Double Trouble (23 page)

Belinda’s heart warmed as she listened to Abe’s defense. Trinity’s face reddened as she sputtered at his closing question.

“I’m not chasing anyone. I know she is with the Lord, it was a figure of speech. I apologized for the messages. You’re just a kid, you don’t understand,” Trinity finished lamely.

Blaine and his brothers returned…without Adam. Belinda turned to meet him. “We couldn’t find a basement,” Blaine said, looking down at her.

Anger and resentment swirled inside as she met his gaze. “Find the kid who left us the note, we need to know where he got it from.”

Donald stepped closer. “Hold on, talking with underage kids could present some legal challenges if we proceed without permission,” he whispered.

Frustrated, Belinda’s heart slammed against her chest in worry. What if Trinity wasn’t working alone? What if the basement was at the other ranch? Indecision rocked her. She didn’t know if she should go to the other ranch and search, or seek other leads. One thing for sure, her son either expected her to come for him or knew she was there. She wasn’t sure which.

“Which one of you left the note in the car?”

Belinda jerked backward, noticing the absence of the two other men. Frank and Red headed toward the stairs behind Louis.

Trinity glared at them. “So now you harass children?” She stomped past them and walked up the steps, leaving Donnie, Blaine, Veronique and Abe behind.

“She’s right, you can’t question minors without consent,” Veronique said as she tapped the keypad of her phone.

Abe turned and walked outside, slamming the door behind him.

“Do we go to the other ranch?” she asked.

Blaine stared out the window. “What if he thought he was in a basement? What if it wasn’t a basement and he thought it was.”

“Huh? Adam knows what a basement is, we have one at home,” Belinda said, trying to follow his train of thought.

“The mind is tricky. If I’m blindfolded and you’re saying this is a basement, it could be a cellar, or bunker. I wouldn’t know the difference,” Blaine said. “Where is Abe headed?” He pointed out the window. Dusk had fallen but she could make out Abe’s form. He was walking toward the fields.

Belinda shoved past Blaine and ran to the door. “I don’t know but I’m going with him.” Out the corner of her eyes she saw a tall, slim teen walking in the opposite direction. For a split second she debated whether or not to go after him, but decided to go for Abe instead.

“See that guy?” she called over her shoulder to the men following her.

“Yeah, got it,” one of them answered. That’s when she realized Red and Frank had returned from upstairs. Frank separated and went after the disappearing teen.

Moments later, they caught sight of Abe. He was kneeling in front of some barrels. When he saw them he stood and waved them over. “Help me move these.” He pulled on one of the top ones, moving it some.

Red walked over and placed his hand on the other side. “On the count of three, pull.”

Belinda stood a few feet away watching them remove the barrels. She stepped toward the large tool shed and tried to open the door. It was locked.

“Open this door for the bonny lass,” a voice spoke from behind her. Closing her eyes, she stepped aside as a tall, wiry, older man stepped to the door. His reddish brown hair identified him as an O’Connor, she didn’t know who. At that moment it didn’t matter. The door creaked open and he walked in without hesitation.

“Too clean for a tool shed,” he called out. “I’mma look around.”

She inched toward the door, peeked in, and then stepped inside. It was a large space with a cement floor. Every gardening tool was in its proper place. Even the floor was swept clean. “Who does that?” she asked.

“Someone who doesn’t want tracks to show.”

She jumped at the comment, having forgotten she wasn’t alone.

“Nate O’Connor. I’m the uncle of the twins and brother to the idiot who messed things up so badly. Pleased to meet you.” He extended his hand to her.

She took it, expecting him to shake hers. He kissed the back of it instead. “I remember the twins being gaga over you years before. They still are. That kind of fire never dies, believe me.” He winked at her as he released her hand. “Your boy is here somewhere, underground I’d bet. We just have to find out how to get to him. But we will, have no fear on that account.” He walked off.

Nodding, she glanced at her hand and then back at him as he searched the area, stopping every once in a while to tap a wall.

“There’s a hook in the crack,” Abe shouted. She returned outside as Donnie, Blaine, and Red strained to open what appeared to be some sort of panel. Based on the rust surrounding the hatch, she was fairly certain Trinity hadn’t used that as a point of entry.

“In here me boys,” Nate called from inside the building.

Belinda met Blaine’s gaze and nodded. She followed Donnie and Red into the shed, choosing to walk with Abe and Blaine.

Abe squeezed her hand, she looked at him. “This guy outside, he told me he came here and told Adam what was going on earlier. He figured you were looking for Adam. He gave Adam some paper and then put the note in your car when no one was watching when you were here the first time.”

She nodded. “Who is he?”

Abe shrugged as they neared the others. “I dunno. He sneaks in here to rest sometimes when Trinity isn’t around, which isn’t that often. He was up in the rafters when Adam was brought in late the other night, blindfolded. Trinity and some other guy were talking to him. That guy don’t work here, though.”

“Okay,” she said as a steel door in the floor slid easily to the side. Blaine stepped down, followed by Donald and then Red. When she couldn’t see their heads, she started for the opening.

“Be careful it’s steep,” Nate said.

She glanced at the other man standing quietly beside him and surmised it must be Blaine’s father.

“We got him,” Blaine called out. “Coming up.”

She forgot about the older O’Connor as her heart sped in anticipation. Red came up first, swatting in front of his face and pulling spider webs from his hair. “That place’s not made for tall people,” he complained as he spit and pulled on his hair.

Blaine followed Red with a wide grin. He met her eyes and she read his relieved joy. Without thinking she moved forward and caught sight of her son. “Adam,” she whispered, holding her arms out to him. His eyes lit with happiness and something else. He walked into her arms and held her tight. Tears pooled and rolled down her cheeks as she rubbed his back in a circular motion.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I never should’ve… I’m sorry,” he kept repeating as he laid his face in the crook of her neck.

“It’s okay…you’re grounded for life, but otherwise it’s okay,” she murmured while watching Blaine. Donnie and Abe were talking softly in the corner while Blaine looked at Adam with longing.

“Sweetie, your dad is waiting to hug you,” she said near his ear, but Blaine either heard or read her lips, because he looked up at her.

“I can’t, Mom. I can’t face him now.”

That didn’t sound right. “Why? What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, can we go home? Please?”

Frowning, she looked at Blaine, wondering what happened. “Abe come here.”

Abe walked over to them.

Belinda tipped her head down, indicating he should greet his brother. Abe wrapped his arms around Adam and hugged him tightly. Initially Adam was hesitant, but after a few moments he returned Abe’s enthusiastic greeting.

“Dude, you left without saying anything to me that was foul. You shoulda told me if no one else. I…I…you left me behind and I had no idea where you’d gone,” Abe said without letting Adam go.

“I’m sorry, things got all screwed up. I couldn’t think straight half the time,” Adam said in a broken voice.

“I was scared out of my mind. Don’t do that…talk to me…tell me... don’t just up and leave like that. You all I got…you’re my brother,” Abe said with a quaver in his voice.

Belinda watched as her sons made peace and renewed their bond.

“Dad,” Abe called to Donnie, who walked over to them. “Are we about done here?”

“I don’t know. It’s up to your mom. Depends on what she wants to do.” Everyone’s gaze fell on her.

She cleared her throat and tried not to see the disappointment in Blaine’s eyes. “I’m pressing charges as soon as the police get here. We can leave after that.”

“Mom…no. Please…just let it go.” Adam turned away from Abe and gave her an imploring look.

Belinda’s head snapped back as if he slapped her. Tamping down the rage over what she and her son had endured over the past few days, she could only stare at him shaking her head. “She had you, my sixteen-year-old son, locked in the ground for I don’t know how long. I asked her where you were and she lied, said you weren’t here. You think I am going to allow her to do that to somebody else’s child?”

“Mom…please?”

She pointed her finger at him. “We have been searching for you for three days, you are not Jesus who rose on the third day, no matter what kind of call she thinks is on your life. Do you have any idea what that means? We chased down every lead, been all over Michigan looking for you. We get here and discover Trinity Jacobs brought you here. And you expect me to be okay with all that?”

“It’s not what you think,” Adam said in a small voice that sent chills of apprehension down her spine.

“You have no idea what I think, so tell me what happened.”

He looked around and then faced her again. “Can we have some privacy?”

She nodded, turned and looked at Red. “Can the three of you step out for a while, we’ll catch up with you up at the house.”

Red nodded and waved the two elder O’Connors out the door.

Belinda turned to face Adam and crossed her arms. The excitement of finding her son had faded somewhat beneath the dread of what he had to say. “Explain, Adam.”

He glanced at Blaine and then at her again.

“No, I am not asking your father or Abe or his father to leave the room. We are a family, deal with it. Now tell us what happened and why I shouldn’t press charges against Trinity Jacobs.”

Adam closed his eyes, released a long sigh and folded his arms across his chest. “I contacted her, she didn’t recruit me or anything like that.”

Hearing his confession hurt. He knew how she felt about Trinity and had still turned to the woman.

“Why?” Abe asked, frowning. “She’s crazy, we know that. You and I joke about it all the time.”

Adam nodded. “I know. Well, I don’t think she’s crazy, crazy…just weird. But she does…well, know a lot about God and the Bible. I had questions.” His gaze slid away from her, sending a shot of pain through her chest. Remembering Trinity’s comments on Belinda’s love life, she had an idea what kind of questions he had.

“Did she answer your questions?” she asked as calmly as possible.

“No, not really. There are a lot of contradictions, too many to fully understand,” Adam said frowning.

“That’s because life isn’t always so clear cut, things aren’t always black or white, some things are in between,” Blaine said, stepping closer to them.

“But that makes it hard to know what’s the right thing to do. It shouldn’t be so hard to understand,” Adam said, meeting Blaine’s gaze for the first time.

Blaine nodded. “Ask us your questions, we’ll try to answer.” Blaine reached out and took Belinda's hand. She squeezed his back

Swallowing hard, Adam looked at their joined hands for a moment. “Okay, is God okay with mom having babies from two different men at the same time?” He threw out his hand to her, meeting her gaze with a tortured one of his own. “I’m sorry Mom, this has been bothering me and I can’t seem to let it go. I don’t want you to…you know… go down there over this.”

The impact of his words slammed into her. He thought she was going to hell for having children? When had his thinking become so twisted?

“Adam?” She called his name softly.

He met her gaze with some hesitation.

“Who gives life?”

He frowned. “Huh?”

Holding Blaine’s hand, she moved closer to Adam. “I asked who gives life? It is a precious gift and I wondered if you knew who the Life Giver is?”

“God,” he said slowly. “He gives life. We learned that in Sunday School a long time ago.”

Abe nodded but remained silent.

“Do you believe God would give life and then send me to hell for bringing forth that life? I mean, if you think about it, He didn’t have to allow me to get pregnant. Women have sex all the time and don’t have babies. But I did. I considered my ability to get pregnant and have two awesome sons a gift from the Life Giver.”

Adam stared at her for a few moments and then nodded slowly. “Every good and perfect gift comes from above. But sex outside marriage is a sin.”

She nodded. “Okay. Is that what’s bothering you? The fact I had sex outside of marriage and got pregnant? God has forgiven me for that. Is that why you ran away?”

Adam released a long sigh. “No. I ran away because of him.” He pointed at Blaine.