Save Me (9 page)

I’m waiting. It’s all I ever do these days. Marley has a client in her office, and from what I’m gathering this was a spur of the moment appointment. Without a secretary or a two-room office, she has standing room in the hall to wait and from my experience last time, Marley is punctual.

It’s been just over a week since I’ve seen her, and even though she called last week, she had to cancel our meeting saying her lead didn’t pan out. Today, I’m physically in the hallway outside her office at her request.

When her door opens, a woman comes out. Our eyes meet briefly and I can tell she’s been crying. It’s probably not a good thing as I can only imagine the news she was given isn’t good. For all I know, I could be facing the same sort of news when I step in.

Marley greets me at the door with a soft smile. Almost hesitantly, I follow her into her office and take a seat across from her desk. I quickly glance at the file sitting there and see my name. It’s gone from being thin to thick in a week’s time, and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

“Hi, Mr. McCoy.”

“Please, call me Tucker or just McCoy. None of that mister crap.”

She nods and opens my file, taking out a piece of paper. “I’m going to just cut right to the chase.” That’d be nice. Even though she’s not only being paid by the hour—by Ryley—we’re still working against the clock.

As if in slow motion she sets it down on the table and slides it over to me. I know I’m supposed to lean forward and look, but my body is frozen in place. Anxiety and fear run rapidly through my system right now. I’m torn, needing to know what’s on that paper, but also afraid of what it says.

“I’m afraid to look,” I tell her honestly. If she’s surprised by my admission she doesn’t show it.

“I understand,” she replies, pulling the sheet of paper back to my file. “I think you probably feel lost, but be assured I’m here to help. With that said, I don’t want to withhold any information that I find from you. In my line of work it’s going to be good and bad, but nonetheless it’s helpful in what I’m doing.”

I take in everything she’s saying, but I’m still fearful of what’s on that document.
Is Penny remarried? Did she file for divorce from me? Is she dead? What about Claire?
I have these questions every day, yet there are no answers to fill the void.

“The fear I feel, I’ve been trained to not feel this way and yet I can’t … I can’t stop feeling like I’ve failed Penny and Claire when all I ever wanted to do was protect them.”

“I understand, Tucker.” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “My line of work can be rewarding and also very painful. It’s never fun to tell people that their spouses, who they think are working late, are actually having affairs, or living secret lives. But sometimes, I get the happy … like reuniting long lost siblings, or people searching for their adoptive parents or those parents searching for their children. While not all of those are happy, most are. I want to believe your case is going to be happy.”

My heart beats a little faster when she finishes. “Did you find something?” I ask, trying not to get my hopes up.

“I did, and while the news isn’t good, it does tell me what I’m looking for.”

With a furrowed brow I stare at her questioningly, waiting for her to continue. She picks up the sheet of paper I wouldn’t look at and reads it out loud.

“My name is Sgt. Doyle. Penelope McCoy entered into the police station with her young daughter at approximately 1900 hours stating that a man molested her daughter. I took her complaint, noting that the child had already been to the hospital, but the report was inconclusive. The child is two years old and I did not ask her any questions due to her age. I did not notice any visible physical damage / bruising on the parts of her body that were not covered by clothing.

“Mrs. McCoy attests that her friend, Frannie Riveria, came to her house with a friend, Ted Lawson, who represented himself as a senator and she left her child in the care of Riveria while she showered, stating that the young child has been sick and her friend offered her a small break. Mrs. McCoy states that her husband is currently on deployment with the United States Navy to which I asked why this matter isn’t being brought up to the police on base and she states they dismissed her claim. Mrs. McCoy goes onto state that when she came down from her shower, she found Lawson prone on her sofa without a shirt on and with her naked daughter lying on his chest. He was caressing her bottom, and when she took the child from him, the child was limp and lethargic leading Mrs. McCoy to believe he had drugged her. The report from the hospital says lab results are pending. When Mrs. McCoy informed Lawson that she was reporting this to the authorizes, he told her that if she did her worst nightmare would come true.”

It takes every ounce of control not to pick up the desk in front of me and throw it across the room. That fuck touched my daughter and Frannie led him right to my baby.

“Doe—” I clear my throat and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Does it say anything else?”

“Just the date.”

“When?”

“August fourteenth, two thousand and nine.”

The date isn’t lost on me. I know, from Ryley, it’s the day before we died.

“Does that date mean anything to you?”

I nod, reluctantly. “I died on the fifteenth of August.”

I sit there, trying to comprehend and make sense of the report Marley read to me. I take it from her, reading and re-reading the words over and over again. Penny filed a report with base and was brushed off, so she filed a report with the local police.

“Did they investigate?”

“Sgt. Doyle brought Lawson in for questioning, but didn’t have anything to hold him on so they had to release him.”

“Was Claire drugged?”

Marley nods and slides another sheet of paper over to me. “Her blood had traces of a sleep aid and cocaine.”

“Cocaine? Why would he give a baby coke?”

Marley seems uncomfortable as her eyes wander from my file to her computer and to me. “I asked the same thing, so I did some research and found out that in children so young it relaxes them beyond control. Pedophiles use it—”

I hold my hand up, silently asking her to stop talking. I don’t need to know that this piece of shit was going to rape my daughter.

“I’m trying to wrap my head around this. I … uh …”

“I know, me too. Unfortunately, Sgt. Doyle had a massive heart attack last night, only hours after he sent that report.”

My eyes snap up to hers as the color drains from her face. She’s smart. She must know what I’m thinking.

“I understand if you want to quit this case,” I tell her, even though if she does I’ll never find my family. However, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing something has happened to her because of me.

“I’m not quitting. Why would you think that?”

“Because people are dying, people who know the truth. This woman, Frannie, she pretended to be our friend only to make our lives hell. She’s behind all of this and we don’t know where she is and why she’s doing this. Lawson is her brother and their father is Admiral Ingram. Lawson is in jail and hopefully not coming out anytime soon. Now you’re telling me the sergeant you were speaking with is dead?”

“Sgt. Doyle was over seventy and obese. I think his heart attack is a result of age and an unhealthy lifestyle.”

I let her words sink in and my only response is a joke. “Those donuts will get you every time.”

She smiles for the first time since our meeting started, and oddly enough that takes away a small bit of stress.

“The hospital report, which I was able to dig up, showed no signs of trauma to Claire. It’s my best guess that he didn’t get as far as he planned or it took the drugs longer than he expected to work.”

“I’m going to kill him.”

Marley glances up at me with shock and slowly shakes her head. “He’s locked up.”

“I’m a sniper and a SEAL. Do you really think a prison is going to keep me from putting a bullet in his head? He touched my daughter and threatened my wife. And after she reported it, we’re all dead. He’s the reason we were deployed.” My voice is rising, and it’s only after I realize I’ve given out classified information that I shut my mouth. I hang my head, in shame, discontent. I’ve said things I shouldn’t have and wish I could take them all back. All except for saying I’m going to kill Lawson because I am. He’s going to die and so is Frannie.

“My wife ran,” I state, and Marley nods. “She didn’t leave me, she ran. If the police didn’t listen and I’m dead a day later, she ran for her life and for Claire’s.”

“She’s protecting your daughter from these people.”

“And from me.”

When Ryley picks me up, I’m quiet. I’m afraid to tell her what I’ve learned, for fear of her reaction. I know she’s already upset that she can’t provide more information, and telling her this about Penny and Claire will likely make her feel worse and I can’t do that. Ryley doesn’t deserve any more heartache.

Back at their house, I stand outside and look for any signs that this place is booby-trapped. I see none except for the basic security camera. What the potential intruder doesn’t know is that it’s taking a full body scan when you cross the line and Evan will know if you’re armed when you come to his house. He’s not taking any precautions. I don’t blame him.

I step out on the deck and see that he’s out here teaching EJ how to scale the rock wall the house sits on. Knowing Evan, he’s teaching him in case they need to evacuate.

Evan isn’t taking any chances when it comes to his family. As I watch him instruct EJ on how to get down, I find myself wondering if I’m going to get the same chance with Claire.
Will we be living in fear for the rest of our lives? Or will this shit end?
One thing I know is that if Frannie is still around, we’ll never be safe. She’s fucking deadly and crazy. The shit she’s been doing to us, whether she was threatened or not, isn’t right. Singlehandedly destroying lives as if they don’t matter.

And my daughter? Frannie led her to slaughter and didn’t bat an eyelash. Why would any woman do that? Aren’t women, designed by nature, built to protect children? Just thinking about her standing in my living room, holding Claire against her, cradling her because she’s been sick only to hand her off to a monster who pumped her full of drugs so he could rape her, fills me with rage.

Rape her
.

If I had known this when I returned, Frannie would be dead. There wouldn’t be an all-points bulletin out for her right now because she’d be buried six feet under with her husband.

Lawson was going to rape my two-year-old daughter and I’m going to kill him.

Evan and EJ climb back up the rock formation and onto the deck. I think about helping EJ over the edge, but know that he needs to do it himself. Evan isn’t going let anything happen to that little boy.

“Wow, EJ, I don’t think even I could do that.” I motion toward the rocks and earn a big beaming smile from him.

“I’m going to be a SEAL,” he says, and proceeds to make a barking sound causing me to laugh.

“Just like your dad?” I point to Evan to make sure EJ knows who I’m speaking about.

“Yep, and you and Uncle Nate.”

Well at least Nate is sporting the right familial title.

“EJ, why don’t you run and see what kind of trouble you can get into with Mommy.”

EJ high-fives Evan and takes off into the house. I say a prayer for Evan that Ryley doesn’t kill him later.

Once the door is closed, I look at Evan and shake my head. “I want to kill him, Archer.”

“Who?” he asks as we both sit down to face the ocean.

“Lawson. The PI informed me today that day before we “died” Penny had filed a police report against Ted Lawson because he was molesting Claire.” I finish the story, recounting everything I learned today for him. I lost count at how many “mother fuckers” he let out during my recollection.

“I’m going to go see him.”

“Not without me you’re not.”

I shake my head, not wanting him involved. “You have a family to think about. I need to do this.”

Evan looks at me, stone-faced. “We’re a team. I want that fucker to pay for what he’s done. He’s hurt each of us in different ways and needs to be dealt with. He needs to know that his sick lifestyle is going to be the end of his life. And besides, we’re family and family supports one another no matter what.”