Oh my God, the guilt coursed through my blood stream like a storm hitting the GulfCoast shoreline on a cold winter day. It completely consumed me. Where the hell would she have taken our baby boy? And why?
“I didn’t spend much time with her detective,” Callie whispered, admitting the truth, “I didn’t even think about it. Oh fuck! I’m a selfish bitch. Maybe she’s bitter towards me for, who knows what? What if they’re right, Hunter, what if she fell for you? What[SO31] if this is all about her wanting you?” Callie’s tortuous expression revealed the truth. She was terrified. She was wringing her hands and pushed away from me, tears falling down her beautiful face. “You know how women can get when they have a crush.” Damn that Detective for suggesting this ridiculous idea.
“Oh babe, she never even flirted with me. I never got that vibe. It’s not about me is it Detective?” If this was about me, I didn’t know what I would do with myself. But I never flirted with her. Sure, I was friendly and casual. We all were. But I never even touched her.
I tried to take Callie’s hand, but she pulled away in a huff. How do you calm someone down when they had convinced themself that somehow you were to blame? I just didn’t know what to say after that, or what to do. I looked at Agent White for answers.
“Do you think she could have a thing for me, and I didn’t even notice?” I asked. I really hoped to God it wasn’t true.
Just then, one of the other Agents, came over and interrupted us. “White, I think I found something. Looks like a sister of hers lives near here. I’m sending a car of uniforms out to her house. Maybe we caught a quick break and she’s there.”
Det. White nodded, “Go,” he ordered him. “Take Johnson with you. Find her.” White tipped his hands in their direction like he was pushing them to the car. Then he turned back to us.
“Could be something there. But keep going. So, Callie, you think she might have a thing for your man? Did she ever say anything about wanting a baby of her own?” Detective White looked from Callie to me and back to Callie with his eyebrows raised.
“Once we were taking a walk with Gaby and talked about our lives. She said someday she would love to have babies. Apparently, she had gotten pregnant but lost the baby in the sixth month. I thought that was such a horrible twist of fate. It broke my heart.” Callie sounded stronger here. At least that was something.
I started rolling over in my mind what I knew about Tenny. She seemed to keep herself pretty isolated when it came to the rest of us. She was either with Gaby or alone. I didn’t think this had anything to do with me at all. Damn. Callie didn’t even tell me about that conversation. I meant, my god; she lost her baby in month six? She’d probably heard the baby’s heartbeat, and even seen his cute face on a screen. I bet she loved that baby. It shredded me to think of what that could do to a mother.
“Well, my team and I need time to follow up on all the leads. Excuse me.” I watched the Agent walk off with his men. I was too frustrated to think. All I could do was focus on Callie, and pray Gaby came back to us safely.
My heart seized inside, thinking over everything that had transpired in the last few hours. Just then, Callies’ phone rang, and my heart froze like a block of ice inside my chest. Everyone stopped talking when Callie screamed, “it’s her! Fuck, what to do I do?” She looked like a trapped, frightened animal trying to claw free. “What do I say?” I could hear her whimper.
Detective White came over and said, “Answer it, Callie. Try to get information out of her. I’ve got a tech person back at the station who is logged into your account. The longer she talks the better, okay? Ready?” Callie nodded and swiped on Tenny’s name looking frantic. “You’ll do fine.” he whispered, trying like hell to comfort her.
We all held our breath. This had to go well.
It just had to.
“Hello?” Callie tried hard to be brave. She was my soldier, and I watched as she stood up straighter. “Tenny what the hell did you do?”
Chapter 56
Callie
“Tenny, Tenny?” I waited for her to say something, anything, but I was only getting excruciating dead air. I didn’t know exactly what I should say, and I didn’t want to fuck this up. Plus, the Agent told me to keep her talking, but if she didn’t talk, what the hell was I supposed to do then?
The long pause was killing me. My heart stuttered and I was sweating profusely. I took a deep breath, hoping to clear my head of all my negative thoughts. I needed to stay crystal clear, and not freak out right now. I wanted to scream at Tenny, but I didn’t want her to retaliate by the click of the phone. I needed to get her talking and tried to think of some way to manipulate the situation. I looked around and finally blew out all the air and broke the eerie silence.
“Tenny, honey, talk to me.” I gentled my voice. I didn’t want to push her too hard. All I needed was to lose this phone connection. This was the closest I had gotten to Gaby all morning long.
“Ahem,” Tenny coughed and sputtered and coughed again. She was making all these clearing her throat sounds, but still hadn’t uttered a word.
“Tenny? How's Gaby?” I looked at Agent White and he nodded encouragement. I hoped it was all right to ask. What I wanted was to demand she bring Gaby back to me right this fucking minute. But I couldn't do that, I needed to find my patience and looked to Hunter for reassurance. He gave me a small, sad smile, and I felt like it was just enough to keep me going.
“Honey, where did you go? Talk to me, Tenny.” I spoke gently. Finally, after another long silence, Tenny said,
“What are you doing?” She sounded distant, almost harsh, and it worried me. I wasn’t sure how to answer that one, what the hell was I supposed to do next? I looked around at all the men standing close by.
“Are you safe Tenny? Are you okay, honey?” I thought if I tried to be kind, she might respond to me better.
“What do you care?” Tenny’s voice oozed with bitterness. Resentment dripped from her voice. Drip drip.[SO32]
“I care, Tenny, you know I do.” But did she? “What did I do, honey? Tell me, what did I do?” Shit, she’s pissed at me though I had no clue why.
“Oh, you have all your adoring fans, parents who love you and Hunter. I don’t think you deserve so much love!” Wow, I had no idea she felt spiteful towards me. I thought we were becoming friends and routing each other on in our quest to reach our goals. Tenny wanted to write a romance novel, and I tried to encourage her to write every night. But then I thought back to the last few weeks and realized I hadn’t asked her about her shit in a long time. I must look like a self-absorbed b to her.
I was so caught up with my parent's hospitalizations and Gaby and Hunter. And sure, I had shows almost every night, and fame was starting to proceed us, but I never thought in a million years we were heading towards this crappy outcome.
“What can I do? What can I do for you, Tenny? I know I’ve been a lousy friend, and I’m so sorry. I really am, honey. Tell me you forgive me.” I said, sure that my fear was starting to show. White nodded and gave me the thumbs up.
“Well, I don’t!” She snapped. Holy fuck what now? I looked to the FBI agents milling around listening in. White wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me. Keep her talking, one more minute and we have her.
“Honey, I’ll help you work on the storyline just like you asked. I know you want to self-publish, and I’ll help you with that. We can work on it together. We can start right away.” I offered her the only thing I could think of that she might actually want. I was digging deep, hoping I’d ring a bell, well, her bell somehow. I needed to reach her. “Us girls need to stick together, right?”
“Hmmm, do you keep your promises, Callie? It would be cool to have a writing partner, but I bet you called the police.” She sounded suspicious, and I really didn’t blame her. Who wouldn’t have called the cops when they found out their bouncing, happy nine-month-old brother went missing? It shredded me completely. I felt like I was in a million pieces grasping to hol
d onto my sanity.
I hadn’t even called my mom and dad yet. How do I tell them this monstrous news? I guessed I was praying we’d find him before I had to spill my guts. My mother wasn’t walking. Not even a little bit, and this would completely destroy her. And what about my father’s heart? Could he even handle finding out that Tenny stole Gaby right out from under our noses?
“I did, Tenny, I’m not gonna lie. I miss my brother. How is he? Is he taking a nap?” I was hesitant to even mention him cuz I didn’t know how crazy she was right now. Would she hurt him? Would she do something worse than kidnapping him? I couldn’t allow myself to think about it or him. If I did, I knew I would crumble in a heap on the floor. I had to stay focused and try to get her to bring him back. I decided right then and there he was going home after this apocalyptic event. I just couldn’t keep being responsible for him, I didn’t realize how careless I was. When I first insisted he come with us, this was the last thing I could have predicted would happen.
At the time, I just wanted to give him peace and security. I wanted him near me, so he wouldn’t be scared. My parents were slowly healing, and I bet they were ready for this separation to be over.
I wanted to scream and cry and demand she bring him to me right this very, fucking minute. But I knew deep in my heart, that was the fast train to nowhere. I had to play her game for just a little bit longer. The detective held up his fingers to count down the time. It was such a short piece of time, but such a long cruel bit of insanity.
“I’ll try to be a better friend, I promise you. Please, don’t hurt my brother. Hate me, I can handle it. If you despise me, I can deal. Destroy me, Tenny. Take your hatred out on me. Just don’t hurt my baby brother. I miss him so much.” I was babbling by the end. I just couldn’t go on, I gulped down a big inhalation of air, and heard Tenny start laughing on the other end. What the fuck?
“Hahahaha, you think that’s gonna work, bitch?” White held up ten fingers clicking down, 8, 7, 6....5, Click! She hung up. Just like that.
“Is it enough? Is it? Is it? I tried so hard to keep her talking.” I was disgusted with myself. I had failed miserably, I let down Gaby and I was crushed, hurting down to my bone marrow. I looked over and he said,
“Got it! Callie, we got her location. Stay here.” He ordered and sprinted to his car. They all piled in, tires screeched as they stormed out of the gas station, and onto the road. I lost sight of the car as I crumbled into Hunter’s arms.
All we could do now was wait.
It was out of my hands, I prayed they came back with Gaby, my sweet, sweet, chubby faced brother. I would never let him down again.
Never again.
Chapter 57[ES33]
Hunter
I couldn’t believe what had happened, I missed Gaby. I was shredded by Tenny, what was doing, was she hurting him? I wished I knew more about this bi-polar disorder. Callie was so strong when she talked to her. What did all this mean for Gaby? We were on pins and needles with all this waiting. The agents raced out of here so fast it was like a blur watching them jump in that unmarked car. I wrapped Callie in my arms, while I tried to soothe her, but she wouldn’t even sit down.
“Hey, I’m going to get some coffee, who else needs a cup?” Ted looked around the table, got up and left. He went inside the station store and came back out with a paper carrier, and enough coffee for everyone. He placed cream and sugar in the center of the rusty, metal table. Then he fixed his coffee and went back to ruminating about Gaby. We were lost in thought when Callies’ phone rang. We all took in a deep breath while she answered the phone. Her hands were shaking so badly she grappled with the cell, sweat dripping off her fingers.
“Hello,” Callie whispered. I knew she was devastated.
“NO NO NO!” Callie stood up and started shouting. She dropped the phone on the table, and cried, “Hunter, she knew they were coming, and she got out of there! Oh my god, oh my god, what if they never find her?” Her small body collapsed against me. She shivered like it was freezing, even though it was a warm, summer day. She crumpled into a heap in my arms. She seemed so fragile, too much crap harshly hitting her smack dab between the eyes. “What if I never see my brother again?” She shrieked, blubbering in earnest, sobbing uncontrollably. Heart wrenching cries poured out of her. I stroked her hair, trying like fuck to calm her down. But no amount of comforting could shake the terror gripping her.
After a bit, the car with all the detectives came cruising back and parked to the left. White got out first, “I’m so sorry, Callie, we lost her.” They all seemed defeated. All their heads hung down low.
Callie just stared at him. I thought she might explode. Absolute terror rent the air.
“This isn’t over by a long shot,” White said. I’m not sure what he meant by that, but before I could ask, he added, “She’s playing a cat and mouse game. You see that don’t you?”
Callie nodded and I said, “Yeah, but what does that mean?”
“It means she’ll be in contact, and we’ll get her next time. We have a chance to go over with you what to say on the next call. It’s not easy talking to someone with a compulsive disorder, she sees things so differently. Off her meds, her illness takes over.. She has no idea how she's hurting you. All she knows is the fun she’s having torturing you. Jim? Would you sit with Callie, and go over with her what to do the next time Tenny contacts her?”
A tall, young looking man with brown hair, wearing jeans and a dark sports coat took Callie to the side to discuss her next move. White motioned for me to come over.
“She’s bi-polar, and I think we need to be extremely cautious. We got really close to grabbing her, next time we will.” He seemed so self-assured, I nodded.
I didn’t know much about this compulsive part either, I really needed more information. I’d sure like to know what we were up against so I could help in some way. Just as I was about to get online to google the subject, something else struck me. I hadn’t dealt with our next show, and fucking had to do that immediately. I couldn’t wreck our relationship with the next club we were on our way to when this shitstorm hit. Holy hell, how did I get so careless? I was getting sloppy as fuck.
I dialed the number and looked at Callie. As she listened, she nodded, taking in all that he was telling her, but she looked completely spent. After this call, I thought it was time for us to find a place to rest. Maybe we could get back on the bus and lay down for a bit.
“Toby’s Tavern,” Someone answered the phone, thank goodness.
“Can I speak to Wendal please? It’s about the show tomorrow night. I’m Callie’s manager.” That got their attention and they had me hold. Wendal came on the line quickly.
“Yes sir, Wendal here.” a gruff, smoke-filled voice came on the line. I explained everything to him including how we had to cancel, “Dude, I’m so sorry! Oh, the ticket holders are going to be so disappointed. I understand why you can’t be here, but they won’t be happy about it.” Wendal sounded like a cool cat.
“Listen, why don’t we add a show at the end of the tour? We can add a date on our way home if you can make it work?” I might be delusional at this point. Would we finish this tour? But I had to go on the assumption that we would. I could hear Wendal pull out a calendar. The paper rustling made me chuckle; dude was still old school.
“Looks like we can do it, I’ll let all the ticket holders know what we’re gonna do. Send over the contract when you can, young man.” Before he hung up, he added, “And Hunter, tell Callie we’re all praying for her.”
Hearing that did something to me. We had met some really cool people along the way. I just hoped we could get back to our dates soon, but I had no idea if we would ever get back to our tour. What if...NO! I couldn’t think like that. We’ll find Gaby and we’ll get back to our shows, nothing was going to stop us. I was a mess, and I knew it, I just couldn’t think about any of this anymore. I kept telling myself one thing at a time. Find Gaby first, then deal with what was ahead of us.
&
nbsp; I saw Callie nod as she listened to the officer describe what she needed to do on the next call. Just as she was walking back over to me, her cell rang again. We all froze in our tracks. This had to go our way. This was it---this was the moment White warned us about. We needed to track Tenny, and if this went bad, I thought we could lose Gaby forever.
“Hello?” Callie spoke in a soft hushed, even tone. I didn’t know how she did it; I would have been yelling at Tenny to bring him back right the fuck now. But Callie listened to the officer and knew what to say. We all tried to breathe. She put Tenny on speaker phone, and she kept her voice even, and calm.
“Hey bitch, thought you were clever, huh? I got out as soon as we hung up. I knew what you were doing.” Tenny’s voice was harsh as fuck. I had never heard her speak to anyone like she was speaking to Callie. It broke my heart in two.
“Tenny, are you okay?” Callie kept up her brave front. I knew it was an act, and I tried to give her an encouraging smile.
“I’m fine, just wish he’d stop crying. I’m fucking sick of it.” Tenny complained. Callie looked like she was going to freak out, but then she took a deep breath and centered herself. That girl of mine was the strongest woman I had ever known.
“Tenny, put the phone to his ear. I’ll talk to him, maybe it will calm him down.” I thought that was a great idea and hope swelled inside my chest. At least Callie could talk to him and let him know we were nearby. He was just a baby, but I knew the sound of her voice could soothe him.
“It better work!” Tenny grumbled, and then I heard Gaby crying hysterically, my heart couldn't take it, I started bawling my heart out. I fell apart in a way I'd never experienced before. He was part of my family, this adorable, loving baby. HIs cries tore me apart and my heart bled for him.
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