Chapter 26 #2
His brows dip in confusion. “I don’t know who that is. You have the wrong house.”
“You’re Joshua Haney.” The slight relief that showed in his body when he thought this was a mix- up is short lived.
He licks his lips and nods. “I am, but I don’t know any Trinity.”
Footsteps pound down the hallway and terror widens his eyes as his children run into the room. I tuck the gun behind me where they won’t see it as they enter.
“Daddy! I got second place!” the little girl shouts. Both children pause and stare at us.
“You have friends,” the little boy announces.
Joshua forces a smile. “Yes, my friends need to talk to me for a few minutes. Go back to your room and play.”
“Is it close to midnight?” the little girl asks.
“Not yet. I’ll tell you.”
The boy grins up at Arlow. “Wow, you’re tall.”
“Like a giraffe,” I agree, and the kids giggle.
“We get to stay up way past our bedtime tonight,” the little girl tells us excitedly. “And we had pizza and brownies, and we get to play video games until midnight!”
Arlow smiles at her. “That sounds like fun. What kind of game are you playing?”
“A racing game, and I almost won!”
“Go on now, Daddy needs to talk to his friends,” Joshua says, and breathes a sigh of relief when they return to the bedroom.
“We aren’t going to hurt your kids,” Arlow assures him. “We don’t want to fucking do this either.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because some asshole wants you dead and they’ve taken someone I love to make it happen. We need your help,” I tell him. He listens to the story as we lay things out, doubt growing on his face until I hand him the letter that was left in the church.
He stares at the order to kill him, rereading his name and address. Then I show him the note we received tonight. “Who would want you dead?” I demand.
“Fuck, I don’t…I don’t know. I need a drink.” We follow him into his kitchen where he grabs a half pint of whiskey and takes a swallow.
“Someone you screwed over, or owe money? Drugs? They didn’t pick you by random,” I point out.
“Fuck, Xavier,” he says, the name coming out under his breath. “If he found out.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve been seeing this woman, Lisa. She’s married. I don’t think he knows but she’s planning to leave him for me. If he found out…”
“Who is he?”
“Just some lowlife that I’ve done tattoos for. His wife started hitting on me.” He shrugs. “I’m an asshole. She’s hot and I wanted her, but not enough to die for her. I’ll call her and—”
I snatch his phone out of his hand when he pulls it out. “No calls. Give me his full name and his phone number.” Landon should be able to track him. Joshua nods, eager to comply as I hand his phone back and add, “What does he look like?”
He rattles off the guy’s phone number to me. “His name is Xavier Allen. Actually, I have a picture of him. I wanted a photo of the chest piece I did on him. I took this a few weeks ago.”
I recognize the name immediately. He’s not a trafficker but he was on our radar for buying women. He’s a pimp. That makes sense when it comes to Trinity, but how is Matthew Wynne connected to him? Joshua taps his phone, then holds it up.
My life is divided into two parts when I look at it, the before and after. Nothing is ever going to be the same again. I’ll never be the same. All the wind leaves my chest and I stumble backwards, a cry echoing in my ears that I barely register is mine. The room flips and turns.
Vaguely, I hear a child’s voice asking what’s wrong and Joshua replying that I stubbed my toe, then shooing him away.
Arlow’s voice penetrates the pulsing in my ears. “Lee? What?”
My vision comes back into focus as he takes the phone and looks at the picture. Xavier stands in the center of the photo, showing off the large tattoo across his chest, but he isn’t what causes Arlow’s jaw to drop.
“The woman behind him,” Arlow says, his head whipping to face Joshua.
Pure confusion is stamped on his face. “That’s Lisa, his wife.”
I shake my head and choke out the words. “No, that’s Isla. My wife.”
Arlow keeps an eye on Joshua while I charge out the door and take deep breaths of the cool air.
She’s alive. Isla’s alive.
I can’t wrap my head around it. She wasn’t killed.
She was trafficked, that’s the only thing that makes sense.
She was sold to this pimp to be his wife.
There was so much blood and they told me—multiple medical professionals told me—she couldn’t have lived, and I believed them.
I stopped looking for her and left her with those fucking monsters.
Now he has them both.
Five minutes. That’s how long I allow myself to pace the yard and get my shit together while Arlow relays everything to Landon inside on my phone.
When I return, Arlow shows me a navigator open on the screen.
“Landon tracked both Lisa’s…um…Isla’s number and Xavier’s.
This is where Isla is, not too far from my house. ”
I click the map and study the satellite version. There isn’t much to see but forest, and a dark building. “It looks like an old barn.” The dot that represents Isla’s phone stays on top of the structure.
“This is Xavier’s.” I’m looking at a road that runs back to that area. The dot from Xavier’s phone makes its way toward the barn.
“That’s where he’s keeping them. We have to go. Get his phone,” I tell Arlow, nodding toward Joshua. “I don’t need him calling either of them.” Joshua takes a step back and thrusts the phone out toward him.
I glare at him. “I know more about you than you can even imagine. Do not call the cops or tell anyone about this. If you do, I’ll be back to fulfill Xavier’s request. Do you understand?”
He holds up his hands. “I don’t want anything to do with any of it, man. I just want to get my kids out of here.”
Arlow pauses to talk to Joshua after I’ve gone out the front door. “What did you say to him?” I ask, as he hops into my truck.
“I told him not to fuck around, and I’d make sure he got his phone back and tell him when he’s safe again. The guy isn’t going to do anything. He’s terrified.”
“Let’s fucking hope so.” I don’t like it. If the ISH guys were still here, I’d have more help and I’d leave someone to watch this guy until it’s all over.
As we tear down the highway, I can’t get my thoughts straight. Alive. My Isla is alive. This is my recurrent nightmare brought to life. Isla and Silver’s fate in my hands.
Landon calls and I put it on speaker. “Lee, I’ve been following their backtrail on their phones to see where they’ve been. There’s something you need to know.”
God, what else can be dropped on me tonight? “Go on. We’re on our way to them now.”
“Xavier wasn’t at Lacey’s apartment, only Isla was. He was at a house in Paducah and just left a little while ago. Isla was at Lacey’s for about ten minutes and then headed for the forest. Only Isla’s phone shows at that barn for a good two hours. Xavier hasn’t been there.”
My brain won’t wrap around what he’s trying to tell me until Arlow speaks up. “Isla took Silver and held her there until Xavier could meet them.”
“I don’t see any other explanation,” Landon says. “You two be fucking careful.”
“We will,” Arlow promises then looks at me after I hang up. “Joshua said Isla came back to hit on him after Xavier got a tattoo. That she had the freedom to sneak around with him.”
No, no this isn’t Isla’s fault. “What the fuck are you trying to say?”
“I don’t know. Just that it doesn’t add up.
She could’ve gotten away. You said Xavier is a pimp that likely bought her, and maybe Matthew was working with him, but if he’s in that line of business, why wouldn’t they just kill Joshua?
He was a sitting duck. Why this elaborate plan of reaching out to you, of all people? His wife’s other husband.”
He’s right that none of it makes sense, but the only answers wait in a dilapidated barn. “I don’t know. It’s probably Stockholm Syndrome or some shit. She’s traumatized after all these years. It doesn’t matter. We’re going to kill this motherfucker and bring them home.”
We turn onto the road that leads back to the barn, and I kill my headlights. A full moon shines overhead, casting everything in a bluish light. Silver’s truck comes into view, pulled off the road, and I stop behind it. Arlow and I approach with our guns out to look inside but it’s empty.
A dirt road barely larger than a path veers off toward our destination and we follow it quietly.
Another truck sits a few yards away, and a body lies slumped behind it on the ground.
My heart’s in my throat. I feel a little relief at the sight of blond hair.
Silver’s is dark and Isla has been dying hers brown, judging by the picture Joshua showed us.
She’s lying on her side, her back to us, and when I roll her over, Arlow curses. Trinity’s sightless eyes are rolled up as if they’re trying to look at the small round hole in between them. Blood mats her hair and soaks the ground.
“Come on,” I urge Arlow, keeping my voice low. The truck is empty, and the barn looms in front of us. “Okay, go around the rear and see if there’s another way in. I’ll take the front. I don’t want to go in guns blazing and get them both killed.”
Arlow nods, leaving me with a warning. “Don’t get yourself killed either.”