue eyes locked with mine, he loosened his hold but didn’t let go. I stayed as still as I could.
“Do they know if it was him?” Lachlan asked. The longer whoever was on the phone kept talking, the more I watched Lachlan lose control. His body vibrated, not with fear, but with malice. He ground his teeth, a snarl playing at his lips.
Nolan and Chase joined us, Chase taking my hand from Lachlan and forcing him to release me.
“I’m coming,” Lachlan said before hanging up, and then he let out a scream of pure anger and pain. I could hear my mom step out onto the porch, but I couldn’t look away from Lachlan.
“What happened?” Chase asked.
“Grace went to school this morning, and they can’t find her. I have to get to town now, police are just arriving.”
“Go,” I demanded. “Take my truck.” Chase pulled the keys from his back pocket. “Go with him.” I shoved Chase in the arm. Lachlan had remained sober through all of this, but I still wasn’t sure if he could drive in the state he was in now.
Chase nodded. “We’ll keep you updated.”
They didn’t slow down or stop as they jumped into the truck and took off down the driveway.
I looked back to my mom, seeing the worry on her face before she went back into the house. Nolan reached out and slipped his arm around me, pulling me into his side. “I should’ve asked if it was Ed,” I said. “I forgot to ask.” If something happened to Grace, that would be on me. Rightfully so, Lachlan would never forgive me, but worse… What if they didn’t find her in time?
Mom was on and off the phone for the next few hours. Nolan didn’t push me to do anything or try to distract me. I was floating around outside, going from barn to garage, not really looking for something or doing anything, just lost. Chase hadn’t gotten back to us, but I didn’t want to call or message in case he was busy.
We were sitting on the steps of the porch, Pops, the old farm dog, laying down at our feet. He seemed to be a good dog, though he didn’t move much. He liked to stick close to Ethan, and with Ethan gone, this was the first time I had seen him so close to the house.
Nolan’s phone began to ring with an alarm half a second before mine did, the alarm loud and obnoxious, a siren. An emergency alert. I pulled my phone out and read the alert that displayed on the screen, trying my best not to completely lose it.
Amber Alert
Child abduction reported by Cloverton PS. Victim: Grace Lynn O’Riley. Female, 13 years old. Red hair, blue eyes. Last wearing purple “Go Sabers” shirt and dark blue jeans with a black and silver sports jacket, number 32 on sleeve and chest. Suspect: Kenneth P. Walters. Wearing black and red shirt, black sweatpants. Last seen 0832. If seen, call 911, DO NOT APPROACH.
Nolan’s phone rang and Chase’s name popped up in the screen. “You’re on speaker,” Nolan said. “It’s just Bailey and me.”
“Did you see it?” Chase asked.
“Yes,” I quickly said.
“They are organizing a search for her. Police don’t think they got far, they set up roadblocks and checkpoints too.”
“They know for sure it was him?” I asked.
“Yes,” Chase said. “The school surveillance shows her getting into a stolen car. You can see he was the driver.”
Nolan frowned. “She just got into the car on her own?”
There was silence, and in the background, I could hear chaos before it quieted down, as if Chase had walked away from it. “Lachlan’s parents said they hadn’t told her what was going on. They thought it would scare her.” After a pause, he added, “He must have said something convincing to lure her into the car.”
What the fuck? I buried my face in my hands.
“How is Lachlan?” Nolan asked quietly.
“Not good. Really not good. He’s going off the deep end.”
“We should go help.” I raised my head. “We should join the search.”
“That’s not a good idea, Bails,” Chase said, and I could feel my heart crush under the weight. “I talked to the search and rescue lead, and it’s best if you stay where you are. That way, they don’t have to worry about you. It might be good for Lachlan to focus on his sister as well.”
I knew it made sense, but it still hurt. I wanted to be out there now more than anything. He took Gracie, that had me seeing red. “Nolan should go,” I said. “He should be there for Lachlan. He can help calm him down.” I begged Nolan with my eyes, but I could see without him saying a word what the answer would be. He wasn’t going to leave me.
“There’s a lot of volunteers around here. The school was released early, so most the teachers are here and a lot of locals. The police force is changing tactics as well. They are going to focus their search on Grace now, not Ken—er—Ed. I’ll call if anything changes.”
As soon as Chase hung up, the first tear fell. Nolan grabbed me and pulled me into him. “I feel useless. This is all because of me.”
“Don’t blame yourself for his choices.” Nolan wiped my tear away with the pad of his thumb, then pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “They will find her.”
“I really want you to go. Grace is in more danger than me right now. Even if they don’t let you join the search, someone needs to be there for Lachlan.”
“Chase will take care of Lachlan.” Nolan opened a map app on his phone and switched it to satellite, so we could see all the houses and roads as they appeared through satellite images. “I don’t know the area too well, but…you know Ed.” He looked at me. “You don’t have to be there to be useful. You spent the last three years with this guy. You knew his mannerisms to the point you reacted whenever you saw them in other people without thought. Maybe we can drop some pins on the map and send them to Chase.”
“Thank you, Nolan. That’s a really good idea.”
He leaned over and kissed my cheek once before returning to his phone. “Okay, where should we start?”
We began pouring over the maps as I told Nolan who Ed was, what he was like. He rarely ever went into town, and it was always work related. So, we marked off any sites around the feed co-op and farm supply stores. Chase had messaged Nolan, stating they were searching the trails first, but that just didn’t seem right to me. Ed wasn’t one to go on trails; he’d feel trapped there.
Mom came out not long after, sitting down and handing us sandwiches and bottles of water. “Both of you have barely eaten a thing. I want you to force these down.” She sat with us long enough to watch us scarf down the food, then left.
Mom had seen the alarm. She said she had been on the phone with my dad and some of the women involved in the search. I could tell she wanted to join as well, but when I told her she should go, she refused. Another person out of the search because of me. Instead, Mom was making lunch and baking food for all the search volunteers.
Once Nolan and I had finished eating, we followed her inside and took up a spot on the couch to resume pouring over the map. My eyes were starting to blur. Time moved so slowly, and sitting around, feeling useless, made it worse.
The knock on the door caused us to jump. No one we knew would’ve knocked—they’d just come right in. Mom was the first to get there and answer it. Nolan got up quickly, squaring his shoulders, bracing himself, as he stood behind my mother, acting like her backup.
We relaxed when the door opened, and the police officer stood on the porch. “Hey, folks,” he said. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up that they are pulling us from here. The jacket of the little girl was found, so they need everyone over there to search the field.”
“Yes, of course. Go,” my mom said quickly. He nodded to her.
“What field?” I asked.
“Over near Morrison Road,” he said before giving a final incline of his head and leaving.
Mom closed the door and looked over at me. “They are looking in the wrong spots,” I told her. “That’s Dad’s land over there, and he wouldn’t have left her in an open field.”
Mom nodded. “I’ll call your father, then get this food loaded up in the car,” she said, walking to the kitchen.
I turned to Nolan. “Give me your phone.” Using both thumbs, I searched the area, and my suspicion was confirmed. I called Chase’s phone. “What’s wrong?” He answered frantically on the first ring, because that’s where we were at this point—any call would mean bad news.
“Where are you guys searching?” I asked.
“Ethan just picked us up. We are heading to the field over on—”
“Morrison Road?”
There was a slight pause. “Yeah.”
I nodded at Nolan. “Okay, there are four grain bins farther up from the crossroads. Dad owns all that land and the bins. Ed worked the land often. Also when you get close to Road 129, there’s an old cattle farm that shut down, but the barns are still intact. It’s abandoned.” Shit, I should’ve told the police officer this when he was here. “Does Ethan…does he still have the rifle?”
“Yes, B. I have it under the seat,” Ethan said.
I took a deep breath. This was it. This had to be it. They were so close to Gracie now; they were going to find her and shoot Ed. Grace would be safe. “Is Lachlan there?”
“Um, sort of.” Chase hesitated. “He’s in the back of the truck.”
“What? Like the bed of the truck?” I clarified.
“Yeah. It was for our own safety.”
I fell forward into Nolan’s chest. “Find her,” I mumbled into the phone. Though I wasn’t sure if it was a request, a hope, or wishful thinking.