Rescue Me (22 page)

“You must think I am a fucking idiot. You don’t love me, remember? You never did. Those were your exact words a few hours ago and now you expect me to believe you want to work it out. Fuck that shit. We are not working out anything except for the fact that I told you if I can’t have you then no one will. And since your lover boy has been occupied with other things, he’s not here to save you this time.”

“What do you mean, other things? Joel, what did you do? Did you set fire to that house?”

I try and stay calm but I knew he had done it the moment Adam got the call.

“It was fucking brilliant, wasn’t it? I had to get him away from you and it worked. I’m not sure who is more of an idiot; you, or him?” he sneers.

We stare at each other for a long time until Joel sets the gun down on the side of the bed and slowly starts to run both of his hands up and down my legs. My body stiffens at his touch. And he must sense it because when he gets to the top of my thighs he stops and removes his hands. “You really are beautiful, you know that? It’s a damn shame that in a few short hours when the night falls and there is nothing outside but the darkness, it will be the last time I will see this body. It’s going to glow and smolder and fucking light up the sky.” He picks up the gun and points it at me. “You told me to go to hell, Erin, and I said I am already there, but there is one thing I didn’t tell you... you are going to burn in hell right along with me.”

Chapter Twenty-Six
Adam

I remain standing but I am emotionless after hanging up the phone from Shelby. Everything around me becomes a complete blur. Joel has Erin. The only thing I can see or think of is what a nightmare she must be going through right now. Where the hell has he taken her?

“Adam? Come on, man. Let me drive you home.”

I hear Trevor speak but I remain frozen in place.

“Jesus Christ, Adam. Snap out of it. We have to go. Come on.”

I jerk my head up as I look at my friend.

“He took her, man.”

“I know he did. You dropped your phone after Shelby called and I talked to her. She has called the police and I have already called Luke and Antonio and everyone is on their way over to your house, but you have to get your shit together, dude. Shelby is a fucking wreck and Sierra will have so many questions and she is going to need you.”

He’s right. How am I going to tell Sierra about her mother? I run my hands through my hair in frustration and pat my friend on the shoulder.

“I’m good, Trevor. Just in shock right now. Why don’t you stay here and take care of this and I’ll head home?”

Trevor looks at me as if I have grown a second head or something.

He circles his hand in the air to indicate the fire.

“This right here can all be rebuilt. I am coming with you and we are going to end this fucker once and for all because you know as well as I do that he set this damn fire to get you out of the house so he could take her. Now the longer you stand here and argue with me, the longer it will take us to find her. Now let’s go.”

He doesn’t give me time to answer as he marches across the dirt and talks to the fire chief. He’s right, we’re going to find that crazy fuck and end this. I sprint to my truck and climb in and start the engine and only wait a few seconds before Trevor climbs in the passenger side. As I peel out of the lot I hope against hope Erin finds every ounce of strength she has to beat Joel at his own game.

I drive in silence and contemplate exactly how delicate I need to be with Sierra when I get home. Trevor has been on the phone with Melody the entire way explaining everything that has happened. Dawn is just starting to break as we pull into my driveway. I look over at one of my best friends and he gives me a slight nod of reassurance as he steps out of my truck.

I stare at the morning sun rising in its rightful place in the sky but as beautiful as the crisp fall day is becoming, I feel the exact opposite as I try and put on my best poker face and force myself out of my truck.

I barely make it up the sidewalk before Shelby is running out holding Sierra who is wrapped in a blanket with tears streaming down her face.

“D...daddy! I w…want m…my mommy,” she cries as she reaches out to me. I take her in my arms and hold her as tightly to me as I can.

“How much does she know?” I mouth to Shelby.

“Nothing,” she replies the same way, shaking her head. I turn my attention back to my daughter.

“I know you want your mommy, sweetheart, and so do I. Your mommy is so strong and she will be home very soon, she just had to go away with an old friend for a little while. She will be fine. Daddy’s here, sweetheart.”

Sierra lifts her head from my shoulder and cups my face with her tiny little hands.

“I heard screaming and it woke me up but when I called Mommy, she didn’t answer me. And Aunt Shelby came into my room and she was crying really hard, Daddy. I...I just want Mommy to come home. Can you call her and tell her to come h…home?”

I don’t know what to say.

The three of us turn our attention to the sound of several cars pulling into the drive. It’s Shayne and Luke followed by Antonio.

“Aunt Shayne! Do you know where my mommy is?” Sierra screams.

Shayne gets out of the Range Rover, my dog Muppet bounding down out of the back seat behind her. I give her a pleading look for help. She reaches her arms out for Sierra and takes her from me.

“I sure do. She is with an old friend of hers from school who is very sick and needs her help for a little while, so I came over to get you and take you over to Camillia’s house where Lucy is waiting for you to come and play.”

Sierra hesitates for a moment as if she is trying to believe what Shayne is telling her.

“But why are the police inside?” Sierra questions.

“There was a fire at one of the houses I am building honey, so they came over to talk to me. That’s where I was when I drove up and Trevor was with me.”

Sierra’s eyes get really big as she looks at me and even though I cringe inside for the loss of Trevor and Melody’s home, I thank God I have it as an excuse for why the police are here.

“Fires are scary, Daddy. I don’t like fires.”

“I don’t like them either, baby girl, but I do need to get in the house and talk to the police, so why don’t we all go inside? You and Aunt Shayne can get your stuff together and you can go play with Lucy while Daddy talks to the police, okay?”

I reach up and wipe a wayward tear off of her face and my heart breaks even more as I look into my little butterfly’s eyes.

“Everything is going to be fine, Butterfly. Now come on, okay? No more crying. You go have fun today.”

“Okay, Daddy no more crying, but if Mommy calls you, will you please have her call me? I just want her to know I’m sorry about her friend.”

I close my eyes and exhale as Shayne takes Sierra into the house and hopefully gets her out of here before I fucking lose my mind.

************

“Are you sure you’re not missing anything else, Miss Madison?” Detective Ryan asks Shelby politely.

“I am positive. I have told you everything. Now instead of standing here grilling my ass, you need to be out there looking for my sister. Her ex-husband is a crazy fucker and I am absolutely terrified for her.”

Shelby breaks down crying for the second time since I walked into my house full of cops doing all kinds of investigating around the house. Somehow Joel broke in through the garage service door. The thought of him being that close to Sierra again makes me clench my fist.

“Just one more question, Miss Madison. Do you know anyone who might know where Joel would take your sister?”

Shelby lifts her head from the table.

“No. As far as I know he doesn’t know anyone around here.”

“You say he is estranged from his family, is that correct?”

Shelby nods her head.

“Would you mind calling them and asking them if they have heard from him at all, please?”

“I…I...um, sure. But I know if they had, they would have called us by now. Erin talked to his mother a few weeks ago when she first heard from Joel.”

“Please, Miss Madison. Just call them.”

Shelby rises from her chair and reaches for Erin’s cell phone and with shaky hands she picks it up and goes to swipe the screen when Antonio places his hand over the top of hers and retrieves the phone from her hand.

“Let me call them for you, Shelby,” Antonio says in a soft and sympathetic voice.

“Are you sure?” she whispers.

Antonio nods and asks for Joel’s mother’s name and walks away as he puts the phone up to his ear. A few minutes later he walks back in.

“Emily says she hasn’t heard from him since she talked to him after he got out of prison. She is very upset as we can all imagine, and she asks that we keep her informed.”

“We can do that, but our first priority is to find Erin and bring her back here safe,” Detective Ryan explains. “Luke and Antonio; let us do our jobs. Stay here until we notify you, do I make myself clear?” the Detective continues as he puts his notepad back into his shirt pocket and makes his way to the door.

“Yeah, okay, man.” Antonio holds his hands up as if to surrender.

“FUCK THAT!” yells Shelby. “I am not going to just sit here while my sister is out there God knows where. I am going to go look for her. You can’t expect us to just sit here with our thumbs up our asses.” Shelby turns towards Antonio. “Let me go get dressed and then you and I are going to go look for her.” She stomps out of the room and heads toward the stairs.

“Jesus Christ, Luke. I am going out of my fucking mind here not knowing where she is.” I scrub my hands up and down my face.

“We’re going with you guys. Shelby is right, we can’t just sit here and do nothing.” 

Luke tries to reason with me.

“Look, man. I know you’re freaking the hell out here. Shit, we all are, but we don’t even know where to start looking for them, Adam.”

“No we fucking don’t, but driving around beats just sitting here doing nothing. I mean, come on. I am losing it here. I need her. Sierra needs her. FUCK! Erin, where are you, baby?” I place my hands on the counter with my back towards everyone and tilt my head down. Luke, Antonio, and Trevor all stay silent. I know they are giving me the moment I need to try and get my shit together, but I am never going to be right until I lay my eyes on those baby blues of Erin’s and witness for myself that the love of my life is home with me and our girl where she belongs.

When Shelby comes back upstairs and I take a good long look at her, they look so much alike that all I can see is Erin standing in front of me.

“Adam.” Shelby’s voice is soft as a whisper as she approaches me. “We’re going to find her. I know we will, just like I know how strong my sister is. She won’t let him destroy her. She loves you and Sierra too much for that. You rescued her from herself and your love for her brought my sister back.”

She gently puts her arms around me and we share an emotional hug.

“She rescued me too, you know. I love her so damn much that it hurts not being able to have her in my arms right now. I need her more than I have ever needed anyone in my entire life. She’s it for me, Shelby.”

Shelby releases me and with eyes that look exactly like her sister’s she whispers, “I know, Adam.”

The not so funny thing is that I can’t let the fear of losing her undermine the love I have for her because for the first time in my life, LOVE trumps everything.

************

As soon as I open the door for us to leave, Muppet runs outside.

“Muppet! Come on boy, get back in here.”

He barks and barks as if he knows something is wrong.

“Adam, maybe we should take Muppet with us,” says Luke. “You know how dogs are, and he hasn’t left your side the whole time he’s been back at your house. I don’t know how dogs understand when things aren’t right, but they do,” he adds, and he’s right.

“Well when we find them I hope Muppet bites that fucker’s dick off,” Shelby snipes, but I can still hear the apprehension and dread in her voice.

I squat down and start to rub the top of my dog’s head. “You know something is wrong, don’t you, boy? You want Erin to come back just as much as we do. Good boy, Muppet.” I give him one last pet along the back of his shiny fur and open the back door of Luke’s Range Rover. He jumps in wagging his tail. Reluctantly I nod to everyone as we all climb in ready to take to hell knows where to try and find my girl.

Luke is just about ready to pull out of the drive when his phone starts to ring. He picks it up from the console between the two front seats and looks at the screen curiously.

“Luke Schavone speaking.” he answers. “Really? How long ago was that?”

Antonio turns around from the front seat and gives both Shelby and me a quizzical look, shrugging his shoulders.

“No. I am not there. Call the police and have someone get there right now. It’s an emergency.”

He hangs up and turns to look at us with a murderous look on his face.

“That was my security company. I have a silent alarm at the cabin and it went off. Call it intuition, but I believe we just found out where Joel took Erin.”

“You have got to be shitting me?” I say as my head starts spinning. My chest feels like it’s constricting with hope that she is actually at the cabin and safe.

“No. I’m not,” says Luke as he puts the Range Rover in drive and speeds off down the road toward the highway. “Antonio, call Detective Ryan and tell him everything, and if he gives you any type of shit, tell him to go fuck himself because we’re on our way.”

Luke picks his phone back up and makes a call. I hear him talking to Shayne but my mind is all over the place as I sit in the back bouncing my legs and running my sweaty palms over them. I lean my head back on the headrest and close my eyes. I swear, if Joel has so much as touched her, I will kill him with my bare hands.

A few minutes later my eyes snap open when I hear a clicking noise coming from Shelby’s direction. When I turn her way I am shocked as fuck as I see her loading a cartridge into a small semi-automatic.

“Where the fuck did you get that, Shelby? Do you even know how to use it?” Antonio asks incredulously.

“Yes, I know how to use it. And it’s mine. I bought it the day after Joel showed up at Adam’s house.”

“Well put it away while you’re inside this vehicle. You’re staying here when we get to the cabin. We have no idea what we’re walking into,” I tell her.