Fall: Rise & Fall Duet Book 2 (Shaken 4)

by Grahame Claire

“I have to find him,” I wailed. I batted at the tears, desperate to get them out of the way so I could see. As soon as I swiped one away, another was in its place.

  I felt my way to the bedroom with Lincoln’s guidance.

  “Shoes. I need my shoes.” I willed the torrent to stop. “I can’t go in there.”

  All I could picture was Eric locked in the closet for hours in the dark. What if it turned into days? I needed to get to him but didn’t have the courage to go into a perfectly safe closet to get my shoes.

  Lincoln steered me to the edge of the bed. I sat when he gently applied pressure to my shoulders. In seconds, he’d found a pair of slip-on flats and knelt in front of me to put them on my feet.

  “Do you have any idea where they would go?” he asked quietly.

  “N-n-no.”

  Get it together, Lexie. For Eric.

  I breathed in ragged breaths, trying to get oxygen so I could calm. It took a few tries, but I’d managed to slow my tears and clear some of the haze in my brain.

  “But I know who does.” Like a switch, my movements went from slow motion to frantic. I searched for my phone, dialed, and put it on speaker.

  “Well, well, well, baby doll. I thought that brother of yours might get you to call.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Lincoln

  Hooonnnkkk.

  I laid on the horn at the car at the light in front of me. The driver shot me the bird out the window. As soon as the traffic light turned green I swerved around them, narrowly missing a bicyclist.

  Lexie didn’t seem to mind my recklessness with her van.

  Her asshole of a father had given us thirty minutes to meet them at their old apartment building. I didn’t think they’d do anything to Eric since he was the only leverage they had, but I wasn’t taking any risks.

  “We get him in our hands, then they get the money.” I turned on two wheels at the next block.

  He’d demanded two hundred thousand in cash. I’d had a little more than that in my safe, thank God. I’d stuffed it in a duffel bag as quickly as I could and we’d raced out the door.

  I knew better than to give her parents what they wanted, but as long as we got Eric and he was okay, the money would be worth it.

  And when the police arrested them for kidnapping, all the better. Daniel was going to make certain of that.

  Lexie fisted her cotton-ball sweatshirt and stared out the window. She’d stopped crying, but only spoke when necessary.

  I hated her silence. I had no idea what was going on in her head, other than absolute horrific pain.

  I’d screwed up so badly.

  Not only had I let down Lexie, I’d let down Eric too. They were counting on me for protection, and I couldn’t do it.

  I’d taken that role seriously all my life. Believed I was good at it. In three and a half seconds, I’d been proven useless.

  And as I’d relayed what had happened with Daniel, even his words hadn’t been any consolation.

  “You had to make a choice, Lincoln. And with that gun pointed at Eric’s head, the right choice was to do as Marlene Logan had asked,” Daniel said. “People like that are motivated by money, and Eric was her best shot.”

  “What if she hurts him? What do I do—”

  “Lincoln, they want the money. He’s their ticket.”

  If I’d charged her to get him back, she might have hurt him.

  I couldn’t take that risk.

  But the utter fear on his face was stamped in my brain. Would be forever. What agony and terror he must be going through. I was petrified and the gun had only been pointed at me for a mere second. Though it had been far more frightening when she turned the gun on him.

  What if this traumatized him permanently? What if he was never the same? Because I’d let him down.

  I’d never forgive myself.

  I wasn’t going to anyway.

  Even if it was the last thing I ever did, I would get him back to Lexie.

  “That’s it.” She pointed to a five-story building that appeared unoccupied and dilapidated. We weren’t far from the property I wanted Beau to purchase.

  Lexie and Eric had grown up in one of those horror houses.

  Her phone rang and she picked up before a second tone sounded. “Where are you?” She paled and hung up. “They’re in our old apartment.”

  She swallowed hard but pushed open the door. I grabbed the duffel bag and followed her to the entrance.

  The glass was busted out and the lock was gone.

  “Where is the apartment? I’ll go get him. You stay out here.”

  She shoved past me as if I wasn’t moving fast enough. She turned on the flashlight on her phone. Her shoulders were tense as she darted up the steps. She danced around holes in the floor as if she had them memorized from years of practice.

  A rat scurried across the third-floor landing. She kept going past as if she hadn’t noticed.

  The walls were dank and stained from water leaks. It smelled as if it had been closed up for a decade. And I wasn’t sure the structure was safe enough to support us.

  Lexie stopped in front of a fourth-floor apartment. She hesitated only for a moment before she kicked the door open.

  Her father grinned when she burst inside. “Hi, baby doll. No hug for your daddy?”

  Lexie frantically looked around. “Where’s Eric?”

  His expression turned serious. “Where’s my money?”

  “You get nothing until we have him back.”

  Donnie Logan slowly looked at me as if just realizing I was there. “You brought your fancy pants sugar daddy? From now on you can pay me for the ‘services’ she gives you.”

  I was going to kill him. As soon as we got Eric back, I would put my bare hands around his neck and squeeze the life out of that bastard.

  “The sooner you return Eric, the sooner you get your money.”

  He leaned on the wall. “I think the deal has changed. If you brought what I asked, that’s just the down payment. You’re gonna owe me for both of my children. In cash. Every week.”

  Lexie screamed as she charged at the opening he blocked. “Eric!” she cried as she plowed into him.

  “Oomph.” He doubled over but caught her leg as she leaped over him.

  He tackled her to the floor and held her down.

  “Eric! I’m here!”

  I dropped the duffel bag and ran for them.

  Get your hands off of her.

  She clawed and kicked, landing several blows before I could get to them.

  I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked.

  “Let him go.” The woman’s voice from earlier spoke from behind me. Something round and cool and metal pressed into the center of my back.

  I held him like a rag doll suspended in air long enough for Lexie to get away. The hall was dark. She’d lost her light. And I couldn’t see where she’d gone.

  I counted to ten and dropped the bastard, but slammed my foot on the small of his back.

  The barrel of the gun dug deeper against me.

  “Let. Him. Go.”

  Reluctantly, I removed my hold.

  Donnie crawled to his feet. “Shoot that asshole,” he grunted.

  “You never could think, Donnie. He’s the one with the money.”

  “Now I am,” he said triumphantly.

  I spun. He held up a lighter which provided enough light to see the strap of the duffle bag firmly in his grasp.

  Damn it. This entire scenario had not gone to plan. I’d screwed up again.

  “You have baby doll call me every Friday for our little arrangement. I want ten grand. It ain’t delivered when I say, and we’ll crank this party up.” He motioned for his wife. “C’mon, honey. We’ve got some catching up to do.”

  I couldn’t see the details of her features, but her hair was a completely different length and color than it had been earlier in the evening. Even her face didn’t look the same.

  She glanced back at me with a sneer.
“She thinks she knows where he’s at, but she’s gonna have to look real hard.”

  They vanished, and I fired off a text to Daniel after turning off the recording.

  Now.

  I’d recorded every word out of that son of a bitch’s mouth. Daniel had organized for Officer Wilson to be at the door after we went in. I just hoped he’d gotten here soon enough.

  Right now, I had to find my girl.

  I turned on my flashlight and shined it in the direction Lexie had gone. “Lexie,” I called. My shout echoed in the empty space.

  Her troubled face appeared. “He’s not here. I’ve looked everywhere.”

  No.

  No.

  “We will find him.”

  She didn’t look as if she believed me. “Let me check the kitchen.”

  She threw open cabinet doors. One of them fell off and clattered to the floor.

  I helped her search, but it was empty too.

  “What could they have done with him?”

  Anything.

  But I kept that to myself.

  “She said you were going to have to look really hard.”

  I’d let them walk away. With the money. And no Eric.

  “Let’s try another apartment,” I suggested. I’d search the entire building from top to bottom twice if I had to. “We stay together.”

  Teague had always emphasized in the fire department’s crisis training the importance of partners. This building was dangerous. It was dark—

  Teague.

  I pressed his contact info. I’d told him about what happened because he’d called when we hadn’t shown up for popsicles. I don’t know why I didn’t think of him before.

  “Any news?” He sounded as concerned as I felt.

  “We think he’s in the apartment building where they grew up. But it’s abandoned and we don’t have any light other than our phones. Any chance you could help in that department?”

  “Text me the address and I’ll have you hooked up in ten minutes.”

  I sent the location and prayed help arrived soon.

  “Call my phone. We need the light,” Lexie said tensely.

  The device lit from the floor several feet away. She picked it up and shined the flashlight toward the door.

  It’s done. They’re in custody.

  I wanted to celebrate with the news in Daniel’s text, but it was a hollow victory.

  No Eric. Make them disclose his location.

  We will.

  We could use help in the search.

  On it.

  “They’ve been arrested.”

  Lexie’s light swiped across the walls as she spun around. “How? Never mind. We have to find Eric.”

  “I’ve asked for backup.”

  “Eric!” she shouted when we were back out in the hallway. She moved to the apartment to the left and kicked that door. “Eric!” The desperation in her voice was nearly crippling.

  Agony intensified at every empty room we checked. When is help coming? It felt like forever since I’d spoken to Teague.

  Blinding light flooded the hallways. A momentary breath of relief slashed through me but was quickly replaced by the ever-present distress.

  “Lincoln!” Teague’s voice floated up the center of the stairwell. “Backup is here. You found him yet?”

  I leaned on the railing. “Not yet,” I yelled down.

  “We’ll start down here.”

  I shielded my eyes. Out the window, I could see the ladder of a fire truck and a fireman pointing a high beam light inside.

  The interior of this building was worse than I thought. I wanted Lexie out of here so she wasn’t hurt, but didn’t dare demand that.

  She kicked open another door with precision. I checked the kitchen while she searched the rest of the apartment.

  “Eric!” I called. Had they knocked him out? Where is he?

  “He’s not here,” Lexie said in frustration.

  “Think for a minute. Does what your mother said have any significance? About making it hard on you?” In our haste, maybe we’d missed a clue.

  “Everything she did was hard on us,” she said bitterly as she pushed past.

  Where are you, Eric?

  An hour later, with the help of NYPD and FDNY we’d searched the entire building.

  No Eric.

  I yanked on my hair and stared at the decrepit place. What if they had killed him?

  I wouldn’t think that way.

  Either we’d find him, or the police would get the Logans to talk.

  Lexie ran back toward the building.

  I raced after her. “You can’t go in there alone.”

  “I’m not leaving here without him.” She threw my arm off her shoulder. “He has to be here. He has to.”

  “Is there a basement or a rooftop area?”

  “The roof. Oh my gosh, Lincoln. She locked us in a closet on the roof one summer. It was so hot.”

  I took the stairs two at a time, risk of falling be damned. At the top of the stairwell, I smashed through the door with my foot. Cool evening air hit me in the face.

  I searched for what looked like a closet and noticed a pile of chairs and furniture and anything one could think of to bar a door.

  I threw everything out of the way as if it were weightless, finally revealing a door.

  “Eric!” Lexie’s voice broke on his name.

  I yanked on the handle and it was locked.

  She reared back her leg.

  “Wait. If he’s in there, he could be injured when we smash the door.”

  She lowered her foot. “Eric.” She shouted more desperately this time.

  We waited for what felt like an eternity.

  “Sis?”

  Relief swept hard and fast through me. We’d found him.

  “Hang on, bow tie. We’re going to get you out of there.”

  “Okay.”

  I called Teague. “We found him. We need something to open a locked door.”

  “What’s wrong with your foot?”

  I drew in a breath for patience. “We don’t want to hurt him.”

  “Cal’s a master at picking locks. He’ll have him out in no time.” His voice became muffled. “Yo, Cal. Get your lock set.”

  “We’re on the roof.”

  “Be careful up there, man. In an old place like this it could have some weak spots.”

  As long as it didn’t before we were out of here, I didn’t care.

  “Eric? Can you hear me?” Lexie crouched and pressed her face to the door.

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “I gotta go to the bathroom,” he said urgently.

  “If it’s bad, just go in there. If you can wait a little bit, we’ll find you one,” Lexie said with the gentleness of a mother. A good mother. Not their mother.

  “My tummy hurts, sis. I can’t see. It’s dark.”

  “It won’t be for long. A fireman is on the way to pick the lock.”

  “Like Teague?”

  “Just like Teague.” She sounded far more calm than I felt.

  “Is Millie here?”

  The dog. How had I let it slip my mind that he’d want her?

  “She’s at home, waiting to see you as soon as we get there.”

  “Over here,” I said the second I saw a figure come out of the stairwell into the moonlight.

  It was the man my sister seemed to hate. If he got Eric out of this closet without so much as a hair harmed on his head, I’d show him some leniency.

  “The fireman is here,” Lexie said before she moved away from the door to allow him to work.

  He looked at the lock, opened his case, and selected the tool he wanted. “Hey, Eric. It’s Cal. We met the other night.”

  “Hey, Cal.” Eric sounded so small and far away, but brave. Far more brave than I’d ever be.

  “Had any Lucky Charms lately?” he asked as he worked.

  The lock popped and the door opened.

  “No.” E
ric blinked, though he didn’t move from his spot on the floor.

  “Need a hand up?” Cal extended his arm.

  Lexie ducked under it and knelt in front of Eric. “You’re okay.” She brushed his hair back from his forehead.

  “Yeah. Can I get out now?”

  “Yes.” She shook her head as if to clear it and unblocked the door. “Yes, you can.”

  I muscled between Cal and Lexie, lifting Eric to his feet.

  He threw his arms around me. “You saved me.”

  I held him tight. It was my fault he’d been through this hell. I didn’t deserve his praise.

  “Glad you’re all right.” I patted his back.

  Once he let me go, he went straight to Lexie. She hugged him long and hard, sniffling.

  “I want to go home,” he said.

  She scrubbed his hair. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Lexie

  I hadn’t let my brother out of my sight since his return last night.

  My irrational fear that he’d be taken again consumed me.

  He didn’t appear to be physically hurt, but mentally? I couldn’t think about what our parents had said to him. Or done to him. He’d often been crying when they’d pushed him into the cupboard when he was small. But how did they get him onto the roof? What did they threaten him with to get him there?

  I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t left him alone. Muffy and Millie had been glued to him, and I was grateful for them. They’d given my brother some comfort.

  He held Millie now as he slept.

  It was time to get our day started, but we weren’t delivering our dog food today. We needed a break, though I’d considered keeping our routine so Eric would feel normal.

  “A hearing is set for Monday. I’ll testify when the time comes.”

  I jumped.

  Lincoln spoke softly so as not to disturb Eric. He motioned toward the door with his head. Reluctantly, I followed him, but he stopped just in the hallway. I stood where I could see my brother.

  “I spoke to Zegas. He made sure none of the attorneys he knows will take your parents’ case. He’s very familiar with the judge who was assigned and feels she’ll sentence to the fullest extent of the law. Which will be life.”