Stay With Me_Taphouse Blues Series_Bk 1

by Heather Lyn

  “You too. I see you let this guy find a more permanent spot in your life, huh?”

  “He was pretty pushy.” I laugh when Brody fakes hurt.

  “Yeah, I really had to pull your leg, Linds.”

  Resting my head on his shoulder, I slide my hand down to his thigh. A few minutes later, a waitress comes over to the booth, talking loudly over the music to be heard. We order a round of drinks and the appetizer sampler to start with. She comes back with a pitcher of beer and two cosmos for me and Hollie. Holding our glasses up for a toast, I take a big sip and smile across the table at my best friend.

  “So, Brody, how’s the bar? I’ve driven past a few times and it always seems busy.” Liam sips his beer, turning to face Brody.

  “Going good, man. It’s been pretty steady for the last year or so, but my buddy Coop’s band coming in to play some music before a gig definitely helped.”

  “Right on. That’s fucking awesome, dude.”

  “I can’t believe I was working that night,” Hollie pouts. “So mad you got to meet Evan Foster. He’s so hot!”

  I brush dirt off my shoulder and we start giggling at the looks on the guys’ faces.

  “That fucker ain’t got nothing on me, babe,” Liam says, puffing his chest out.

  “Oh Lord,” she grumbles, taking another sip of her drink. I do the same, and as soon as I place the glass down, Brody kisses me, hard and deep, groaning into my mouth.

  “I can’t get over how fucking hot my girlfriend is,” he growls against my mouth.

  “Yeah, well your girlfriend’s lipstick looks great on you,” I say, grabbing a napkin from the table to wipe his mouth. When it’s gone, he takes a drink of his beer, choking on it when I slide my hand up his leg, not stopping until I’m brushing against his cock, cheeks heating when I feel him harden under my touch.

  “Linds,” he warns, eyebrows raised.

  Laughing to myself, I grab my glass and take a drink, playing innocent.

  “You’re in for it, baby. Just you wait,” he says in my ear, only speaking loud enough for me to hear him. I shiver at his raspy voice, and he chuckles. “Yeah, I’m not the only one worked up, now am I?”

  “Shit,” I mumble, squirming around in my seat.

  “Karma sucks, doesn’t it?”

  “Keep being a pain in the ass and karma will be the only thing sucking tonight,” I say with a wink, laughing when Brody’s eyes darken.

  “Understood.” He makes a show of moving a couple inches away from me.

  I shake my head at his antics and laugh, finishing my drink as they deliver the appetizer platter. Reaching for a potato skin, I’m just bringing it to my mouth when a new song begins playing and I drop it, Hollie doing the same.

  “What?” Brody asks, looking back and forth between us.

  “It’s the new Thomas Rhett song. Let’s go dance!”

  We jump up from the table and I grab her hand as we race out to the dance floor. Spinning around and moving in time to the song, I catch Hollie dancing next to me, both of us laughing loudly. We’re only out on the floor for a moment when I feel hands grab my waist from behind. I’m spun around to meet Brody’s hard chest, his hands tight on my hips.

  “Fucking Christ, you look good dancing like that.”

  I wind my arms around his neck, not too surprised to find that he can dance— and well, I might add. This may be an upbeat song, but I bury my face in his neck and we sway to the music, lost in our own little world. And when the music changes to a slower song, his hips move along with mine, fusing his mouth to mine.

  §

  Thursday afternoon, I’m walking through the parking lot of the hospital for my shift when my phone starts ringing from my bag. Reaching inside for it, I see Garret calling. Swiping my thumb over the screen, I answer the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Garret. You got a minute?”

  “Yeah, heading into work right now. Brody was supposed to drop me off, but he got stuck at the bar taking a beer delivery.”

  “Shit, that’s why he didn’t answer me. Listen, Tuesday, Lake had his bail hearing and they set it at fifty thousand.”

  My stomach drops. “They gave him bail? Why?”

  “Well, his lawyer did a good job playing on his mental history. Said he had no idea what he was doing when he went to Walker’s, so he wasn’t a flight risk or a danger.”

  “Okay, well fifty thousand is a lot, right?”

  “Lindsey, he made bail. Someone paid it two hours ago. He’s out.”

  Coming to a complete stop in the middle of the parking lot, I grip my phone hard and close my eyes. “He’s out?”

  “What time are you off work? I’m gonna send an escort for you.”

  “I’m working overtime, so I won’t be out till five in the morning.”

  “All right. You just hang in there, okay? Everything is going to be fine, Lindsey. Try calling Brody and see if he got my messages. I’ll call you later tonight.”

  “Bye,” I whisper. My hands are shaking, but I force myself to hold it together and march inside. I keep my head down, cell phone still in hand. Stepping into the empty elevator, it begins vibrating in my hand.

  Brody.

  Exiting the elevator, I press Accept and hold it to my ear.

  “Brody?”

  “Hey, Linds. I just got a message from—”

  “Yeah, he called me.” My voice is shaky and quiet, but I do my best to keep it from breaking.

  “Oh, babe. I know. This is fucking bullshit. I’m furious. The guy attacked you. How they could even give him bail is beyond me.”

  “Something about his mental state. They didn’t feel he was a danger.”

  “That’s fucked up. Listen, is there any way you can get out of your shift tonight? I’d feel better having you here.”

  Sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose and head toward the stairs. This way I can finish the conversation but I won’t be later than I am already.

  “No. I work too hard to screw them over. It would be a total dick move. Garret said he’ll have a car waiting for me when I get off in the morning. I’ll be fine, I promise, Brody.”

  He releases a loud sigh of frustration. “Okay, Linds. But please call me the second you get home. I don’t care if you wake me up.”

  “Okay. I gotta go though, my shift is about to start. I’ll call you later tonight, okay?”

  “All right. I love you, Linds. So much.”

  “Love you too.”

  Ending the call, I head to the lounge to drop off my stuff. Setting my phone to vibrate, I slip it into my pocket and grab the other items I always have on hand. Walking out to the desk, I find Andie sitting behind it.

  “Hey, girl,” she greets, turning back to the paper in front of her.

  “Hey, Andie. So, were you ever able to cover the other half of the shift?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Ryan’s gonna come in when you leave.”

  “Perfect.” Grabbing a squirt of hand sanitizer, I take a peek at what we have so far. Based on the schedule, we haven’t had too many people come in. I’m sure it’ll be crazy tonight though. Thursdays are usually a precursor to how the weekends are.

  “I’ll have you do rounds in just a minute. I need you to sign a few things. I guess we now have to make sure we do inventory checks twice a day. We’ve had some stock go missing, and the head of the hospital wants us to be more thorough, make sure nobody’s been taking extra when it’s available.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Yeah, it’s a fucking pain in the ass. But anyway, cheers to almost the weekend, right?”

  Scoffing, I nod and grab a clipboard, ready to get to work.

  §

  Longest shift ever would be an understatement of the century. Fourteen-hour shift, and I’m ready to drop. It never ended up getting crazy like I assumed it would, so I basically just did tons of paperwork and now I’m ready to get home.

  Glancing up at the clock on the wall, it’s ten to five, so I deci
de that’s good enough. Ryan will be here soon enough to cover anyway.

  Striding to the nurse’s lounge, I grab my shit and check my cell phone. Dead battery. Fabulous.

  Garret told me hours ago that the cop would be parked outside emergency, so to let him know when I was leaving so he could follow me home. Throwing my purse over my shoulder, I head to the bank of elevators, huffing in annoyance when I see they’re closed for maintenance.

  I just want to go to bed.

  Heading over to the stairs, I push the door open and start rushing down them. My legs are tired, and all I can think about it getting home to my bed. Or actually, a hot shower and bed.

  Reaching into my purse for my car keys, I’m so lost in thought that I don’t pay any attention when the door to the stairs opens, just push past the person, not even bothering to say sorry.

  Sorry, dude, this girl is freaking beat.

  When I make it to the final level, my neck prickles with goose bumps, the feeling of being watched overwhelming. Pausing on the stairs, I look behind me and don’t see anything.

  “Hello?” I call out. Nothing.

  Shrugging, I continue on my way. As I reach for the door, I’m grabbed from behind. But before I get the chance to yell, a rag is held over my face. I struggle against whoever has me, but my body goes limp and my vision darkens. I fight the dark, but I’m no match. Something is whispered in my ear right before I lose consciousness, but I can’t understand what is said.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Brody

  Scrubbing my hands down my face, I stifle a yawn and fight sleep as best as I can, but I’m exhausted. After closing the bar at midnight, I came home to shower and eat something, lounging on the couch after that. It’s closing in on two in the morning, and I wanted to wait for Lindsey’s call, but the later it gets, the more obvious it is that I can’t stay awake.

  Grabbing my cell off the coffee table, I shut the television off and head to bed. Plugging my phone in, I climb into bed and shut the light off. I don’t bother setting an alarm, knowing Lindsey’s call will wake me. Turning onto my stomach, it takes no time before I’m falling asleep.

  I’m jolted awake by the ringing of my cell phone. Turning over, I blindly reach for it, squinting an eye open and answer the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh thank fuck. Brody?”

  Garret.

  Sitting up, I yawn and scratch at my stubble.

  “Hey, man. Why are you calling so early?”

  “Brody, where is Lindsey?”

  Raising my eyebrows, I glance at the clock on my end table: 6:00 a.m.

  “Shit, I must’ve slept through her call.”

  Hitting Speakerphone, I scroll to my missed calls, but there are none.

  Wait.

  “She never called you, did she?” Garret asks, worry clear in his tone.

  “No. Garret, what’s going on?”

  “Fuck. Fuck, man. Baker just called me, said she never came out of the building this morning.”

  “What?”

  “He just figured maybe she ran late, was in the middle of a patient and couldn’t leave at five. But he said she never came down, and when he went inside to look for her, they said she left shift just before five.”

  My heart starts racing as I pull on the pants I wore the night before and a long-sleeved shirt. Shoving my bare feet into a pair of sneakers, I grab my wallet from my bureau and run to the front door.

  “Fuck!” I shout, sprinting out to my truck. “I’m going to the hospital. Where are you?”

  “Jace and I are in route to the hospital now. We’re only a couple blocks away. Drive safe, bro. We’ll see you in a bit.”

  Flooring it, I fly down the road toward the hospital, not caring about all the laws I’m breaking at the moment. I keep hitting the Call button on my steering wheel, ringing Lindsey’s number over and over, but it keeps going straight to voice mail.

  “Damn it!” Slamming a fist against the steering wheel, I grip it with both hands and press down harder on the accelerator, praying to God this is some kind of misunderstanding.

  She forgot about the escort.

  Her phone is dead.

  She forgot to call me.

  “Please, Linds. Please be okay, baby. Please,” I repeat over and over.

  Flying into the emergency room parking lot ten minutes later, I see my brother’s squad car parked out front, another car in front of it. Pulling into a random space, I jump down from the truck and run. Garret sees me coming and walks over to meet me.

  “Anything?” I ask, grabbing his shoulder to steady myself.

  “Come here.” Garret pulls me over to where Baker is standing, speaking into the radio clipped to his shirt.

  “What?” I ask, shoving his hand off me.

  “Brody, you need to calm down.”

  “Sorry, last I checked, Lindsey is missing, so no, I won’t fucking calm down. What?”

  “Brody, fucking chill—”

  “Where the fuck is she? You don’t know? Then stop telling me to fucking calm down. My girlfriend is missing, and I want answers now!”

  “Brody! Shut the hell up and listen to me, bro.”

  “Fuck you,” I growl, shoving against his chest.

  Garret grabs me by the arms and shoves me back, glaring at me in anger.

  “Knock it the fuck off, Brody. I’m not the fucking enemy, man. I’m trying to help you, so stop it.”

  “Find her!” I scream, voice cracking with the emotion threatening to pull me under.

  Garret’s eyes soften and he steps toward me. He grabs my face and forces me to look at him. “Brody, it’s me. Your big brother. Listen. To. Me. Fucking breathe and listen to me.”

  I close my eyes and count to three, trying to slow my breathing and heart rate.

  “I’m sorry,” I croak out.

  “Stop. None of that, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Garret takes a deep breath and releases me, running a hand over his face. “We did a perimeter check as soon as we got here and they found her purse.”

  “Where?”

  “In the first-floor stairwell.”

  My heart drops. “Okay, what else?”

  “Her phone is still in it. And there was a black shoe lying next to it. Brody, it doesn’t look good right now, man. A rag was found just inside the door. We’re waiting for the crime techs to get here, but we’re pretty sure it’s gonna test positive for chloroform.”

  My palms are sweaty and I feel light-headed.

  “Linds…,” I breathe out, stumbling backward until I hit the squad car. Clenching my fists, I take a couple deep breaths, in and out, but it does little to help. “Fuck,” I roar, beyond infuriated that this is happening. That it’s fucking real.

  “Brody, you need to keep it together. We’re gonna need you.”

  “What do you need? Anything, Garret. We need to find her.”

  “We will, man. I promise you that.” Garrets rests his hands on my shoulders and looks me right in the eyes, his expression deadly serious. “I promise.”

  Jerking my head in a nod, I wipe my mouth with my shaking hand and pull out my cell phone, trying to think of anything that can help. Pulling up Hunter’s number, I send him a text.

  Brody: Daniels, do you have Liam’s number?

  Hunter: Yeah, 472-8912

  Brody: Thanks, man.

  Hunter: No worries.

  Copying it into my keypad, I hit Call and pray to God he answers.

  “Hello?”

  “Liam. Hey, man, it’s Brody Walker.”

  “Hey, dude. What’s going on?”

  Pacing back and forth, I run my hand over the back of my neck. “Listen, are you with Hollie right now? I need to talk to her.”

  “Yeah, one sec.”

  I can hear him yelling in the background, and then a second later I hear her.

  “Brody? What’s going on?” Her cheery voice almost brings me to my knees. She definitely knows nothing, so clear
ly Lindsey isn’t there.

  “She’s gone, Hollie.” The three words gut me.

  “What?”

  “Linds. She’s gone, taken from the hospital.”

  She starts crying and there’s a rustling over the line before Liam is back on.

  “What the fuck is going on, Brody?”

  “Linds was working till five and she hasn’t been seen since. Lake got out on bail yesterday, and they have no idea where he went when he got out.”

  “Motherfucker. Do they have anything?”

  “No, nothing. Listen, can you have Hollie call her parents? I don’t have their number, and Lindsey’s phone is dead.”

  He agrees and I end the call, not saying goodbye. I don’t have time.

  Walking over to Garret, he tells me that Jace just found Lindsey’s car still parked where she left it yesterday. Clenching my fists, I pace in circles, trying desperately to not lose my shit.

  “Brody, come here.”

  Turning at my brother’s voice, I close the ten feet between us in half a second.

  “I just got off the phone with Mom. Head over there. We’re gonna get all the security footage from the hospital, but that’s gonna take a couple hours.”

  “Fuck that, Garret. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Brody, there’s nothing you can do here. Go to Mom’s and wait there, okay? You know I’m gonna call you the second I have anything.”

  “Fuck no, Garret. I can’t just fucking sit around and do nothing. I’m going to—”

  “Brody, stop. What you’re gonna do is fucking listen to me.”

  Ignoring his words, I try to push past him again, but he shoves me back hard, his eyebrows knitted in anger.

  “Brody, I swear to fucking God. Don’t make me cuff my own brother, damn it. Listen to me. Go. To. Mom’s. I will call you the second we see the tapes, got it?”

  “Fuck.” Spinning on my heel, I go back to my truck, heading toward my parents’ house. Halfway there, my stomach starts rolling and I’m sweating. Pulling to the shoulder, I stumble from my truck and the second I get to the dirt, I lose the contents of my stomach, heaving violently, hands braced on my knees.

  When I’m finished, I straighten up and climb back in. Pulling onto the road once more, I reach my parents’ driveway with blurry vision, the tears I’ve been fighting no longer being held back.