Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
The taco stand was just in sight, so Brodie increased his pace, anxious to see Cerise and Finn.
He couldn’t explain it but about thirty minutes ago, a feeling of dread had begun to pool in his belly.
He had no idea what it was or why he was feeling this way, but he knew that once he had Cerise in his arms, everything would be fine and the feeling would dissipate.
There was a crowd around the stand and he could understand why. The aromas coming from the small space was amazing. His stomach grumbled in anticipation of sinking his teeth into a meat-and-vegetable filled tortilla covered in cheese.
Going up on tiptoe to try and see over the crowd, he couldn’t find Cerise and her pink cowboy hat.
No hint of glitter anywhere. He checked his watch and saw it was five minutes past their organized meet-up time.
Maybe they’d got caught up with looking at something.
He pulled out his phone and hit her contact number.
The call went directly to voicemail. Sometimes, when there was a large crowd, cell service was spotty, but they had a large cell phone tower behind the fire station.
Reception shouldn’t be a problem and there was no way Cerise would have her phone off.
She always kept it on in case she needed to be called into work.
He tried again and slammed his fist against his leg when her voice message sounded again in his ear.
“Hey Brodie, you look worried. What’s wrong, son?”
Standing behind him was Gene along with a man he didn’t recognize.
“Looking for Cerise and Finn. We’re supposed to meet here.
But I can’t see them. And her cell is going straight to voicemail.
” He glanced around again, hoping that they’d arrived within the minute it had taken for him to talk to Gene, but no such luck.
“Is she normally late?” The stranger asked, his voice serious and there was a certain stillness about him that came with someone who sat back and observed before he usually jumped.
“Sometimes, but she’s with her foster son, Finn. If I know him, he’d have dragged Cerise here so that they were early.” He wasn’t trying to be arrogant, but he knew how Finn felt about him because he felt the same.
“Maybe they got caught up somewhere,” Gene said.
“Maybe but . . .” he trailed off, not wanting to sound silly by saying he had a weird-ass feeling that something was wrong.
“But your gut is saying something different, right?” The stranger asked again.
He was about to answer but closed his mouth. Who was this guy? Sure, he was with Gene, but Brodie hadn’t met him before. And how had he narrowed in on the fact Brodie was uneasy with Cerise not being nearby?
“Brodie, this is Julian Bennington, he’s a consultant with the FBI.”
Julian held out his hand and Brodie grasped it. “Good to meet you, Brodie. Sorry if I’m being a little forward, considering we’ve just met.”
“Yeah, you too. Got to admit it’s a bit strange to have someone you don’t know asking what is my gut saying.”
Julian chuckled. “With my job, I’ve been exposed to an elite security company. All those guys are former special forces. I’ve heard many times how their gut feelings got them out of trouble while they were serving. If something feels off, trust it.”
“Right, well, I’m sure she’s just caught up somewhere.” Yet why did he sound so unconvinced of that? Something had happened to Cerise. He knew it.
“How many times are you going to tell yourself that before you believe it?” Julian asked.
Geez, was the guy psychic?
“Look, why don’t we find somewhere to sit where we can talk? I’ve always said to trust your gut too. So, Brodie, trust it, and as Julian said, if it’s telling you something is off with Cerise, then it is,” Gene interjected.
“I don’t want to move from here. What if she turns up?”
“Okay. Let’s find a place where we can still see the stand in case Cerise arrives and where we can talk privately,” suggested Julian.
The three men made their way to a spot under a tree which wasn’t crowded and still afforded them a good view of the taco stand. Gene wandered off to the side a little and got out his walkie talkie, probably just checking in with the rest of the crew.
“Okay, let’s take this on step at a time. Any ideas who may want her or her foster son?”
Normally, Brodie would be upset that someone seemed to be taking over but, in this situation, he was glad. His mind couldn’t form a coherent thought. Slowly, Julian’s last question finally penetrated the fog.
“Finn’s Aunt Poppy drops the boy off at the boys’ home in Kerrville every time she gets a new boyfriend.
Finn’s parents died a couple of years ago and she was named guardian.
I don’t think she’s been hassling Cerise about Finn because I know she would’ve told me.
” He paused. Should he mention that Cerise was thinking of adopting Finn?
Could Poppy have somehow found out, and she’d gone after Cerise and wanted Finn back?
The thoughts journeyed around his mind faster that a dust devil whirling across a sandy plain. He needed to lay everything on the line and, if that meant breaking his word that he wouldn’t say anything about the adoption, then that’s what he’d do.
“You’re thinking long and hard there. Why?” Julian studied him a bit closer, not in a threatening way, but more of a I’m not going to judge anything you say kind of way.
“I’m trying to get my head around if Poppy would do anything to hurt Cerise and Finn. I have to believe she loves the boy. But Cerise was beginning the process of adopting Finn. I don’t believe Daphne would say anything to Poppy but maybe she found out somehow.”
“Have you met Poppy? And no way would Daphne say anything. My wife is very discreet when it comes to her cases,” Gene commented.
Brodie hadn’t seen the older man come back to stand with them.
The sound of the dirt scuffing behind him had him turning and he saw Dean, Eric and Chris standing in a circle.
“Umm, what are you all doing here?” he asked.
“Here to lend a hand. Gene said Cerise and Finn were missing.” Eric came up and tapped him on the shoulder before dropping his arm.
Brodie looked over at the taco stand, but there was still no pink sparkly cowboy hat to be seen. Something had happened to her. “Thanks, and yeah, it’s looking like Cerise and Finn are missing.”
He tuned out Gene introducing Julian to the other guys and willed Cerise to walk up to the stand with a big smile on her face.
If anything happened to her, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
He had a lot of money he could throw at a search and rescue mission, but there was no guarantee that they’d be found alive.
There was nothing they had to go on, though.
No clear indication that she and Finn were missing.
Just them being late and him having a feeling in his gut.
Yet Julian told him to trust it, so he would. And he’d believe that somehow, someway, they’d find Cerise and Finn.
Cerise shifted again to try and get a little more comfortable but the springs in the back seat of the pickup, that had seen better days, were poking her in the ass. She wanted nothing more than to punch the back of Ed’s seat, but she had to remain cool, not only for her sake, but also for Finn’s.
“Where are we going?” Finn whispered.
“I don’t know, buddy.”
She carefully pulled out her cell from the pocket of her jeans.
Ed had cut her purse off her and thrown it out the window as they drove away from the festival, laughing that she couldn’t get in touch with anyone because her phone was now smashed.
Little did he know her cell had been in her pocket, and she had no plans of telling him how wrong his assumption had been.
She’d also put her window down and thrown her hat out, hoping that it wouldn’t land in the middle of the road and get squashed. Ed had been too busy looking at his own phone to see what she’d done.
Her heart sank when she saw she still didn’t have cell service. Wherever he was taking them she hoped that somehow, someway, he’d dump them in a sweet spot where she could get service so she could try and get help.
“Where’s Poppy?” she asked for the fifth time. Every other time he’d ignored her, and she suspected he would do the same this time too. With everything inside of her, she didn’t believe Poppy would be on board with Ed hurting Finn.
“That bitch? We’re getting married tomorrow and she believes we’re going to live happily ever after.
She’s got no fucking idea what she’s doing.
I’ve got her so looped out on various medications, it’s amazing she can walk.
” He was laughing and Cerise curled her hands into fists, the urge to forget being sensible and punch him out getting stronger with every passing second.
Even if they ended up crashing the car, maybe it would be the best outcome for them.
Hmm . . . that was an idea. As dangerous as it could be for her and for Finn, it had to be better than whatever Ed had planned.
“Can we have some music?” she asked, as if she didn’t care that he’d just told her that he and Poppy were getting married.
The news that he’d drugged her on all sorts of medication wasn’t good. Anything could happen to her. Her body could react in a way that could prove to be fatal. As much as she got angry with how Poppy treated Finn, she didn’t want anything to happen to the other woman.
The radio blared to life. Really, Ed was stupid, since he was giving her everything she wanted.
Time to put her plan in motion. It was risky, and Finn’s safety was her main concern, but she wasn’t going to sit back and let Ed go through with his plans for them.
Fortunately, she was sitting behind him so she would make sure that any impact would be felt on his side and not Finn’s.
Undoing her seatbelt, she slunk down a little so that Ed couldn’t see her. “Finn,” she whispered.
“What?”
She put her fingers to her lips to tell him to keep his voice low.
She held out her phone to him. “Take this. Keep it safe and out of sight.” She then handed him her jacket and the dirty blanket that was balled up on the back floorboard of the truck.
It wasn’t much protection, but it would hopefully save him from any flying glass.
“Why?” he whispered.
“Tighten your seatbelt.” His eyes widened in fright. For a heartbeat she almost faltered in her plan, but she steeled her resolved. “Be brave and remember I love you.”
He nodded and his eyes filled with tears. She pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tight, not knowing if this was the last time she’d ever see him. “Put the jacket and blanket over your face. When it’s safe, use my phone, try and get help. Okay?”
“I love you, too, Cerise,” he whispered back.
She pressed a kiss against his cheek and slid back to where she’d been sitting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Finn tightening his belt.
Closing her eyes she said a quick prayer. “I love you, Brodie. I hope I see you again.” Having made peace with herself and sending her last love message to Brodie into the universe, she opened her eyes and cleared her mind.
It was go time.