Twenty-Nine
The chat with Elma was pointless. When we did find her, she damn near fell over when Buck crossed his arms and flexed his muscles. I swear if she had a life alert, she would be pressing it. But trying to get information out of her with Wel, Griff, and Leroy didn’t go as planned. She bitched and complained about having my buddies around being bullies. We left with no information on Nancy. I can’t stand not knowing the reason why.
Leroy wants to finish this job tonight, but what’s to finish when you have nothing to go on? I can’t do anything. Unless we find Nancy and what? Torture her, or get Taylor and risk being arrested? That’s all I can think of for a plan, and I’m leaning toward Taylor because the cunt isn’t doing his job.
Buck comes storming back into the house and points at me.
“You fuckin’ idiot, you ruined it, didn’t you?”
Griff and Wel stare at him, then at me. “I didn’t do shit, we’re still planning.”
“Not this, with her. How could you fuck it up?”
I’ve never seen Buck so worked up before. How the hell did he talk to Teagan? “Was she here?” I turn to the front window.
“She was, she’s gone now. Looks like your stalking ways have rubbed off on her.”
I closed my eyes, feeling ashamed. They must’ve had a decent talk. Buck and his big mouth. “What did you say to her?”
“Nothing that she shouldn’t have known from the beginning. I can’t believe you, Silas. You’re a grown-ass man. Why are you lying? There’s no reason for it.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what? Why are you so afraid of showing the real you?”
“Because I don’t like being vulnerable, and the thought of her not liking me hurts, so I hid.”
He walks over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Silas, but you didn’t hide from her; you showed her the real you, and she still stayed. You fucked up when you had the mask on and hid that from her. Can’t you see, she liked you from the beginning.”
“That’s enough of the mushy shit. We have work to finish,” Leroy says as he enters the living room.
“Aww, L. Don’t be like that. Just helping my boy get his girl back.” Buck pats my cheek before sitting on the couch.
“Maybe the dipshit should’nt of fucked it up in the first place. Now he’s trying to play hero by fixing her mistakes,” Griff says, looking annoyed.
I go to move, but Wel smacks the back of his head. “Don’t be a prick. Just cause you can’t get your dick sucked doesn’t mean you have to be a shrivelled up wiener to the rest of us.”
Griff touches his head and glares at Weldon. “Touch me again, and you’ll lose the hand.”
“I’m not scared.”
It was a mistake inviting them. I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of Teagan and Buck talking. He’s right, though, she never once belittled me. She always stayed true to who she was and never held back with me, yet I struggled to reciprocate that level of honesty.
Is Griff, right? I’m acting like Teagan’s hero by fixing what happened to her. Is that how she’ll see this? I hope that isn’t the case. I only want what is owed to her, and a part of me owes it to her. It’s my way of making up for my wrongdoings. I don’t expect her to forgive me, and we go back to how things were, but I need her to know that I’ll still do anything for her. I want to be friends.
“I say we kidnap the cunt and see what we can get out of her,” Griff says, pulling me from my thoughts.
“We aren’t doing that,” I snap at him.
“I say we grab her kid. He knows something,” Weldon adds.
I completely overlooked Blaine. He’s always attached to his mother’s hip, of course, he would have the inside scoop of what happened and who was involved. The asshole was probably there destroying her shop.
“We go after him. And I want his car.” Only Leroy would want Blaine’s car after we beat the shit out of him.
“Where does he live?”
I laugh and look at Buck. “Where do you think?”
“With his parents? What does his dad do?” Weldon asks.
Now that I think about it, I never asked about his dad. I always assumed he worked for the town; maybe I’m wrong. The guys stare at me, but I don’t know what to say. The Montgomery’s are a mystery to me. No one in this town talks about them.
“If he lets his woman and son cause terror, he’s gotta be a pussy.” Griff beamed like he discovered a prize.
“I think we get the whole family,” Leroy says, shrugging.
I hold up my hands. “Okay, this is getting out of hand. This isn’t why I asked you all here. Originally, it was to get Nancy. Now the focus is on identifying who is to blame for the destruction of Teagan's shop, rather than condemning an entire family.”
“Yeah, but dragging the whole family makes it more fun, don’t you think?” Weldon casually leans back on the couch, folding his arms behind his head.
Oh, this is going to go wrong in so many ways.
“Gather the gear. We leave at sundown.” Leroy claps his hand, always in charge.
Even outside of the city, Leroy acts in charge. I’m not going to argue this might have been my idea, but I can’t lead for shit. We all break into our areas, getting our gear ready, but I can’t help but think of Teagan. Why did she stop in today? It’s the one thing I can’t get out of my head. Did something happen? I need to push it out of my mind and focus on this task, or I’ll blow it.
Leroy is determined to drive, so I hop in the front seat, and the guys pile into the back of the SUV. I direct Leroy to where Nancy’s house is, and it turns out it’s the place where I threw my bottle of vodka. Who knew? I hope I made the right decision with this.
We pull into Holden’s wealthy neighbourhood as the sky is darkening. Silence fills the SUV as everyone mentally readies themselves for tonight. Failure is not an option. Griff and Weldon check their guns, and Buck has his eyes closed. I'm unsure if he’s sleeping or imagining what he’s about to accomplish. Either way, I’m not going to touch him. I like my life.
“We should park here and watch the house until we know who’s all coming and going. Since we don’t know much about the husband, we can’t go barging in yet.” Leroy pulls the vehicle over so we can keep an eye on the house.
“And what do we do if no one comes or goes?” Buck drawls out.
“Then we force our way in.” Griff cocks his gun.
This isn’t gonna end well, and Griff will go in guns a blazin’ because that’s what he always does. And he's always left scratching his head, wondering why Leroy is so against the idea of him participating in carjacking. It's like he's oblivious to the fact that he never considers the consequences or takes the time to listen to Leroy's concerns.
Do I feel bad that I never told Teagan the entire truth about what I do? Maybe a little, but she doesn’t need to know this side of the business. I don’t need her wrapped up in kidnapping and everything else we do. This life isn’t for her; she’s too good for it.
“Heads up, we have movement.” Leroy straightens in his seat.
Weldon moves his way in between Leroy and me and watches as a black Mercedes pulls into the driveway. “Who’s that?”
“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say the husband.”
“You’re an ass, Silas.”
“Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer.”
“Will you two be quiet, I swear you’re worse than children,” Leroy says from the corner of his mouth, too busy to look at us.
I didn’t believe my eyes when I saw a tall, slim guy with salt and pepper hair emerge from the car. He wasn't at all who I expected to be Nancy's spouse. I had imagined someone young and fit, able to handle her antics. He grabs his briefcase, stops, opens it and answers his phone. He throws his hand in the air and points to the house .
“Dudes pissed with whoever called him,” Buck points out.
I watch as he opens the car door and climbs back in. “Should we follow him?”
“I’m thinkin' so, whoever called has to be either Nancy or Blaine because no one pisses off the man of the house more than a loved one.” Leroy starts the car and pops it into gear. He waits until Mr. Montgomery passes us before making a U-turn.
“I was kinda hoping to see inside that house,” Griff mumbles, fixing his eye patch.
“No, you wanted to see what you could steal. Why lie about it,” Weldon laughed as he spoke, moving back into his seat.
“Same thing, dickhole.”
Leroy drives a good distance from the Mercedes in a part of Holden that I’ve never been to. Now, I’m curious where we’re going. What can possibly be out in the industrial part of this town? Is Mr. Montgomery in some shady business that no one knows about? He rolls into a parking lot with one big cinder block building. It's got four massive garage doors stretching across its length.
He pulls up to the third one, and the door opens. A guy wearing a utility vest walks out and greets him. I lean forward, trying to get a better look at the dude. But he doesn’t look familiar .
“This seems like a drug deal,” Buck states the obvious.
“What should we do?” Weldon enquires.
“I say we go in there and shoot it up.” Griff taps his gun on the window.
Leroy quickly turns in his seat. “Yeah, and then what? Risk the cops showing up, and then this is all for naught. Start thinking with your brain and not with your trigger finger, for fuck’s sake. We wait until they both go in, then move in—two in the back and three in the front. Weldon and Silas go in the rear; you have two minutes to gain entry. Buck, Griff and I will take the front. You two head out now.” He points to Wel and me.
I exit the car and enter the chilly night, watching the wind play with trash in the parking lot. Wel comes up behind me, patting my back.
“We’ve got this, I’m hoping there are answers in there, and we didn’t just fuck this all up.”
“That’s what I hope. Going in blind, not a fan.”
We quickly make our way around the building, stopping at the shop door. Weldon looks at me, and I dig into my bag for the lock-picking kit. With a quick twist, I get the door unlocked.
“Time?”
“We have less than a minute.”
As Weldon stands ready by the door, I grasp the doorknob tightly in anticipation. After one last glance at the time, he gives a confident nod, and I boldly swing the door open.