40. Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Arlo
“Arlo, man, I need you to calm down. She’s fine, and she can always send us a message if needed.” Oakley’s words don’t make a dent in my hazy, stressed-out brain.
We’ve shifted positions since we all arrived at the house. Oakley and I are currently in the back of Lieutenant Kempe’s car.
“And what if she can’t get to her fucking phone? What would you say if it was Willow in there?” I snarl. I’m taking everything out on him, and while I know I’ll feel bad about that later, I know he understands where my head is at.
His silence let me know my point about Willow hit home.
“What if he did something to her and we don’t know?” I whisper.
“She’s tough and knows how to take care of herself. She’ll fight like hell until we get to her if something goes wrong,” Oakley reasons.
“We’ve got guys surrounding the place as we speak, looking for any sign they need to bust in. But we’re hoping Rina can talk to him and get him comfortable enough to tell her his big plan, and how many women he’s done this to,” the Lieutenant adds in like it’s supposed to be of any comfort to me .
My knee bounces as I count to five and do my breathing. Something that normally does a damn good job of calming me down isn’t giving me the relief I so desperately need.
Static from a radio clicks on as the regular check-ins start. With every “all clear” and “in position” check-in, my leg starts to slow its chaotic beat.
“We should have just checked out the fucking house while they were at dinner,” I grumble.
“From the room you saw, there are other women and it would be nice to know if there are more than just those. Once we take him in, I doubt we’ll get any information out of him. Rina can get that information, but we have to give her the chance,” Oakley says.
“This is bullshit. Rina is bait, plain and simple, and we had a shit plan going into this.” I don’t throw in the towel. If needlessly arguing keeps my head occupied, I’ll continue to do it.
“Get it all out,” Oakley goads me.
“Our plan wasn’t great with Tennison, but this is fucking ridiculous. A five-year-old could come up with something better.”
“Your girlfriend came up with the plan,” he adds.
“And I told her it was a terrible idea!” I yell.
He arches an eyebrow at me as I slump back into the seat. I’m thankful he let me be a dickhead for a few minutes. I seem to have had all the wind taken out of my sails after getting worked up over things out of our control currently.
“This fucking sucks.” I sigh.
“I know, and it’s not my favorite plan either, but Rina’s hard-headed and wasn’t going to be talked out of doing something,” Oakley says. “ You know she would have just done it behind our backs if we didn’t agree.”
Don’t I fucking know it, and it makes my head explode to even think about.
Another round of check-ins sounds from the radio that spikes my anxiety. All I can think about is the worst-case scenario. Everything that could go wrong will inevitably go wrong.
I reach for the handle of the door before a hand on my arm stops me.
“Not a good idea,” Oakley says.
“I can’t just sit here.”
“We’ve still got the all-clear. I have men in position, and they currently have eyes on Rina. She’s fine,” Lieutenant Kempe adds.
I rip my arm away from Oakley’s and open the door.
The Lieutenant’s stern voice hits my ears and freezes me in place. “If you go in there, I’ll have you arrested for interfering with a police investigation. You have no jurisdiction here, Arlo.”
He wouldn’t, would he?
I look over at Oakley, who cringes. Shit. Apparently, he would.
“I’m not sitting here all fucking day,” I say as I sit back in the car.
“I’m not asking you to. I’m asking you to take a backseat because my department is in charge, and you are too close to this whole situation. We’ve got it handled, but if you go barging in there, everything will be for nothing.” His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, and I know he’s serious.
I sit in silence for the next ten minutes before I’m on the verge of breaking again. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I panic to get it out in case it’s Rina .
When I’m finally able to get it out of my damn pocket, it’s not Rina, but my doctor, Dr. Vincent.
I forgot I was supposed to be expecting a call from him. He wanted to do another scan after my last injection because I have had a constant twinge in one spot. I didn’t think much of it, but he wanted to be overly cautious.
“Hey, Doc,” I answer, hoping talking to him for five minutes will be just the distraction I need.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Brian?”
“Apparently one more,” I joke.
“I’m calling because we got results back from your latest CT scan, and I have some concerns.”
“What concerns? I’ve been feeling great overall.” I’m confused. Everything has been going well, and I’ve been feeling like a brand-new man. One twinge shouldn’t be cause for concern, right?
“Of that, I have no doubt. While I’m still seeing increased healing, it looks like the damage is more extensive than I originally thought. It was hard to tell initially because of all the swelling, but now that a lot of that is down, I’m not sure the injections are going to be the only treatment needed.”
No, this was supposed to be the end of it.
“So, what are you saying?” I can feel Oakley’s eyes on me, and I know he’s hearing a good chunk of this conversation.
“I’d like to get you into some physical therapy and see if we can work on spinal traction, and your overall back and core strength. If, in a few months, doing that doesn’t show significant improvement, we may have to extend your fusions.”
“More surgery?” I can’t believe I’m having this conversation .
“Nothing definite yet. I just want to prepare you in case the physical therapy is less effective than I hope it will be.”
“Fuck.”
“I know it’s not what you were hoping for, and I am happy with what the injections have done so far. This disease can be unpredictable, and I just want to make sure you’re ready to roll with the punches as we continue treatment.”
“Thank you for that.”
“I’m going to email you a couple of therapists I usually work with. Go ahead and schedule with one of them, and we’ll continue injections while you’re doing that.”
“I can do that.” As long as Rina doesn’t put me in an early grave first.
“I’ll touch base with you later. Sorry for the downer news.”
“No problem. Thanks, Brian.” I hang up and stare out the window. That certainly wasn’t the news I was expecting when dealing with my back. Especially because things have been going so well so far.
The click of the radio check-ins makes my nerves want to explode. Too much is happening right now, and I don’t feel like I’m capable of dealing with any of it.
“You okay?” Oakley’s soft voice penetrates my overactive thoughts.
“No.” I sigh. “But I will be, eventually. One thing at a time.”
He nods, not pushing, and I’m grateful. An unscheduled radio check-in interrupts anything further we were going to say.
“We’ve got a problem. They’re in the main bedroom, and he’s getting handsy and pushy. It looks like he took Rina’s phone, but she fought him over it.”
I’m out of the car before I hear anything else and racing to the door. Lieutenant Kempe must be on the same page, finally, because I hear the commands of him telling his men to enter the house. A group of three men beat me to the front door, where they kick it in, and I shove my way through. I look around, trying to figure out where I am before I hear Rina yelling.
I sprint to the back room and find Rina standing over a cowering Tyler, yelling with conviction.
“How dare you think you can just take what you want! Especially a whole-ass person!”