by Wilder, L.
“How are we gonna do that?”
“The single mother should be at work for another hour, but I’m not sure about the old guy. If I had to guess, I’d say he probably keeps tabs on the whole fucking neighborhood.”
“Probably right.”
After checking our surroundings for any onlookers, Menace and I made our way over to Mathews’ yard. Knowing there was a chance we were being watched, we went straight over to his shed and opened the door. To our disappointment, the place was in shambles. The floor had rotted out, and there were old rusted tools and equipment scattered on the ground. Menace shook his head and said, “No way this’ll work.”
“Let’s check the basement.”
Menace followed me over to the back door and waited patiently as I picked the lock. Once I had it opened, we snuck inside, and I was surprised by how bare the place was. The living room included a recliner and a TV, the bedroom had a single bed and a small dresser, and the kitchen contained just the basic appliances. Other than that, the place was practically empty, and it smelled musty—like the windows hadn’t been opened in years. I was checking out one of the small bathrooms when I heard Menace say, “I found it.”
“Headed that way!”
As I rushed towards the kitchen, I could hear his footsteps thumping down the stairs. By the time I made it to the doorway, Menace was already on his way back up. “This will definitely work.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely. I’ve already messaged the others and told them to bring Remington.” Without saying anything more, we started towards the back door. “Come on, brother. We need to get the ball rolling.”
I stood there and watched as he barreled out the door. I didn’t move. I got a sick feeling when I thought about bringing Remington into this place and locking her away in the fucking basement alone. As much as I wanted to call the whole fucking thing off, I knew that wasn’t an option. We’d already taken it this far, so there was no turning back now. I was still standing there with a knot in my gut when Menace stuck his head back in the door and asked, “You coming or what?”
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
By the time we’d made it outside, Rafe had just pulled up with Remington. We she spotted us, Remington hopped out of the SUV and raced over to us. Once Rafe had driven off, Menace and I led Remington inside. While she was trying her best to put on a brave front, I could see the worried look in her eyes. Hoping to set her mind at ease, I reached for her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “You okay?”
“I think so. Just a little nervous about all this.”
“Did you take the second pill?” When she nodded, I told her, “Good. It’s gonna be fine. I’ll be right outside watching everything.”
“I know. I’m okay. I promise.” As we started down the stairs, Remington glanced around as she said, “There’s not much to this place, is there?”
“No, but we can make it work.”
Once we were in the basement, Menace started opening random doors. “Wonder if he has any blankets around here.”
“If not, I’ll head upstairs and see what I can find.”
“Surely there’s something around here.” When he opened one of the doors, he shouted, “Holy shit!”
“What?”
Menace stood frozen as he stared into the room with a horrified expression. “Get over here, brother. You’re not gonna believe this shit.”
Curious, I rushed towards him, and as I got closer, I was hit with a familiar rancid smell. “What the fuck is it?”
When I peered through the doorway, I was surprised to find a man sitting on the floor with his hand cuffed around a support beam. He was beat all to hell, so much so I wasn’t even sure the guy was still alive. There was blood coating his soiled clothing, and he was barely breathing as he sat there squatting in his own feces and vomit. A dirty mattress and a bucket sat in the corner, but there was no way the guy could even make it to the damn bucket. It was clear from the smell he’d been locked up in there for a while. I was trying to make sense of what I was seeing when Remington gasped. “Oh my God! Who is that?”
“No idea,” Menace responded. “Definitely looks like this guy’s seen better fucking days.”
Remington stepped forward, but I quickly reached over and stopped her. “Hold up, babe. You’re not going in there.”
“We’ve gotta see if he’s alive, Noah,” she argued as she slipped by me and entered the room. When she got closer to him, she knelt down and whispered, “Hey, can you hear me?”
The man moaned, then let his head fall back loosely as he opened his swollen eyes. He stared at Remington for several moments, then said, “It’s you.”
“You know me?” Remington asked, shocked. “How do you know me?”
“Madeline.”
“Madeline?” Remington stepped closer to him, trying to get a better look at the guy. She brushed his hair out of his face, but he was so busted up, there was no way she could tell who the guy was. Remington wasn’t one to give up, so she kept studying him, looking for something that might help her identify him, and then it hit her. “The watch. Look at his watch!”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“I’ve seen it before. It was Thomas’s.” She glanced back at me. “Do you think it could actually be him?”
“Don’t know why Mathews would’ve kept him alive all this time.”
“I really think it is.” She turned her attention back to the guy and asked him, “Thomas, is that you?”
“Mmmm...yeah...It’s me.”
“Mathews has had you down here all this time?”
“He wanted...the password...to my files...wanted to wipe my computer, but...I wouldn’t give it to him.” There was no missing the desperation in his voice as he mumbled, “Please get me out of here.”
“We will, but we’re gonna need your help.”
“I’ll do anything you need me to.”
Our attention had been so focused on Long that neither Menace nor I had noticed that Remington was fading fast. Her face had grown pale and her eyes heavy, and I could barely hear her when she whispered, “I don’t feel so good.”
“Damn it. With all that adrenaline she’s got going on, the drugs Doc gave her are kicking in fast,” Menace replied. “We need to find her a spot to lie down before she passes out.”
“You go get her settled, and I’ll give Long the rundown.”
“You got it.”
While Menace took Remington and found her a place to hole up, I explained our entire plan to Long. I wasn’t sure if he was coherent enough to keep up with everything I’d said, but when I was done, he looked up at me and said, “You just get me outta here…I’ll handle the rest.”
“We’ll do our best. Just hold on and we’ll have the cops here as soon as we can.”
I hated to leave the guy cuffed to that fucking beam, especially when he was in such bad shape, but I didn’t have a choice. They’d need to find him like that in order to make the kidnapping charges stick. I just prayed that he’d be able to hold on long enough to handover the intel he had on Mathews to the right hands. If so, the kidnapping charges would be the final nail in Mathews’ coffin. By the time I was done with Long, Menace had Remington set up in the small room next to Long’s. He’d laid down a few old worn-out blankets on the floor, and Remington was sitting on them with her back against the wall. While she was still somewhat awake, she looked white as a ghost, and with her dingy attire and grungy hair, she definitely looked like someone who’d been held captive for the past few weeks. I knelt down in front of her as I explained, “We’ve gotta get going, baby. As soon as we’re out of the house, we’ll make the call and help will be on the way.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Just go so we can get this over with.”
I leaned forward and gently kissed her before replying, “I’ll see you soon.”
It nearly killed me to walk out of that room. I didn’t want to leave her
there alone, but I knew it wouldn’t be for long. Once Menace and I made it outside, we messaged Viper and told him to call Officer Morgan, who was on standby. Then he and several officers he trusted would come rushing to the scene. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before they showed, Menace and I rushed back down the alley to join the others. When we jumped into the SUV, Viper got out, and the second I saw the expression on his face, I knew something was wrong—very wrong. “What is it?”
“Just got word from Widow. Mathews is on the move.”
“What the fuck?” I barked. “Where the hell is he going?”
“Not sure.” Viper remained cool, calm, and collected. “Looks like he might be headed this way.”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me!” I roared. “I knew this was a bad fucking idea. I said it from the very beginning, but no one would fucking listen. Damn it! We gotta get her the hell out of there!”
“Hold on, Shotgun. Take a damn breath and let’s think this through.”
“There’s no fucking time!”
“There’s time.” Remaining perfectly at ease, Viper replied, “Morgan is on his way. We just have to trust that he’ll get here before Mathews.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then, we’ll figure it out.” He placed his hand on my shoulder as he looked me in the eye. “That’s what we do.”
“Nothing can happen to her, Prez. I couldn’t take it if anything did.”
“I’ll kill him before I let anything happen. You have my word on that.”
“Thanks, Prez. I appreciate that.” I looked back over at Mathews’ house. “But if he gets anywhere close to her, I’ll kill him myself.”
The words had barely left my mouth when Mathews’ unmarked car pulled into the driveway. As I stood there waiting for him to get out of the car, my heart started pounding in my chest so hard I thought it would break my fucking ribs. My entire body tensed as I thought about Remington down in that basement, helpless and so far out of reach, and it was all I could do to keep from charging over to him and killing him on the spot. With my jaw clenched tight, I watched as Mathews opened his car door and stepped outside. I felt my world start to crumble around me when he headed up the walkway to his front porch. I knew killing a cop would mean spending the rest of my days behind bars, but if it meant saving Remington’s life, I’d do it in a second.
As he started to unlock his front door, I reached into my holster, and just as I was about to pull out my piece, I heard the sirens. I wasn’t the only one who’d heard them. Mathews turned to watch as the cops surrounded his place, and if his dumbfounded expression was any indication, he had no idea they were coming for him. He charged towards them, demanding answers, but he got none. Instead, Mathews found himself cuffed and thrown in the back of a squad car. As much as I would’ve liked to have taken him to one of my rooms and spent hours showing him the kind of pain I could dish out, I got a small sense of satisfaction knowing what he had coming to him. Hell, he was one drop-of-the-soap away from being some dude’s fucking girlfriend.
Remington
I couldn’t believe it. My plan had genuinely worked, although I couldn’t deny my doubts were running wild after Noah and Menace had left me in that basement. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something would go terribly wrong, especially after seeing the state Thomas was in. I’d never seen a more dreadful sight. That poor man looked like he’d been put through a damn meat grinder, and that smell … My God, only a monster could’ve done such a thing to another human being, which made me wonder if I’d made a terrible mistake by coming here.
My level of doubt hit an all-time high when I heard a strange commotion upstairs. I instantly started to panic, thinking that Detective Mathews would find me in that room and finish the job he’d started several weeks ago. I wanted to run but knew there was nowhere for me to go. Besides, I couldn’t have left Thomas—not after Noah had promised we’d get him out of there.
As I sat there and listened to the footsteps overhead, my heart started to race to the point I thought it’d beat right out of my chest. The drugs Doc had given me hadn’t helped matters either. I felt weighed down as if a hundred-pound weight was anchored to me, but at the same time, aware of everything around me—especially the strange sounds that were getting closer and closer to the room. I held my breath as I clenched my fingers into a fist, my nails digging into both palms as I prayed it wasn’t Detective Mathews who had just stopped in front of my door.
I’d almost worked myself into a full-blown panic when the door eased open and a police officer stepped into the room. “She’s in here!”
Seconds later, two other officers came rushing into the room. One of them walked over and knelt beside me. There was a kindness in his eyes that immediately set me at ease. “I’m Officer Reed. We’re here to help you.”
I nodded.
“Are you Remington Taylor?”
“Yes. I’m Remington.”
Relief washed over me when he said, “Don’t you worry. We’re taking you out of here.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you sure you aren’t hurt?”
“No, I’m just a little woozy. I think I might’ve been drugged or something.”
“Don’t worry. The doctors will check you out. You’re gonna be okay.”
Officer Reed slipped his hands underneath me, then carefully lifted me off the ground. When he started out of the room, I put my arm around his neck and tried my best to hold on. We stepped out of the small room and into absolute chaos. At least ten police officers were scrambling around, and each of them looked utterly distraught—leaving no doubt they’d found Thomas. With me cradled in his arms, the officer stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the medics rushing towards us with a gurney.
We both watched as they raced into the room where Thomas was being held. The entire room fell silent. There was a mixture of anger and heartache in the air as the officers watched the medics tend to one of their own. I knew there were dirty cops in the world, Mathews had proven that, but these men were clearly not one of them. They were caring and compassionate, and it made my heart break to see the anguish in their eyes when the medics placed Thomas on the gurney and rushed him out of the room.
Once Officer Reed was sure that we were out of the medics’ way, he continued up the steps. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“I certainly hope so.” His voice trembled as he continued, “Just can’t believe this shit. Been working the law for ten years now and never saw anything this messed up. He might’ve been IA and all, but he was still one of our own. You gotta be sick in the head to do this kind of thing.”
“Yes, you do.” I had no idea what had gone on while I was in that room, so I asked, “Did you get him?”
“Yeah, we got him, and rest assured, he’s going to pay for this. I give you my word.”
As we made it upstairs, I could hear the sirens from the second ambulance pulling into the driveway. We stepped out the front door. Office waited for them to park and open the back doors of the ambulance, then carried me over to the back of the vehicle. Being careful not to bump my head, he took me inside the ambulance and lowered me down on the gurney. I immediately started searching through the crowd for some sign of Noah, but all I could see were police officers, news reporters, and nosy neighbors. Officer Reed peered down at me and asked, “Something wrong?”
“No, I’m okay. I was just looking for...um...” One of the medics started checking my vitals as I sighed. “It’s not important.”
“They’re around the corner.” He glanced back over his shoulder, eyeing the two black SUVs in the distance. “They’ve been here the whole time. I take it that one of them means something to you?”
“Yes, you could say that.”
“Good. Pleased to know you’ve got someone looking out for you.”
The medics started asking me a stream of questions regarding my age, the date of my last menstrual cycle, possible allergies, and what medicat
ions I was on. It was at that point I answered, “I can’t be sure, but I think I was given something. I’ve been pretty out of it since I got here.”
“Any idea what it might’ve been?”
“No, I don’t have a clue.”
“That’s okay. I’ll make a note that they need to do a drug screening when they admit you.” The medic turned her attention to Officer Reed. “We need to get her to the hospital so they can check her out.”
“Of course.” The officer gave me a quick smile as he said, “You take care of yourself and don’t get into any more trouble.”
“Thank you.” I grinned. “I’ll do my best.”
With that, the medics got me settled in the back of the ambulance, and I was on my way to the hospital. Between the lack of sleep the night before, the drugs, and the adrenaline crash, I was struggling to stay awake. With the medics still checking my vitals and talking back and forth, I closed my eyes and gave into my exhaustion. When I finally woke up, I was in a hospital room with my parents hovering over me with a worried expression in their eyes.
It seemed like my mother had aged ten years in the short time I’d been missing. Her gray roots were longer than I’d ever seen them, making it clear they hadn’t been colored since I was attacked. She had deep, dark circles under her eyes and hadn’t even tried to conceal them with makeup. On top of that, her clothes were not only wrinkled, but hanging off her slender frame as well. It was evident she hadn’t been herself since I was gone. It broke my heart to see her like that—especially since I was the one who’d caused her such distress.
The second she realized I was awake, she motioned over to my father and gasped. “George! George! She’s awake!”
“Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.”