Scarlett nods, staring at me as she tries to follow.
“That was the case that blew it all wide open. Shannon was found and, although she was pretty messed up, Gemma got her back. She took a lot of time off work to help her adjust to everything again, and I know she relapsed again over Christmas last year. That’s why you didn’t get to meet her until I partnered up with her.”
“Okay, so Shannon is missing and Gemma is freaked out because she’s still not okay?”
“Yes. It looked like she was making some progress. Apparently, she wants to go by the name Lennox now; hence the reason for Sha-Lennox. I’m still getting used to it. So is Gemma. She seems to slip between them both.”
“Shit, okay, now I understand her freaking out.”
“Yeah. As damaged as Lennox is about the whole thing, I think Gemma never dealt with what happened herself. I mean, can you imagine your sister just vanishing? What would you do when everyone says she probably just ran off somewhere because of the drugs, or maybe even dead in a ditch? No one believes she’s in actual trouble or worth saving. But you keep searching and searching, and then you’re finally proven right. Except the sister you knew is no longer, and now she wants to go by a different name. Now she is living with you, and you’re more of a mother than a sister.”
“I can’t imagine. Wally is pretty hopeless—my present situation is enough evidence of that—but compared to what you just told me, we’re a regular Partridge family.”
“Yeah, so Gemma freaking out is understandable.” I impatiently tap the steering wheel as I wait for a light change up ahead.
“She called you freaking out about this before?”
“No, this is the first time she reached out for my help. Either she is seriously worried, or she’s finally trusting me more.”
Scarlett appears to be stuck in a stunned silence, so I let her take it all in as I illegally park beside a tall building.
“Come on,” I say, braving the cold and tugging on Scarlett’s hand when I round the front of the car, pulling her toward the office that looks empty outside.
“Where is Gemma?”
I glance frenetically around, looking over everyone on the street then past them to the stores. “I’m not sure,” I mutter, grabbing my phone to call Gemma.
“What?” she snaps in answer.
“Where are you?”
“I went west up Talcott Road.”
“Okay, we’ll head east. Do you have a recent photo of her I can show people?”
She hangs up on me before my phone vibrates. Now on my phone is a photo of a young woman with hair so blonde it almost looks white in the harsh flash of light from the camera. Gemma looks like she was also in the photo, but this has been zoomed in and her cropped out, only the side of her face left behind. Lennox is smiling, but she doesn’t appear happy. Her eyes are sad, her smile looks forced, and her skin is pale. I never knew her before, but it’s obvious that, looking at this woman, something is wrong.
“She looks young,” Scarlett mutters, gazing at it from over my shoulder.
“Come on; this way.” I nod down the opposite way to where Gemma went.
After sending the photo to Scarlett, I let her go into the shops to ask if anyone has seen her while I keep to the streets and ask people as they pass.
No one has any information, and after half an hour of nothing, I begin to feel helpless.
Where could she have gone? Is she in trouble? Did someone take her?
As far as we are all aware, the human trafficking crime ring was completely shut down. Hart Clayton had evidence on every single transaction with all the assholes who had a hand in the entire thing. Everyone went down. No one was spared.
But, what if someone got away? What if someone targeted Lennox? What if she’s back with a monster? Trapped? Helpless? Fearful?
“Nothing,” Scarlett dejectedly says, not that this changes her determination as she treads quickly into the next store, making my heart squeeze.
Not once has she complained that it’s cold or whined that this has gotten us nowhere. She knows this is important and is willing to do whatever it takes to help us find Lennox.
I glance at my phone, knowing Jerry is the best person to have look for her. More feet on the ground can’t hurt. Gemma might not be willing to call in the cavalry, but I am. Everyone at J.P.I will drop anything to help us look for Lennox.
Gemma likely doesn’t feel she is part of our family, but she is. Sure, she might be more like that weird cousin you feel obligated to invite to family outings, but that doesn’t change the fact that she is family.
Before I have the chance to call Zander, my phone begins buzzing, Gemma’s name popping up.
“I’m sorry. We’ve had—”
“Jerry found her. She’s close to you. He saw her ten minutes ago on the security camera at the end deli on Clifton Avenue. He can’t see her after she walked past that camera, so she has to be close.”
“Got it,” I breathe out, hanging up this time and rushing into the electronics store Scarlett is in.
Once I have her attention, we race out, likely looking like a couple of thieves.
We make it to the deli in under two minutes. Scarlett is breathing heavily, her breath fogging up the air in front of her, but this time my exercise regime has paid off.
“Speak to the owner inside while I take a look around out here,” I tell her, already knowing she isn’t in the store, but I’m not sure what the situation is and I don’t want to put Scarlett in any unnecessary danger.
Scarlett doesn’t argue. She rushes inside, impatiently waiting behind a customer already being served, shifting from foot to foot.
I glance around the darkening neighborhood, not seeing anything seemingly out of place. Then I take a few steps past the shop, seeing an empty shop front down the road.
There are houses across the street, and while the sidewalks aren’t busy, the roads are as everyone begins their drive back home after the traditional work day.
I think of my training, as well as what I know of Lennox. She is timid, shy and, from what Gemma has said, she doesn’t like crowds.
As dangerous as the quiet streets are, I think that’s the way she would go, so I move past the empty storefront, finding another next door to it. The next place is a furniture shop, but it already has a closed sign hanging on the door. I try it anyway, just to make sure it’s locked. It is. Then I pass a dark alleyway, heading toward the next shopfront, before I stop in my tracks.
I strain my ears, trying to filter out the traffic noises, the wind, and my own shivering breath.
There!
I heard a whimper down the alley.
“Lennox?” I call out, hoping my voice sounds calming. “Is that you? It’s Cynthia Park. I work with Gemma.” I’m not sure she would remember the one time I met her. She certainly never spoke to me then.
I narrow my eyes as I try to make out anything in the dark shadows. Unless I’m right next to it, I can’t see a thing. I consider the flashlight app on my phone, but I don’t want to scare her away if she is down here.
“I’m just going to walk slowly down here, okay? I don’t mean you any harm,” I say loudly, wondering if this might be a waste and there is no one down here. Or worse, what if there is someone and it isn’t Lennox?
A gut instinct that the worst scenario is around the corner, which I imagine hits every woman when they are alone and walking down somewhere dark, sits heavily inside my stomach. Regardless, I ignore it and keep going. I can handle most things—my training has ensured that—but that doesn’t mean I have to be complacent.
I slip my phone into my back pocket, keeping my hands free and fisted, ready to fight if needs be. And I keep my legs steady, planting my feet carefully with every step, knowing if someone charged me, I would be balanced enough to push back. I continue to strain my ears and dart my gaze around my surroundings, finding the first few darkened shadows empty.
The first rat I see tests my limits, because ra
ts are my phobia, but it just scurries behind a bin, likely hoping for food and warmth.
“Lennox?” I call out again, coming close to a fence that blocks off the rest of the alleyway. That’s when I see a small figure crouched low and hugging their legs to their chest, their body shaking and their shadowed blonde hair shielding their face.
I can’t be positive it’s Lennox, but I am certain enough to crouch down in front of her.
“Lennox? It’s me. Cynthia,” I say quietly.
She stills, her shaking seeming to become frozen, but she doesn’t glance up.
“It’s dark down here; think you can come a little closer to the street?” I ask, but that’s clearly the wrong thing to say, since she begins shaking again.
“Don’t worry; we can stay right here. Gemma is on her way. She’ll be here any second now,” I ramble, not sure if my talking is helping to soothe her or making her more agitated.
“Cynthia?” Scarlett calls out from a distance, and I glance down the alley, not seeing her but knowing she must be close.
I pull out my phone, not wanting to alarm Lennox by yelling at Scarlett and also not wanting to leave her alone. I text Scarlett where I am and ask her to flag down Gemma when she arrives and direct her down the alley.
“The person you heard yelling out is my girlfriend, Scarlett,” I explain, deciding I am going to just word vomit unless I get a clear sign she doesn’t like me talking. I’m sure she has a lot of shit going through her head right now, so I think getting her mind off that, even for a short while, is a good thing.
“Well, she’s not technically my girlfriend. I want her to be. We used to be, but then I screwed up. I actually blackmailed her brother into helping me on a case. Totally not worth it, by the way. I mean, it worked, but I shouldn’t have ever done that. She found out, and not in a nice way, and it blew up. We had a fight, and she broke up with me. Then we spent the past nine months apart.” I watch as she slowly lifts her head until she’s looking in my direction, but her hair is still covering most of her face and the darkness means I can’t make out if she’s okay or hearing all this or not. She hasn’t told me to stop or tried to bolt, though, so I take that as a good sign.
“But then she asked for my help on something. And, well, I think maybe we might be okay again. I hope we are. I missed her, you know? I want her back. I want us to get back to where we were before, but I don’t want to push her,” I admit, wondering if it’s wrong that I’m now using this as my own therapy session. “But I also don’t want to do what I did before, which is sit by and watch her leave. I want to fight for her, but it’s hard to know where the line is.” I pause, again taking stock of Lennox. I think she’s still watching me, but I’m not sure.
“I realized the day we broke up that I loved her. How shit is that? The day I lost her is the day my feelings for her solidified. And there hasn’t been a day that passed that I haven’t missed her.”
I wait again, not sure for what, beginning to worry that I’m not helping.
“Sorry. You don’t want to hear about this.”
“Go on,” she whispers, a plead really.
Hope spikes inside me that I’m not messing this up.
“Okay.” I take a deep breath. “I guess I just still love her. I keep finding new reasons to love her, and I don’t think she feels that same way about me. I mean, I think part of her still hasn’t forgiven me for what happened. I guess I feel uneasy that we’re on uneven ground.”
“How do you know she doesn’t feel the same way?”
I consider this, although I’m distracted when I hear murmurs from down the alley. Has Gemma arrived?
“I … I don’t know. She hasn’t said.”
“Did you ask?”
“It isn’t an easy thing to ask someone.”
“Why not?”
“Because the timing needs to be right.”
“That sounds like a cop-out.”
I consider that, too, because she may be right.
Am I being a wimp by not asking Scarlett outright what she feels for me? I mean, I am definitely too scared to have the future talk, because part of me worries she will confirm that she sees no future for us, not one involving me in a way I want.
I want it all with her, not some or just a small part. I want it all.
“You should ask. You should push,” Lennox whispers, her voice so low I almost miss it. But she definitely spoke.
“You think so?”
“Yes.” I think she gives me a nod as well. Though my eyes are adjusting to the darkness, I still can’t get a good look at her. “Sometimes you just need a push,” she says sadly. Now I’m wondering if she’s talking about her own experience. It almost sounds like she is telling me something that makes her feel miserable.
“Okay, I will,” I promise, and I think maybe she looks at me in surprise, but again, my eyes might be playing tricks on me.
“Down there,” I hear Scarlett say softly, her voice travelling from down the alleyway, and then heavy footsteps rush toward us.
I glance over to see Gemma fast approaching, but Lennox tenses back up again.
“It’s your sister,” I tell her, standing and moving out of the way as Gemma barrels down in front of Lennox.
When my phone vibrates in my pants, I take a few steps back, seeing Jerry’s name pop up.
“You find her?” he demands as soon as I accept the call.
“Yeah, Gemma is with her now.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. I—”
I cut myself off, hearing Gemma speak for the first time after allowing herself time to stare over Lennox and assess she isn’t bloodied or seemingly physically hurt. She has no qualms about shining a light over her to see. She leaves it on, although she doesn’t shine it directly at Lennox’s face.
I leave Jerry hanging on the line as I tune in to their conversation.
“What happened?” Gemma quietly demands, her voice more of a soft hiss than the angry snap I expected. She crouches down by Lennox, taking up all the space in front of her but doesn’t touch her.
“He … He looked at me …” Lennox’s voice breaks, her eyes moving back down to her lap as her legs collapse out in front of her, no longer tucked against her chest. She looks defeated.
“Who did?”
“I … I don’t know. A man. I … I didn’t like how he looked at me.”
There is a moment of silence, and I picture what might have happened outside the office earlier tonight. It could have been sinister, or something completely innocent. Either way, it set her off into a terror-filled nightmare.
“Okay,” Gemma acquiesces. “Can you get up?”
“Why am I still like this? Why can’t I …? Why can’t I be braver?” Lennox’s small voice shakes.
“You are so brave,” Gemma murmurs, slowly reaching out to grasp Lennox’s pale hand. “I told you that you need to stop being so hard on yourself. You have come so far.”
Lennox snorts, her eyes blazing with anger. “Far? I can’t even have a fucking man look my way without freaking the hell out.”
“You know this takes time.”
“It’s been two years, Gem! Just how much time is this supposed to take?”
“As long as it’s meant to,” Gemma immediately tells her. It’s a stark contrast to the hard woman I have worked with almost every day for the past several months. She has always been aloof, demanding and expecting nothing but the best. One mistake, and she can make you feel like you have disappointed every single person in your life.
But this is a side of her I have never seen. This nurturing, caring side is like she is a completely different person.
Lennox shakes her head, her self-crimination obvious.
“What happened to your phone?” Gemma asks as she glances around, looking for the device.
“I dropped it when he looked at me. It’s broken,” she quietly murmurs, reaching into her hoodie to pull out two pieces of a phone.
“Tha
t’s okay,” Gemma tells her gently, not even a single ounce of annoyance in her tone, even though this meant locating her was a hundred times harder. “I’ll get you a new one.”
“Don’t even bother. I’m never leaving the house again.”
Gemma sighs, and I wonder if they have had this argument before. Uncharacteristically, though, Gemma gives in.
“We’ll talk about this later. Can you get up?”
Lennox looks lost again, her panic obvious as she glances around. “I can’t walk back through there.”
I glance down the darkened alleyway, seeing Scarlett standing at the foot of it, her eyes on us.
“I know. I got my car. It’s parked at the curb.” She points at her SUV. I hadn’t noticed it.
I turn back in time to watch Lennox’s shoulders droop in relief. She holds out her hand, and Gemma makes quick work of helping her up. Lennox then keeps her head down as they make their way down the alley and back onto the street, hustling when they are out in the open. Then, in a flash, Lennox is inside, her body slumping down so I can only see the top of her head.
“Thank you for helping me search for her,” Gemma tells me, her eyes coming over both me and Scarlett before she stares back at me. “I appreciate it more than you can know. Usually, she’s okay, but today … well, you know.”
“Anytime you need me, call. I am happy to help you both,” I tell her honestly. From her watery smile, I think it was just the right offer to make.
“Thank you. I need to get her back home. I’ll … I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes,” I agree, stepping back and watching Gemma get into the driver’s side. Moments later, she is pulling out in traffic.
Scarlett reaches over, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. “That poor girl,” she mutters, her eyes still glued to where the car was.
“Yeah, I know. I can’t imagine what she’s been through.”
I realize I still have my phone in my hand, and when I look at it, I see Jerry didn’t disconnect the call.
I hold it back to my ear. “Sorry, Jerry. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
I Blackmailed Her Brother Page 20