“You have some explaining to do, young lady,” Jessica says, crossing her arms.
Maggie appears at the door, stopping next to her mom, with an expression that often mirrors her father’s. First her jaw locks, followed by a pissed off demeanor rolling off her in waves.
“What are you doing here?” Josh demands, his voice full of venom, but his eyes show just how relieved he really is. “And you better have a damn good excuse for your phone being off, girl. Are you trying to give your mom a heart attack? Why did you leave school without calling me first?”
She crosses her arms and purses her lips before sighing and then starts to fill us in. “Danny ordered me here. I tried to follow him, but I lost him, so I came straight here, figuring this is where you’d be. He said I needed to find you and not leave your side until he gets here.”
“Where did my son go?”
Danny left school? I check my phone for a missed call or text message that I know won’t be there. And of course, I’m right—nothing. I’m too much of a paranoid freak when it comes to my kid. I wouldn’t have let a call from him or even Brandon go to voicemail; not even if I was on a case. They are my top priority.
“I don’t know, Jen. He was racing out of the parking lot when I got to my car. He wouldn’t tell me. I asked.”
I press the contact for him in my phone and then bring it to my ear. “When did you talk to him?” I ask her.
“He texted his demands after he left class. Do any of you know what’s going on? Brandon wasn’t at school before the bell to first period rang and he didn’t show up to second period either. Danny kept checking his phone. Do you think it has to do with him?”
As ticked off as she is, no doubt from being ordered as she says it, she’s more worried than she is mad.
“Give me your phone,” Josh orders Maggie, holding out his hand while his cell phone is up to his ear, same as mine.
I get Danny’s voicemail and my stomach hits the floor as my throat clogs up like I have something lodged there.
“It’s Breckett,” Josh says into his phone as I’m pulling up the application to find out where my son is. “Hang tight a minute. I need you to get the PD on the whereabouts of two teenage boys. I’ll have the locations in a sec.” Rotating his cell away from his mouth, he says, “Jen?” like a question, waiting for me to answer.
As I’m waiting for the app to angulate a location on Danny, a notification within the same application starts to beep, alerting me to an issue with the device.
I click on it, seeing the device isn’t detecting a heartbeat on Brandon and hasn’t for close to five minutes. This isn’t uncommon. In fact, there are usually multiple times every night, when if he turns a certain way, it’ll lose connection because the necklace isn’t laying flat against his chest.
The only reason the alarm would sound is if his smartwatch, which is connected, doesn’t also pick one up or there is a drastic change in pattern—like when he overdosed nine months ago. His heart rate dropped dangerously low, which in turn notified me and caused me to panic. I knew Jamie’s band had left for their summer tour in the UK, so there was a good chance his mother had taken off too. I didn’t care though. I would have broken into that house had she been there.
When I found Brandon on his bathroom floor passed out, I called 911 and then started doing chest compressions until they arrived. It wasn’t until they had him loaded up that I noticed the pill bottle and the residue of white powder I suspected was cocaine.
His parents being out of town, it was easy to pretend I was his mom with no father in the picture. No one seemed to know whose house they were at, and it’s not like every cop in Los Angeles knows who I am or that I was FBI or that I wasn’t who I said I was. That gave me time to clean up his mess and bury it. It was the one and only time I crossed a hard line. I let Danny hack into the police department records and the hospital’s electronic medical record system, changing things as if it had never happened. I couldn’t leave a trace. Shit like that could have followed him for years, or even a lifetime. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I’m not even sorry I did it. Protecting my boys comes before anything and anyone else. It always will.
“What is that?” Maggie asks. “Why is your phone making that awful beeping noise.”
“Jess, take Mags downstairs,” Josh says, knowing why the alarm is going off and probably thinking it’s Danny and doesn’t want Maggie to fear the worst.
“No.” She plants her hands on both hips. “I want to know where Danny is too.”
“You’ll get your ass moving, and do as I say, Magdalena, or so help me God . . .” he threatens.
“Come on, Maggie. Danny is fine. Your dad will find him and make sure of that,” Jessica promises as I’m thinking almost the same, only it’ll be me finding my boys, and if something has happened . . . I can’t think like that. Logically, I know I have to stay calm or I’ll panic and not be of any use.
“Fine!” she barks, turning and disappearing from view.
Thumbing out of the notification, I pull Danny’s information back up. “He’s in our neighborhood, but he’s closer to Brandon’s house than he is home and . . .”
“And what?” Josh asks.
“He’s moving away, like he’s in a vehicle, which is likely, but it looks to me like he was at, or near Brandon’s house not long ago.” I glance up. “He knows not to go there, Josh. He wouldn’t unless he honestly thought something was wrong with his brother.”
“So that alert wasn’t Danny.” He nods, drawing in a lungful of air. “Then where is Brandon showing?”
“Same as Danny,” I say after I’ve pulled up Brandon’s data. “But there is nothing detecting life, like he isn’t wearing it. His smartwatch is turned off and his cell phone is showing Julia’s house.”
“Hey, Tucker, can you get an officer to head over toward Windshore? I’ll text you an exact location. Two of my agent’s kids are missing and we aren’t waiting. I need them found stat! You got it?”
I try calling Danny again, putting my phone on speaker so that I can go back into the app to watch his location. Danny’s phone goes to voicemail again after ringing enough times for him to pick up.
Why the hell isn’t he answering? His truck is on the move. Everything is showing in the same place: his pendant, his cell phone, his smart watch, the tracking device on his truck. That at least gives me a little reprieve that he’s okay; he just isn’t picking up his damn phone.
I’m going to murder him myself if this all ends up being nothing, which, God, I’m praying it’s nothing. I’d rather kick his ass from here to the other side of the world for him not to be in any danger, only my gut is turning over and over like there is. The panic hasn’t been this bad since before he was born when I thought . . .
No, I’m not thinking that; not going there. I can’t.
“Just sent it to you, brother,” Josh says, having shared Danny’s location.
I allow Josh to have access to Danny for this very reason, the same for Malachi. Only they’ve never had to use it and Mal thinks I go way overboard when it comes to Danny and Brandon’s safety. He thinks they have no privacy, and that isn’t exactly true, they keep a lot from me. I just don’t let them keep their whereabouts private. And I’m not sure I ever will, even when they become adults. It’s something both will have to accept in the long run because I’m not giving it up. I’d become a basket case if I couldn’t locate my boys, like I am now with Brandon’s devices not showing like they should.
Josh pockets his phone and then turns to face me, wrapping his hands around my shoulders. “Calm your shit. You aren’t any good allowing yourself to get worked up like that.”
“I need to leave,” I say, starting to back away, but he tightens his hands, not letting me move. “I need to get to where Danny is, Josh. Let go.”
“Your ass needs to stay here. I got PD on it.”
“He’s my son,” I argue. “I’m going. Back up,” I order.
&nbs
p; “Would we ever allow another member of law enforcement to force their way into a case that involves their family?” he asks. “No, we wouldn’t, and I can’t allow you to either. You aren’t thinking clearly. I’m on this; let me handle it. We’ll find them.”
If it was Maggie, he knows damn well he wouldn’t sit back and let someone else take control, not even me. If he thinks I’m going to cower in a corner until someone else sends word that either or both are okay, then Joshua Breckett doesn’t know me as well as I thought he did. I can’t sit back and do nothing. Even if this is personal, and I know he’s right, we wouldn’t allow someone else to get involved with any case they were connected to, that just doesn’t apply to me.
He can ask, he can demand, he can even try to force me to sit out, but at the end of the day, I still won’t. There is nothing anyone can do to stop me from going after my children.
36
— Jamie —
What in God’s name was Julia thinking? Using our son, trying to make me think Brandon was missing, that he was in danger, that he was upset with the divorce . . . all to get me back. Maybe he is upset. I don’t know, but I aim to find out as soon as I find him and Danny.
Jesus Christ—Danny. I’m at a loss with him. What kind of man is Jenna raising that he would ever think it was okay to put your hands on a woman like he did back there? And he was so angry, boiling with it. I could literally see his skin on fire. I thought at any second he was going to lose his shit and do something he couldn’t take back. I saw it in his eyes. He wanted to end Julia, but why?
And me. What the hell was I doing just standing there not doing shit? I should have made more of an effort to get my son off my ex-wife, but watching him, in that moment, I thought if I advanced, he’d go through with his threat. I believe my seventeen-year-old son would have killed her.
I don’t know what Jenna has filled Danny’s head with when it comes to our past, but whatever it was, he’s probably the one person she should have kept secrets from if she was so hell-bent on having them. Danny is still a kid, despite the way she’s hardened him up.
If I had been granted the opportunity to be in his life, I would have made sure he had everything a child needed to grow up with the innocence they ought to be allowed to have for as long as possible. The world today is both beautiful and ugly. Jenna should have kept the beauty more prominent.
After Danny left, I stood there like a moron for all of a minute, watching the open front door he raced out. I was stunned and I didn’t have a clue what to do. It took Julia groaning from the floor to pull me out of my frozen state.
I dropped to the floor, lifted her, and then toted her to the couch where I gently laid her down. She was okay, at least that’s what I told myself when I hightailed it out of the house before she gained her consciousness. I was more afraid of Danny’s thoughtless acts than I was of my ex-wife’s health. That’s shitty, but there is no love loss there, and I can’t fake that shit any more than I already did.
She admitted to using our son for her own gain—but did Brandon go along with it? Of course he had to have, or he would have called me or said something or I don’t know, would have been here.
The way Danny acted it was like he thought his brother was in danger, but this was his mother’s doing. Maybe she got Brandon to go along with her farce. Or maybe, after he saw me with Jenna, everything hit home that his parents’ relationship was really over. Maybe he was the one that talked his mom into that shit himself.
Though, if I think about it, I’m not so sure that makes sense.
I’m too out of the loop when it comes to things outside of my band. I hadn’t realized that until now. I faked so much with Julia for so long that I started pulling away, and I guess I pulled away from Brandon too. Jesus, I’m a shitty father.
No more. I shake my head as that vow pierces my thought.
Jenna is about to tell me every detail, and from now on I’m going to be present for everything. I’m going to be an attentive father to both Brandon and Danny. And even if I die trying, I’m going to make that woman mine again—I don’t care if I have to cancel my next tour or the one after that. It’s not like any of us need the money, it’s just what we love to do.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I hear voices shouting or arguing, but I don’t pause before charging on.
“There you are,” I say, stepping into their FBI makeshift office, or whatever it is they call this space on the third floor of the beach condo they use as a safe haven for the women Jenna’s team rescues. She and Josh stop speaking, both of their heads turning to face me. My fists ball as I take in the close proximity he is to her. And does she look scared or wary of him? Fuck no! And that makes zero fucking sense to me.
I want to beat his ass. I want to hurt him, hell, I think I want to murder him for what he did to her, for what he tried to do to my unborn son.
Jenna is standing in front of him like he’s a colleague, her boss, her goddamn friend. Maybe he is her boss, but if she thinks he’s a friend, she’s got a warped sense of the meaning—which he most certainly caused. How else do you explain their dynamic? He kidnapped her. He beat her. He’d planned to sell her like she was a used car for Christ’s sake.
“Jamie,” she barks. “I don’t have time for you. My son isn’t answering my calls and . . . fuck!” She shouts. My eyes flick from her face to her body, her arms, to the cell phone clutched in one of her hands. She’s visibly shaking, and I momentarily lose my train of thought, the mission I’d been on when I drove over here.
“Shit,” Josh says, pulling my attention. His brows are pinched together in concern and then he grabs her. “Come here, Cat,” he says, wrapping her in his arms. “I’ll find him. He’s going to be fine. You need to have more faith in Danny than you do right now. He’s strong, he’s—”
“He just choked Julia out is what he just did,” I say, cutting him off.
Jenna’s eyes go wide. “What?” She pulls away from Josh’s chest and that makes the fire coursing through me simmer a fraction. I don’t like him touching her. I don’t like him being in the same room as her. “He did what?” she rephrases. “When? Where?”
“Half an hour ago. Julia’s,” I tell her. “She called me and said Brandon was missing. She was freaking out, so I went over there. Danny—”
“Missing. What do you mean he’s missing?”
“He’s not.” I shake my head. Sighing, I run my hand through my hair. “She is the reason he was supposedly missing. I guess she concocted that story to make me think Brandon was upset about the divorce. Or hell, maybe Brandon is and she was going along with it. It’s not like she wanted it to begin with.”
“Oh, my God.” Jenna starts breathing hard and in shallow pants. “What has she done?”
“Nothing,” I say, my brows creasing as I take a step forward, wanting to reassure her, but she steps away. “Danny forced her to admit it was all a charade.”
“Jesus Christ.” Josh’s jaw locks as he glances away in thought.
“Please tell me she doesn’t know Danny is your son. Tell me you didn’t tell her that, Jamie,” she pleads.
“Danny looks almost identical to him, Jen.” Josh sounds resolute. “It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together, and we both know she isn’t the dumb, rich bitch that she pretends to be or that he believes she is,” he says, his hard eyes land back on me, throwing out an accusation.
“Look,” I start. “We have other shit to worry about, like Danny assaulting her.”
“Good for him,” Josh says, stunning me momentarily.
I shouldn’t be, but I am. I know he’s partially the reason Danny is as hard as he is. He did that to my son, and Jenna allowed it. What am I supposed to do with that knowledge? Does she even realize it?
“You didn’t answer my question,” Jenna says.
“Yes, she knows,” I tell her. “Like he said”—I jerk my head in Josh’s direction—”Danny looks just like me.”
“No. No.” Her he
ad starts shaking in rapid succession, her brown eyes wide and on me. “No.”
Just then, Josh snatches her elbow, pulling her to his chest, his thumb and forefinger wrapping around her jaw. “Look at me,” he orders. “You will get it together right fucking now, or I’ll have Jess come up here and sedate you. You are no good as the petrified mom you are right now. Lock it the fuck down, Jenna. Lock it down now.”
“Let her go,” I bite out, my fists balling at my sides. “So what if Julia knows? She was bound to find out I have another kid. She’ll deal with it. Though, it doesn’t matter. We aren’t married. She isn’t my wife anymore. I don’t really give a fuck what her dumbass thinks.”
“She’s a fucking psychopath and you played right into her hand,” Josh spits out, a snarl on his lips.
I laugh, unable to hold it in. “If she is then what does that make you?”
Jenna pushes at his chest, his fingers releasing her.
“A reformed sociopath,” he answers without hesitation, then a smirk forms on his lips, making me wonder if Josh is being honest or fucking with me or a combination of both.
“Josh!” Jenna shouts, her eyes flaring like she disagrees with his words. To do what he did, you have to have some form of mental disorder, right? “This isn’t the time or the place for this stupid shit. I have to find Danny.” Her head cocks. “Was Brandon with him?”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “But that’s why Danny was there; he was looking for his brother.” I sigh, running my hand through my hair again. “Jeez, Jen. What was Danny thinking?”
She twists, facing me, but she’s still too close to the man that did unspeakable things to her. “He was probably scared out of his mind thinking about what she was having done to his brother. That’s what he was thinking. If that bitch so—”
“Are you not hearing anything I’m saying to you? Danny assaulted a woman. He wrapped his hand and arm around her throat and squeezed until she passed out.”
Have Mercy Page 23