19 – Spike
“ I t feels like we’re sitting beside a bomb about to explode.” Addi murmurs, shifting from side to side as she bounces Mercy on her hip.
“I know, I hate this. I hope they find something because it feels like we’re running out of leads,” Serenity agrees.
“It’ll be good,” I murmur, lighting a cigarette and stepping away from my daughter, so no smoke blows near her.
“Whoever this fucker is, he’s playin’ a clever game.” Cade grunts. “I don’t fuckin’ like it. Somethin’ feels off. Like we’re missing something.”
“Maybe we are, it would be so much easier if Cheyenne were still here. She could tell us who this douche is,” Addi exhales, then shoots me a sympathetic look. “Sorry, that was an unnecessary comment.”
“Cheyenne is dead. No point in denyin’ that.”
Hearing her name used so frequently feels foreign. It’s something I pushed aside a long fucking time ago, and it’s not something I enjoy reliving. Especially not when I found out there are big parts of her, I didn’t know about. I never thought we had the worlds best fucking marriage, but I thought I knew her.
Perhaps I didn’t know her at all.
“Still, it mustn’t be easy reliving the past,” Serenity offers.
“Past is precisely what it is. Now, let’s stop talkin’ about our fuckin’ feelings and try Ciara again. I don’t like that she’s not answering.”
I dial her number again, but once again it goes straight to voicemail.
They should have been back by now.
The last text she sent me was to tell me that they were talking to Alyssa’s parents and that they wouldn’t be too much longer. My fear is that whoever this fucker is, followed them. What if he caused an accident, pushed them off the road? Fuck. I don’t like this. My gut turns because something just isn’t right.
“She’s probably caught up going through Alyssa’s things,” Addison tries, but I can see she’s just as nervous. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“It’ll be dark soon. She wouldn’t just not check in,” I grunt.
“Ohhhh. Hey guys!”
A voice distracts us, and we turn to see Paulie walking down the street with a young man by his side. I fight the urge to roll my eyes because fuck me , this guy is too much on a good day, let alone when I’m short-tempered.
Addi waves to him, a big smile on her face. “Hey man!”
“Woman, you need to stop being so fine,” Paulie grins, hugging her. “Where’s my girl?”
Addison fills him in on where Ciara is, and the new things we’ve come up with in the case. As he listens, something in his face changes, and he looks confused as he tries to process what he’s hearing.
Wrinkling his nose, he seems to hesitate before asking, “You said you think it’s a teacher?”
Addison nods. “Yeah, maybe one named Derek. Do you know him?”
He shakes his head in confusion. “There hasn’t been a teacher named Derek for about six months now...”
My body jerks because something is wrong, I just fucking know it.
“What do you mean?” Serenity shakes her head, confused. “Gerard said that there was, and he fit the description.”
Paulie shakes his head, like he doesn’t trust his thoughts.
“She’s with Gerard. Has anyone questioned him? He’s young?” Paulie asks.
Addison shakes her head. “No. Gerard doesn’t have a tattoo, and...”
“Yes, he does,” Paulie cuts her off. “He does have a tattoo. I can’t tell you what, but I’ve seen it when he was using the shower one afternoon when the one in his apartment broke...”
No.
Fuck.
“Oh no,” Addison whispers. “It’s Gerard, isn’t it?”
We just fucking sent my woman off with a murderer.
“Oh my God,” Paulie gasps, shaking his head. “Oh no. This is bad. This is terrible.”
“You don’t fuckin’ say,” I bark. “Fuck.”
“Do we call the police,” his eyes dart to Addison, then to me, “what do we do?”
“Where does he live?” Cade growls, his eyes narrowed with concern.
“I know where he lives.” Paulie nods. “Yes. I do. Wait, why do we need to know that?”
“Because we need to know where that little cunt has taken my woman.”
Paulie’s eyes widen. “So, no police?”
“No fuckin’ police.” Cade growls. “Go home, kid. This doesn’t concern you.”
Paulie straightens and puffs his chest out. “She’s my friend, too. I’m helping. I won’t tell you where he lives...”
I step forward, taking him by the shirt and lifting him clean off his feet. “Listen here, buddy. You will fuckin’ do as I say, or I’ll throw you in the pit with him and gut you like a fuckin’ fish.”
Paulie’s eyes widen, and his friend takes a step back.
“Spike,” Serenity shakes her head. “Put him down.”
I place Paulie on his feet and release him. He runs his hands down his shirt, and stares at me. “Firstly, this is my favorite shirt and second of all, I’m helping. You don’t scare me.”
I take a step toward him, and he squeals. “Fine, you do, but I’m still helping.”
“We don’t have time for this shit.” I bark. “Where does he live?”
Paulie nods. “Let’s go.”
Fuck.
How could I have let this happen?
I KICK THE FRONT DOOR so hard it splinters and swings open.
Paulie, who is standing beside me, gasps. “Well, I’m sure he had a spare key lying around, but okay...”
Ignoring him, I step inside the house.
It’s dark and quiet, all the lights are out.
“Spread out. We don’t have time. We need to figure out where he took her,” I order.
Cade and Addison go one way and Serenity goes with Paulie to a different room. I make my way to the master bedroom, and when I find it, I make sure there isn’t a single inch of it untouched. This fucker will learn the hard way that he’s messing with the wrong person, and if he so much as touches a hair on her head, I’ll kill him ...slowly.
I toss lamps, tip his mattress upside down, shatter anything that is breakable and empty every drawer. He has to have somewhere to take her, he had to have a plan. This man is calculated, so he knew what he was doing the second Ciara got into that car with him. He knew he was going to abduct her, but the clever fucker made sure he took her to Alyssa’s parents house first, to take the suspicion off himself.
Smart prick.
Not smart enough.
I find an old box shoved into the back of the cupboard and inside, there are a few old newspaper articles about a house fire. His parents both died in the fire, and he was sent out into a foster home. They never figured out how it got started, but I can almost guarantee I have the answer to that. This fucker is a psycho, and I’d bet anything he killed his family.
“Nothin’ in the other rooms,” Cade says, causing me to jerk and spin around, the article in my hand. “You got somethin’?”
“Burned his parents house down and killed them.”
“You think he took her there?”
I didn’t consider that. “It’s possible.”
“Does it say where it is?”
I read through the article, and it tells me that the house is in a town about two hours away. Fuck. That’s messing with time we don’t have. If we’re wrong about this, we could go in the complete opposite direction, but so far, it’s the only lead we have, and I don’t have time to dance around it.
“Yeah, it does, but it’s two hours away. If we’re wrong...”
“He’s the kind of psycho that would take her to an old stomping ground. Maybe there is an old barn or structure still on it, perhaps he still owns it. So far, it’s the only thing we’ve got.”
He’s right.
But fuck, it’s a risk.
Paulie, Addison, and Serenity come back into the room and when I look to them, they all shake their heads.
This is the only thing we have.
Do I risk everything to go and see if she’s there?
Fuck.
I push to my feet and haul the box across the room with a roar.
Nobody says anything.
“It’s our only option, we have to check it out,” Cade says, the voice of reason. “Someone there might know something. We don’t have any other ideas, and we’re runnin’ out of time. I’ve got Jackson onto trying to track his location using Ciara’s phone, but he could have tossed that by now.”
“We’ll go,” I growl. “It’s the only choice we have.”
“This is terrifying,” Paulie says, his eyes wide. “Are you going to kill him?”
I shoot him a look and he closes his mouth.
“You ain’t comin’.” I growl. “You’re goin’ to stay here and keep looking.”
Paulie nods. “If I find something, I’ll call.”
“Let’s go,” I say to Cade, shoving the article into my jeans.
I hope I’m not too late.
Fuck, please let her be okay.