Chapter 11
CADY
THIS shit is too surreal for me to comprehend.
It’s been days since Hazel disappeared, and I am no closer to finding an answer.
I think Bobby has one, though. He’s just not sharing it with us yet.
He stayed up after Erick and I laid down for the night, drinking coffee of all things at two in the morning.
That’s unlike him. Usually after work he’s exhausted and ready to crash.
But last night he was alert, as if he had just gotten up to go to work.
My mind churned for hours keeping me awake.
I kept hearing him moving around in the living room and finally at six, I got up to see what the fuck he was doing.
I caught him sneaking out the front door.
“Where are you going?” I asked suspiciously.
Bobby turned in shock and faced me, putting his hands up as if guarding himself from a blow that wasn’t coming. “I can’t sleep.”
I leaned against the bar and watched for any sign of deception. “Drinking coffee at two in the morning can do that to ya.”
He chuckled tiredly. “Yeah. I was just gonna go for a drive and clear my mind.” He hesitates for a moment, squeezing the doorknob in his grip before continuing. “Thought I would swing by Dustin’s and see if I could catch him there. Maybe get some answers…or something.”
Bobby’s eyes never left mine as he admitted that.
Every time Bobby lies, he looks you straight in the eye, as if he’s gauging if you’re buying the bullshit he’s selling.
Well, that shit reeked to high heaven. I wasn’t buying it.
We stared at each other for a moment before I nodded my head and turned away, biting my tongue.
“I’ll lock the door behind you.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled, then left, closing the door softly behind him.
It’s nine, and he’s still not back. If he were telling the truth, he would’ve returned by now, with some sort of information or nothing. I can barely keep my lids open even with the copious amounts of caffeine I’ve been sucking down.
Erick shuffles into the kitchen and lays his hand on my shoulder. I reach up and squeeze it with my own.
“Hey, babe. You get any sleep?” he asks, rubbing his face.
“No.” I sigh. “Not for lack of trying, though.”
He makes a cup of coffee and takes the seat across from me, sipping the brew.
I light a cigarette and use the quiet moment to get all my thoughts together, allowing him to fully wake before presenting them to him.
He watches me puff on my cigarette in deep thought but leaves me be.
I lean forward and rest my arms on the table, preparing to unleash my thoughts.
Once he’s drank the majority of his cup, I jump right in.
“Has Bobby told you anything?”
Erick cocks his head to the side in confusion, then laughs. “Bobby tells me a lot of shit. Of what are you referring to?” He rests his cheek on his fist, his eyes twinkling with laughter.
I just come out with it. No need to beat around the damn bush. “Does he know where Hazel is?”
The twinkle dissipates, and his face hardens. “No. No way would he not tell us if he knew. He cares about her too. Why would you ask that?”
“Bobby snuck out early this morning. I caught him, Erick.”
Erick looks at the unoccupied blow up mattress in the living room floor. “Where did he say he was going?”
“He said that he couldn’t sleep and was going for a drive. Thought he could find Dustin and ‘get some answers’.” I shake my head in disbelief. “He’s been so secretive lately—leaving the room a lot and going outside to talk on the phone. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I don’t like it.”
“He’s been talking to Cash. Trying to keep him updated on everything.”
“That’s another thing. Is Cash so far away he couldn’t just come see Hazel after Phil—” I cut off that train of thought, not wanting to picture what we walked into.
“Why can’t he talk to me? Why does he have to talk to Bobby?
I don’t like any of this. Bobby’s keeping shit from us.
He’s close with Dustin. He’s been talking to Cash.
I don’t know whose side he’s on right now. ”
“He’s on Hazel’s side,” Erick says, grabbing my hand. “Bobby would do anything to help keep her safe.”
“Well, he did a piss-poor job of it, wouldn’t you say?
” Erick narrows his eyes at me, but I don’t care.
I go on, “Just so happens the night he comes back alone is the night the cops take off, and you come to pick me up. Is it really just a coincidence that Hazel happens to disappear while with the one person who is close with Dustin? I mean, think about it, Erick. Shit is just not adding up. And what the fuck did he mean by, “I have an idea?” He hasn’t shared shit with us. ”
Erick’s face gives nothing away, but I can tell my words strike a chord with him.
I’m not trying to turn him against his best friend.
I’m stating facts that shouldn’t be overlooked just because we are close with Bobby.
Emotions can’t get in the way right now.
Hazel could be hurt, or worse, already dead.
I owe it to her to not discredit any information.
They always say if something happens to someone, to observe those who are closest to them.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s someone we know that would commit a crime against us.
Look at Phil. Yeah, he’s fucking nuts, but what he did could be considered a crime of passion since they briefly dated.
I’ve learned enough watching those true crime shows on TV.
Hell, anyone with enough sense could commit a crime and get away with it, as long as they didn’t open their mouths.
Erick palms his fist and leans his head against it, sighing loudly.
His hand tightens its hold and lightly taps his forehead as he thinks.
I hope he’s taking me seriously. We need to find Hazel, with or without Bobby’s help.
I can’t sit here and do nothing. The cops are fucking worthless in this town.
If they have any information, they aren’t sharing.
“What are you thinking over there?”
His voice comes out low and gruff. “I’m thinking we should get dressed.” Erick lowers his hands and looks at me with determination. “It’s time we find our own answers.”
CASH
I rolled into the rundown truck stop, running on fumes.
Exhaustion kicked in hours ago, and I fought it the whole way here.
I called Bobby and asked him to get there a few minutes early to order food, and lots of coffee, in the hopes it would be on the table when I arrived.
It wasn’t, but the wrinkled-up waitress stinking of cigarettes delivers it a few minutes after I sit down.
Bobby watches me warily as I devour my food, picking at his own.
He’s not in any better shape than I am. The bags under his eyes seem to darken by the second with a slight purplish hue.
Guess he’s not been sleeping much either.
At least I can say that for a few brief nights I was able to achieve a blissful sleep.
Wrapped around Hazel, I found some form of peace that held the nightmares at bay.
Should have known that wouldn’t last. Nothing good in my life lasts for long.
Having waited too long, Bobby pushes his plate to the side and leans toward me. “Talk.”
I glance around the empty, crusty diner and rub my face, wishing I wasn’t having this conversation.
I tell Bobby what I know, every bit of it.
If he is to help me find Hazel and Joseph, he has to have all the facts.
He listens attentively and doesn’t interrupt me, which I appreciate because I don’t have much patience right now.
“I want to talk to Dale when he gets here,” Bobby grits out.
“Why?” My brow furrows as I wonder what he wants with him.
“I owe that bastard a black eye,” he growls. “It wasn’t supposed to go down like that. He wasn’t supposed to knock me out.”
My chest starts bouncing as I hold back my laughter, but when Bobby cracks a grin, I lose it. We only laugh for a moment, though, the reason for our meeting sobering us swiftly.
“He’s sensitive about his appearance. Be careful trying to get your revenge.” I pick up my mug and take a drink of coffee.
“Imagine that,” Bobby humphs. “Pretty boys with black eyes get more pussy. He’ll thank me later.”
I choke on my coffee and cough. Shaking my head as I chuckle, I say, “A truer statement has never been spoken. Have you heard from Dustin again?”
“No. I drove past his house on the way here just to see if he was around. No one in sight. It’s been a fucking ghost town. I’ll go by there again when I leave here.”
The waitress stops by to refill our mugs and clear the table. Bobby hands her his untouched plate, and she raises a brow studying the food. She’s probably worried it will affect her tip. We are the only ones in this dump. How this woman survives working on her wages here is a miracle.
I take a deep breath and ready myself for the answer to the question I’m about to ask. “How deeply do you care for Hazel, Bobby?”
His hard gaze meets mine. I try to shut down my emotions, but the anger and jealousy burn deep in my gut when I see that he has no problem showing me just how much she means to him.
In order for us to save them, it’s going to take someone who has a lot to lose to do it.
Neither one of us are willing to lose her.
Looks like both of us will be risking it all in order to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“Enough to put my life on hold and be there for her when she needed it most.”
His callous words and cold stare burn straight through me.
I didn’t ask him to start a pissing match, but he obviously thinks that shit needs to be hashed out right now before we can move forward.
A piece of me is screaming to lunge over this table and repeatedly slam his face into it.
The more rational side of me is agreeing with the fucking bastard and telling me not to react out of guilt and anger.
Hazel would never forgive me if I hurt her friend.
“I didn’t have a choice at the time,” I spit through gritted teeth.
He shakes his head and sneers at me. “We all have choices, man. You made yours.”
I ignore the truthful words I spew all the time. “Are you willing to die for her?”
“Are you?” He retorts. “Because I’ve been here, with her, waiting for that sick fuck to show his face again.” He runs his hands over his head and takes a deep breath. “I agreed to this because I want her safe. I know you guys were a thing—”
“Are.” He stops talking and really focuses on me.
“We are much more than a thing. I hope you can respect that. Look, I didn’t ask you that to start a fight.
I asked you because if she’s not worth to you what she is to me, this isn’t going to work.
I need to know that I’m putting my trust in the right person’s hands.
Can you shut off your emotions and get in there without them knowing how close the two of you have become?
Can you help me save her and my best friend before we run out of time? ”
Bobby contemplates what I’m really saying. “Yes. I can,” he states matter-of-factly.
“That means that no matter what you see, no matter what he does to Hazel and Joseph, you have to go along with it. Can you do that without going lone ranger on his ass?”
I know the internal battle he is fighting.
I fought the same fight and lost miserably, interjecting myself into Hazel’s life and putting myself on Phil’s radar.
If I had to do it all over again, I would.
I would do it every single time, because I’m a selfish bastard and I want her.
Only difference, I would fucking kill Phil sooner before he could ever hurt her the way he did.
“Yes.”
His broken reply is the saddest lullaby to my ears.
I hope he doesn’t have to witness any horrific acts during this.
Those are just as hard to come back from as having them done to you.
Hazel once told me that Bobby had a hard life.
Depending on what he’s been through, he may or may not have the strength to make it out of this without cracking more than he already has.
I couldn’t imagine having to go against someone who is like a brother to me to do it either.
“Dustin—”
“I know.” His jaw visibly tightens, and he closes his eyes. “I’ll get it worked out.”
We drink our coffee in silence, staring down at the table as we process the conversation.
The waitress brings us the check, and I hand her more than enough to cover it.
She needs it more than I do. Not that that will make up for all the wrongs I’ve done in my life, or the shit I’m planning to do in the future.
Nothing could wash away my sins. Too many people’s blood stain my hands. It has since I was a small boy.
The only time I feel vindicated is with Hazel.
The way I feel with her is all-consuming.
She makes me want to forgive myself for the things I’ve done, and the things I didn’t do.
Her desire to accept me for what I am, and finding that part of me that I believed to be long dead, has awakened my heart.
Hazel knows what has to be done. She didn’t shy away from it, and she trusts that I will do it.
I’m doing it all for her. Because of that, in the end, she won’t only be mine, I will own her completely.
What a fucked up, twisted game this has become.
My phone vibrates, and I pull it out of my pocket to see Dale’s name on the screen. Bobby intently focuses on me as I answer the phone.
“Yeah.”
“I found the fucker,” he says. “What do you want me to do with him?”
All the anger building inside is about to find its release. I stare at Bobby, a smirk pulling at my mouth. His brow raises in question as he listens.
“Bring him to me. He’s about to find out what happens to those who fuck with what’s mine.”