Out of the Storm

by Jillian Elizabeth

  He pulls the phone back looking at me, “Chantal's water broke.”

  My eyes widen to match his. “What the fuck are we sitting here for then? Drive the goddamn car!”

  He throws the car on speaker as he hits back on the road. We aren't far from the station and this evening traffic is decently light.

  “Nick…..I'm so scared,” filters through the speakers of the car.

  “I know, baby, I'm trying to hurry. I'm so sorry...I'll be there. Just sit and try and breathe.”

  “Hey Chantal, I'm gonna try and get Andrea over to you. She can run you to the hospital until Nick gets there. We don't want these sweet little nieces of mine born on your floor at home,” I interrupt, trying to put some humor through to her.

  She lets out a small laugh. “You would say that, Carter. I don't want an ambulance, I'll wait for Andrea. Just tell her to please hurry, I'm cramping a little bit, but it's tolerable right now.”

  “Hold tight, baby….I love you...I love you so fucking much,” Nick says to her on a choke.

  “I love you,” she whispers. “This is one of those times I wish my mom was still around,” she chokes out.

  Losing her mom was hard on her. She was her caretaker while she was sick. Those fucking cancers don't waste time, and they don't care who you are. She was all Chantal had before us. Now, we're her family.

  I pull my phone out and call Andrea.

  “Hey handsome,” she answers on the second ring.

  “Hey yourself, beautiful.”

  “You coming home to lose yourself?”

  “Well, that was the plan, love. It seems our nieces want to meet the world.”

  “Omg….omg really? Where is she? What's happening?” she says in rapid fire with all the questions she can think of.

  “She's at home. Nick and I are still on the road heading back to the station. We aren't far, but you're closer. Can you take her to the hospital? She doesn't want an ambulance, she wants you, baby.”

  “Okay, I'm on my way. Omg let me throw some jeans on and grab my shoes.”

  “She's on her way, Chantal,” I say out loud so she can hear me.

  “Thank you, Carter.”

  We pull in to the station and I hop out quick so Nick can go meet them at the hospital.

  “Oakhill, sweetheart?” he asks to make sure where he's going.

  “Yes….ugh… woo…..I… I already called Dr. Shin, he's expecting me and already there.”

  I peek my head back down through the door. “Good luck, man. I'll be there soon. Go take care of your girl,” I tell him rapping my knuckles on the roof.

  “I'm about to drive like Bo fucking Duke,” he says on a small laugh. He's nervous. I don't blame him.

  “Andrea just got here, babe, I'm gonna hang up and get there. See you soon?”

  “You know it, don't go having those beautiful babies of ours without me now.”

  “I'll try…” Her voice sounds strained and clearly Andrea is about to have her hands full.

  “Drive safe, Bo Duke,” I tell him as I shut the door.

  Swinging home real quick, I change my clothes since I'll be hanging out at the hospital waiting for the arrival of the twins. A suit isn't so comfortable for that. Walking to the front door, I see a teddy bear on the porch. Picking it up, I see its head is hanging off, just barely still attached. What in the ever loving fuck? I look it over, turning it this way and that looking at its white fur and little bow tie that's still attached to the neck area. A rolled up piece of paper falls out and hits the porch.

  Leaning down, I pick it up and unroll it. A handwritten note written in red and all large capital letters is across the 8x10 sheet of paper.

  THE MIGHTY STARFISH-

  NOT BROKEN ENOUGH

  I’M GOING TO ENJOY

  THE SWEET REDEMPTION

  BACK FOR WHAT I LEFT BEHIND

  MINE

  A cold sweat runs over my body. Only one sick fuck would do this. He was in prison only this morning.

  Did he? No….no fucking way.

  I pull my phone out and call Andrea. I need to make sure she's alright. Something is most definitely not right.

  “Hey handsome,” she says on the second ring.

  “Beautiful…. are you okay? You're still with Chantal?” I ask in a panic.

  “Yes, pulling up to Emergency now. You okay? Your voice is shaking, Carter.”

  I sigh a huge breath of relief. “Yes, of course,” I say clearing my throat. “Just ran home to change my clothes and heading toward the hospital. You at Oakhill?”

  “Okay, yes, I'll see you here. Can you grab me a sweater please? I forgot one at home in my rush to get out. It's always so cold in hospitals. We are at Oakhill Dearborn. See you soon.”

  “I'll grab it and be on my way. Hey, Starfish?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too. See you soon...muah.”

  Hanging up, I run in the house and change. Going in the closet, I grab one of my hoodies for Andrea that I know she loves to wear. I'm back down, locking the house, and heading out fifteen minutes later. I shove the teddy bear and the rolled note in the back. I'm taking it to be analyzed tomorrow. I'm taking no chances where she's concerned. Not ever again.

  The drive to Oakhill is about twenty-five minutes if I take Telegraph Rd, hopefully I don't miss anything. I want to welcome my godchildren as soon as I’m able. I just hope Nick is okay. He was a nervous wreck when he left.

  The drive down Telegraph is pretty clear. Passing over each road is eating up the miles the closer I get to Michigan Ave. My phone starts ringing and I pick it up on the steering wheel. It's Holly.

  “Hey Holly,” I answer.

  “Carter….Carter, where are you right now?” she's yelling and crying.

  “I'm on Telegraph, about to come up on Michigan Ave. What's going on? Everything okay?”

  “I'm on 94, there's a huge accident Carter…..Mass Casualties. We need all the help we can get. It's bad, Carter, so bad!”

  “I'm coming now. I'm on my way. Hold tight, okay?”

  “Hurry, Carter…..Bobbie and Hunter…..”

  “Bobbie and Hunter what?” I ask as I slam the accelerator down harder.

  “I don't know if they'll make it. They were the first car and it's all a chain behind them,” she says breaking into hysterics. “I see smoke….holy shit, flames! I'm taking the 94 entrance now.”

  I'll see you in a minute,” I yell, as I off-road it from the entrance ramp and across the lanes. I hang up as I take the break across the field to get to the wreckage. Pulling up, I'm in awe. No less than thirty cars are involved and all are gridlocked and smashed. There are a few stretchers and other responders arriving as well. I pull up to where I see the overturned ambulance and see Holly standing there. A minivan is on fire and all I hear is screaming as I park and jump out of my SUV.

  My God!

  I run over to Holly, as she is trying to compose herself and tell responders where help is needed. Everyone seems to just be jumping in to help.

  “Holly, what happened?” I ask as I jog over to her. I can feel the heat from the flames of the van and they seem to be working on someone on a stretcher close by.

  “Hunter was driving the rig with Bobbie and their 3rd, Sara, in the back. A truck came out of nowhere and cut them off. The speed they were going and the truck playing chicken caused him to lose control. The rig flipped and rolled. Sara was killed on impact and thrown around the back. Bobbie and Hunter were talking after and were okay. Shaken up, but seemed to be okay besides some bumps and bruises. The catalyst here was a result of the traffic all hitting each other in a massive pile up one after another,” she says visibly shaking.

  One of the guys goes jogging past her and toward the burning van.

  “Hunter! What are you doing?” she starts yelling as he goes diving into the van. “Oh my God, what is he doing?” She's screaming and jumping up and down in the median between the east and west bound of
I-94.

  He emerges moments later with a little girl in his arms and doesn't make it far before dropping to the ground. It's then that I see Bobbie out of my peripheral vision, he's running over to his partner clearly concerned.

  A screaming mother is holding her baby as a paramedic runs over to Hunter on the ground. Holly runs to them both. I'm fast on her heels and feeling fucking helpless against all the surrounding chaos. We make it over to them and Bobbie starts to stagger as Holly is talking to him. He looks up at me but he can't seem to focus on anything. He's going down and I can see it coming. I run over to try and grab more assistance and call Nick to tell him where I am. He needs to keep Andrea with them until I get there. I don't want her home alone with the gift I found on the porch earlier.

  “Nick, hey, I'm on 94 and it's mass casualty here.”

  “What the hell is happening?”

  “Accidents everywhere, all smashed into the other. Is Andrea still there with you? I don't want her leaving until I get there okay?”

  “Carter, I haven't seen Andrea since I got here. Chantal said they took her back and Andrea was in the waiting room. I just went in to get her, Chantal wants her in the delivery room. She isn't there man.”

  What the hell does he mean she isn't there? “She should fucking be there, Nick!”

  “She's not here, Carter. Thought maybe she went home.”

  A cold chill runs down my spine. “Alright I'm gonna call her and see where she went. I'll keep you posted.”

  “Okay man, we are here. Chantal is hooked up and in the delivery room here and we are just waiting.”

  “Give her a kiss for me. I gotta go,” I say hanging up and immediately dialing Andrea.

  As I'm pulling my phone to my ear, it starts ringing. It's Scott. “Hey man,” I answer.

  “Carter, where are you? I'm heading toward the accident on I-94 now.”

  “I'm here and it's a fucking mess. You on duty?”

  “Yeah, traffic is locked up but I'm almost there. Hang tight and I'll see you in a few.”

  “I'm in the median. We need major help man, call in whoever you can.”

  “Will do.”

  I call Andrea. It just rings and rings picking up on her voicemail. I don't like the feeling rolling through my gut right now. Not coupled with the fact that we had an unexpected present at our house. I'm gonna be sick. I try again and again. No luck. It's not like her, not at all. Something’s not right.

  A police cruiser comes barreling toward us, stopping just in front of where I stand. Scott jumps out. He's looking around and taking in the scene as he starts to radio for help from the radio on his shoulder. Dispatch responds a little muffled but there are multiple cities now responding for help with the situation. I just hope the casualties are minimal. Whoever started this is clearly not here.

  I try and call Andrea again. Hopefully it's just on silent in her purse since she was at the hospital. She's pretty courteous that way. Still no answer. Just her voicemail again.

  I start walking in circles and pacing. I'm not any help to anyone here, yet I don't even know where to start to find her. Nick will let me know if he sees her at the hospital. She wouldn't miss this, she wouldn't miss the babies being born. I try one more time.

  The phone clicks….it's silent for a moment until a voice that's deep and isn't Andrea's answers. “Well...well...well Carter fucking Avery. What a pleasure it is to talk to you.”

  My blood runs cold and my anger spikes. I have to play this cool because he clearly has Andrea.

  “Trent, I wasn't aware you were out,” I answer calmly.

  “Oh, and here you are missing my homecoming celebration! It was clearly rude on my part not to invite you. I'm truly sorry about that. But I've got my girl here. She's a little tied up at the moment,” he says on a small cunning laugh.

  Scott must sense my conversation as I pace the median with my hand to my forehead. I look up to him with nothing short of fear in my eyes. He pulls out an earphone piece and walks over to me quickly. Handing it to me silently, I put it in the phone and hand him the other ear piece as I keep Trent talking.

  “Where are you?” I respond on a shaky breath.

  “Oh, don't worry buddy, I'll be taking good care of her. She and I have some loose ends to tie up after all. I hope you got the present I left for you today.”

  Scott looks up to me with questioning eyes.

  “Trent, let's talk. Tell me what you need and what you're into and I can help you,” I try pleading.

  I'm so scared right now I'm trembling, but I'm trying not to show it.

  Scott looks up to me and nods. He drops the ear bud and quickly walks to his cruiser as the radio starts talking again. It's silent on Trent's end and I don't like it. More responders have pulled up and are running around. I'm helpless all the way around with this scene and wherever Trent has Andrea. It's not a good feeling, I don't like when my control is dampered.

  “Can I please talk to Andrea?” I ask Trent.

  “She's not really awake yet. She'll be so glad to see me, won't she? I'll bet she's missed me something crazy the last couple years I was locked away,” he laughs out. He's clearly lost touch with reality.

  Scott starts running back over to me nodding his head. I don't know what he's doing but he's obviously level headed enough to have a plan sorted out.

  “Listen buddy, I'm gonna run,” Trent says back down the line. “But I'll call you back when she’s roused, maybe we can FaceTime. That sounds like fun. You won't want to miss out on this.” The line goes dead and I drop to my knees in the grass, the evening dew soaking into the knees of my running pants.

  “Listen Avery, I know you're a mess in your head right now, but I need you to stay level with me. We're gonna find her and get her out. It's my last fucking weekend on the streets and I'm going out riding hard. I need your help man. I've put an APB out on Zito and Andrea. Just was told Trent was released late this afternoon into the custody of a detective. He was released to none other than Edward Rowenski,” Scott tells me as he kneels down in front of me. Now he has my attention.

  “Ed hasn't been seen since this morning. Lance at the station said he was at Oakhill, his mom was in intensive care,” I say confused and getting a whole lot pissed off.

  Scott nods. “He was, but I'm told his mom passed away this afternoon. Lily Merriam-Beecher.”

  It’s all starting to click together now.

  Ed’s mom, she's Holly's neighbor that was attacked this morning. Who the fuck knew about this little tidbit? That's something pretty damn huge.

  “When Nick questioned Bobbie Badger earlier, he said that Lily had a grandson living with her and he was nowhere around or to be seen at the time of the call.”

  Scott’s brows furrow together. “Does Ed have any kids? A wife?”

  “Don't know much about him to be honest. But heard he has a kid. He doesn't talk about his personal life and I've never seen him with a wife, just a younger girl at the Charity Gala on New Years. Oh my God, of course it's all starting to make sense now Scott. He had a young girl with him that clearly didn't want to be there. Is he in on this whole trafficking going on? Was she one of the girls?” I rapid fire my questions and thoughts out loud to him.

  “I'm setting up a silent headquarters right here amongst the chaos. They won't think we are planning and strategizing our way in. I just hope they are on my turf so I can help,” Scott tells me quickly and runs back to his cruiser.

  I'm standing here pacing and constantly looking at my phone. I hope he calls again so I know something.

  Scott comes back my way talking into his radio on his shoulder. He shuts it off as he approaches me.

  “When I said I wanted to talk to you, it's because I have some information I'm hoping will work in our favor right now,” he says as he stands in front of me looking around to see who may be listening.

  “There's an Oakland County Detective undercover right now in the trafficking. He’s embedded deep and no one has had contact
with him in a few weeks. His name is Sam Spencer. When I say he goes deep, I mean he goes all the way with building trust and doing whatever’s necessary to keep it.”

  I just nod my head to him taking it all in and spinning it around. Hope blooms in my chest with this new information.

  “I saw him a few months back,” Scott continues. “He came to my dad’s bike shop in downtown Dearborn when I was there working on my bike. I had just bought a drone to use out at our new place and he asked if he could borrow it.”