Chapter 17
Devlin
I’d spent every night since we rescued Elise by her bedside, watching over her, hearing her whimpered moans of pain, and wishing there was more I could do for her. Before she woke in the morning, I’d slip out the door, not wanting to see the hate and disappointment in her eyes, directed at me.
And I deserved every ounce of her disdain.
Everything was my fault, and I had to make it right.
Every day, I slipped out and went hunting, looking for anyone with any connection to the siblings.
I’d been rolling through the Flats of Portstill, searching high and low for them, only to come up short every time.
I was getting pissed that they swooped in, kidnapped and beat my wife, manipulated her mind into believing horrible things, then disappeared without a trace.
Regan was still working on the junkie’s phone, looking for the location where the truck was delivered to, but Lucian had damaged it pretty badly.
We verified the truck hadn’t been returned, and it seems the man who rented it to Timothy didn’t’ like trackers, so he disabled them.
Which left us without a location and the dumbass without a truck.
Lucian and I were moving though the old mill warehouse, seeing if there were any squatters inside when my phone chimed from my cargo pocket.
Pulling it out, I saw a message from James and opened it.
He’d been spending days with Elise at the hospital and if he was messaging me, something must be wrong.
James: Elise is being discharged with pain meds and restrictions. I’m taking her to your apartment.
I stared at the phone. Part of me wanted to run to her and beg for forgiveness, and the other part of me wanted to keep hunting. It was the only thing that was keeping my mind from running crazy, and with the few hours’ sleep I’d had over the last five days, I felt like I was slipping into madness.
Lucian stepped up to me and looked over my shoulder at James’s message. He glanced at me before taking the phone from me and typing a response. I snatched it back and looked to see what he had responded.
Me: Finishing up now and will meet you there.
“We still have three more building to search,” I explained and tucked the phone back into my pocket.
“Bullshit,” he said as I started to walk away from him. “You’re afraid of facing Elise, but it’s better to rip the band aid off and get everything out on the open.”
I have him an exasperated look and inquired, “What would you know about it?”
“I know all about regrets, little brother. The ways things started with Rylee, the secrets I kept from her, nearly destroyed both of us.” His guilt was heavy, even after marriage and kids with Rylee.
“But none of your past regrets tried to kill her,” I interjected.
“Didn’t they?” he inquired. “She was kidnapped, forced to witness an assault, and made to believe that it was all part of some grand plan. Not far off from what that crazy bitch tried to do to Elise.”
I turned to face him and asked, “How can I face her after what they did to her?”
He placed his hand onto my shoulder and looked me straight in the eyes as he spoke.
“You take whatever anger she has and use that to fuel your revenge. You find those two assholes and you make them suffer for every scratch and bruise on her body.” He paused and added, “And you don’t let that bitch’s gender slow your rage.
You bulldoze right her and put her in the ground where she belongs. ”
“What is Elise can’t forgive me?” I asked, speaking my worst fear out loud.
“She’ll forgive you. She loves you and once she sees what they did to try and make her believe their crazy shit, she’ll be just as pissed as you.”
We started to walk toward the front doors of the old warehouse as I replied, “Let’s hope so.”
Our vehicle was parked outside the entrance where we walked in and as we were getting in to leave, something caught my eye from the side of the building. I pushed the door back open and walked around to the edge of the building. Lucian was right beside me as saw an older man trying to rush away.
I remembered him from when I ran these streets, so I called out his name. “Herbert. It’s Devlin Callahan.”
He looked over his shoulder and replied, “I don’t want any trouble.”
“Jesus, is everyone afraid of you?” Lucian muttered as we walked closer to the scared-looking man.
“Fuck you, Lucian,” I remarked as we got closer to Herbert. He kept glancing around as I stepped in front of him. “I need to ask you a question.”
He gave a timid nod.
“Do you still move all around Portstill or do you stay mostly in the Flats?” I asked.
“I still move around. The police are cracking down on us out here, and I don’t like being in a cell,” Herbert responded.
He was a Vietnam vet who came home different. I tried to get him into housing when I was in charge out here, but he refused, saying he liked sleeping with the sky above his head and no responsibilities. I never understood it but tried to make sure he had what he needed.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the photo of Kendra and Bradon that we’d aged through a program I was working on. Showing it to him, I asked, “Have you seen either of these people?”
He looked at the picture and wrinkled his forehead. “Isn’t that the crazy lady you used to hang around with?”
“How’d you know she was crazy?” Lucian asked.
“Anyone who knew her knew she was crazy,” he replied. “She followed you around like a puppy dog, and that boy followed her around like they were connected.”
“Have you seen them lately?” I asked.
“Her, no. Not in years. Him, I can’t be sure.”
“Would you keep an eye out for them and if you see them, will you call me?” I asked and handed him a few twenties along with my cell number on a business card.
He looked at the money in my hand and tucked it into his dirty pockets before he gave a nod and started to walk away. Looking over his shoulder, he remarked, “I’m glad to see you stopped being an asshole and finally made something of yourself.”
Disappearing behind the building, I heard Lucian chuckle as we walked back to the vehicle. He slapped me on my uninjured shoulder and explained. “It seems like he knows you pretty well.”
“Fuck you, Lucian,” I replied again with a half-smile on my face.
As he drove us out of the Flats, he asked about my time here. I let my mind drift back to the days when I was living hand-to-mouth, fighting for respect, and being beaten nightly by Marco and the demons he fought in his mind.
“Marco was fucking nuts and my time with him was crazy. He saw shadows in every corner, he thought everyone was out to get him, and he always muttered about his friend coming to save him.” I shook my head, remembering his ramblings about crazy shit.
None of it made any sense, and I always assumed it was his inner demons trying to get out. Internally, I shrugged as I continued speaking.
“After I killed him and took over, I had a lot of pushbacks from the people who earned their money from him and his businesses. The whorehouses were closed, and I had to figure out how to stop the women from turning tricks for their drugs, so I moved the drug dealers out of the neighborhood, but some of the pros didn’t want to leave. ”
“How did you manage to get them out?” he inquired as he took another turn through the large, expansive neighborhood.
The houses were cleaned-up, the yards were manicured, and the families living in the Flats seemed happier now. All the trouble and bloodshed were worth it to see them thriving.
“I had a few sent to rehab, a couple moved on to other cities, and a small group of them moved in and started cleaning their lives up,” I explained with a shrug.
“Eventually, the jobs came back and families started buying the houses and fixing them up. I made sure to keep any big developers out, not wanting the rents to get crazy for the people living here.”
As we got to the edge of the Flats, he slowed down and looked at me. “You’re a good man, Devlin. You could’ve turned out like Sergey and used your power for evil, but you took your newfound wealth and power and helped people.”
“I’m not a good man, Lucian.”
“I beg to differ. You might not be a saint. Hell, you’re probably closer to a sinner than most of us, but your heart was always good.”
I stared out the window, seeing the thick trees of the forest moving past as I thought of my brother’s statement.
I didn’t feel like a good man, especially since my actions caused Elise harm.
And she was the reason I tried to be a good person.
She was so young and innocent when I first saw her, and I saw how depraved people could be, so I vowed to do right by her.
I took her, found her a good home, but came back to find she was being hurt.
Violently, I destroyed those who hurt her and had her placed with Chuck and Blaire.
They healed her while I watched from the sidelines, and when she was finally at the point where I felt she was ready for me, I made my move.
Looking back, I started to question if it would have been better for her, and everyone involved, if I had kept her safe, but never made a move on her. She was so much better than I was, better than we all were, and her pain was all because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants when I was younger.
Sighing, I watched as we passed the Death Hounds compound, and I wanted to get my sons and take them home to Elise but felt she and I needed to talk before I did that.
I also didn’t want to scare the boys with her injuries.
The drive from Portstill to Pierce Bluff took about thirty minutes, and halfway there, I got a text from James.
James: She’s resting in the living room and Amaya, and I are sitting with her until you get home.
Me: Is she pissed at me?
James: She’s pissed they tricked her and she’s ready to hunt them down with you. Your lamb is angry, Devlin, but not at you.
I didn’t answer his text since we’d be at the building in another ten or so minutes. Looking over at Lucian, I asked, “Has everything from the house been moved to the conference room?”
“Everything we could find.” He came to a stop and looked both ways before proceeding through the sign. “Rhys said he’s close to finding the electrician who ran the solar line to the house to power the basement.”
“Good,” I answered. “Let me know when he finds them.”
Lucian had been by my side since this whole thing kicked off, and I felt bad that he was missing time with his wife and their twins.
But he loved Elise and knew any threat to her could still be a threat to his wife, so he wasn’t going to stop until we found the siblings and ascertained if there were any additional dangers.
The closer we got to my building, the higher my anxiety became. The last thing Elise said to me cut me to the bone, and I worried that she wasn’t going to be respective to the truth, or what I knew of the truth, regarding the siblings.
I just hoped she could forgive me and maybe, just maybe, be holding the key to finding them and ending this, once and for all.