“He’s just a little boy,” I say, tears pooling in my eyes and slipping down my cheeks as I watch them take Dylan away.
Trevor wipes my tears away. “If you don’t obey, he’ll be a dead little boy.” I’ve never heard Trevor’s voice so menacing. I shiver. “Mother will be here in forty minutes, get the table set and everything ready.”
I nod my head, stepping into the kitchen. His mother arrives exactly forty minutes later. She isn’t at all how I imagined her to be. I had envisioned the typical 1950’s era woman, but she is dressed in a modern pants suit and talking on her cellphone. From the sound of it, she is possibly a lawyer. She promptly hangs up as she walks into the house.
“Trevor, what on earth is all this about? I have court in the morning.” She looks around the house as if she’s never been here before. Her eyes settle on me. “Who’s this?”
Trevor wraps an arm around my waist. “This, Mama, is my fiancée Shayla. Shayla, this is my mother, Rachel McAdams.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Fiancée? I had no clue you were even dating.”
“We went to college together and recently reconnected through work. She’s given up her position so that we can be together. We didn’t want to waste any more time, so we’re getting married tomorrow.”
She balks. “For heaven's sake, boy, she’s probably after your money.”
“That’s not the case at all, Mother.”
“We’ll see.” She sticks her hand out to shake mine. I slip mine into hers and she shakes it firmly. She squints her eyes at me and pulls me to her a little. “What happened to your face?”
Trevor pulls me back against his chest. “Mama,” Trevor warns.
“She’s a grown woman, Trevor. Let her answer for herself.” She looks at me again. “What happened to your face?” I cup my cheek. I had forgotten about him slapping me. I stare at her for a moment too long. She nods her head. “I see. Trevor, a word.” As she is pulling him away I swear she says, “You’re just like your father.”
She drags him into the living room. I can barely hear them.
“Did you hit that girl?”
“I’d never hurt her on purpose,” Trevor responds. He sounds like a scared little boy.
“That’s not what I asked you, Trevor. Did you hit her?”
There’s a long pause. “Yes. She wouldn’t listen and I got angry.” I hear a loud smack.
“Sorry, I got angry,” she says sarcastically, and walks back to me. “You don’t have to put up with him hitting you. His father was the same way. I left him… then he died.”
There’s no remorse in her voice at all. She just stated it like it was a matter of fact. It makes me wonder if he died because of her family connections with the Mathis’.
I mumble, “Wish I could.”
“What was that?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“Let’s eat,” Trevor offers quietly.
“Yes, fine,” she states, not too impressed with him.
She takes a seat as dinner is served. It’s very quiet, but every time I look up at Trevor, I have to fight back my smile. His mom hit him so hard there is still a faint hand-print on his cheek. I wonder what she’d do if she knew he beat me with a belt? I’m honestly so baffled at why he’s like this. Obviously, his father was abusive, but did he want Rachel to be the epitome of the 1950’s housewife? Was that why he hit her? His mom seems to be a very modern woman, not anything like this passive housewife Trevor wants me to portray. Is that why he wants me like this? He doesn’t approve of his mother’s chosen profession? She didn’t nurture him enough? He seems almost submissive around her, like he’s afraid of her. Maybe he is. An uneasy feeling creeps into my belly, things might be worse for me now than they were before. If she knows I’m here against my will, would she be willing to help me? She did say I didn’t have to tolerate his abuse. I’m so confused and scared, especially now that they have Dylan.
Please hurry, Ryan!
Chapter Seventeen
Ryan
“Mom, calm down. What do you mean he’s gone?”
My mind is going through a thousand different scenarios. She takes a deep breath, but I can hear her sobbing.
“He’s not here, Ryan. I checked on him last night around ten. He was sleeping. I made sure the windows were locked and left him be. I’m so sorry.”
My heart sinks. They got him. I know they did.
“We’re on our way, Mom.” I numbly hang up the phone. The guys look at me for a long moment before I speak again. “They have Dylan.”
Marsh responds, “We’ll find him. Let’s head over to your mom’s. We may not get any evidence, but we can assess the scene.” I nod, but make no move. “Ryan?”
I shake my head. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t put my family in danger. What if they don’t make it back? What if we aren’t in time?”
“You can’t think like that. The guys are up in the air. They’ll have a plan. After we check out your mom’s place, we’ll head up to the airfield. We’ll use that as our home-base. We’ll be closer. We will save them.”
Marsh puts so much bravado behind his words that I can’t help but believe him. We pack up all of our gear in preparation to head to the airfield. Apparently, the guys found a house, a garage, and what looks like some underground bunkers. It was all built off-grid so there are no actual blueprints, but from what the guys could tell, it’s solar powered with a backup generator. They spared no expense.
Tom comes out of his house as I’m locking mine. “Ready?” he asks.
“Yep.”
I look behind him at Gale to see tears streaking down her face. She wipes them away quickly. She always tries to put on a tough face, but I know this is hard for her. I wrap her in a hug.
“I’ll get them back, Gale. I swear.”
“I know you will,” she whispers against me.
“Will you reconsider going with my mom to my brother’s?” I say as I look into her determined eyes.
“Oh, honey. I’ll be fine. I’m going to my sister’s, but as soon as Tom calls to say you’re on the way home, I’m fixing everyone a big meal to celebrate.”
I chuckle. “Of course you are. I love you.” I give her a kiss and she squeezes me a little too tightly, but I don’t mind.
“Love you too, Ryan. Bring my babies back to me.”
“Will do, Mom.”
I give her and Tom a few minutes alone as we load up the last bit of stuff. We wait for Gale to pull out of her driveway before we head off to my mom’s. If I know my mother, she is stressed, upset, and likely blaming herself for this.
“Mom!” I call as I take the steps two at a time.
“Upstairs!” she calls back.
I take a left at the top and find her in my old bedroom, the one she’s converted for Dylan. I scoop her up from the floor and sit her in the chair across from Dylan’s bed. I kneel down in front of her, taking her hands in mine.
“I’ll find him.”
“I’m so sorry.” She sobs.
I hug her to me. “Don’t. This isn’t your fault. I should have had your house watched. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
“I set the alarm on the house. I never heard anything,” she says looking up at me. “You don’t think he snuck out do you?”
“No, I really don’t think so.”
“Ryan.” I turn to Marsh, he holds up a smashed origami fox. “It must have fallen when she was checking for Dylan. Found it under the pile on the floor.” He points to the heap of blankets.
I curse and hold my hand out for it. He hands me a glove, then the fox. I carefully unfold the paper creature to find the word ’Soon’. I close my eyes to try and rein in my anger as well as my fear.
“What does that mean?” My mom asks.
I shake my head. “I guess he’s ready to face me.”
“There’s nothing else to see here. We should get going,” Marsh tells me.
I nod, but turn to my mom. “Nathan sh
ould be here soon. Will you be okay? I can wait for him.”
“No, no. You go on. I’ll be just fine. If they wanted me, they would have taken me as well. I’m so sorry, Ryan.”
I hug her again. “I know, Mom. This isn’t your fault. I’ll get the ones responsible.”
“Just be careful, please.”
“I will.”
As we load up in the car, my brother pulls up. I speak to him briefly, explaining the situation before leaving with my men. I’m confident that my brother won’t let anything happen to our mom. He may travel a lot for work, but family always comes first for him. We’ve been on the road about twenty minutes when the chief calls me.
“Ryan, I don’t know how to tell you this, but there was a body found out by the marina at Walnut Cove. It appears to be a teenage boy around fifteen. He matches your son’s description.”
“It’s not Dylan,” I say immediately. I know I’m probably in denial, but it can’t be. Mathis would wait for me to be there, that’s part of his game.
“I’d like you to come confirm that,” the chief continues. “We found Dylan’s backpack and his cell phone on the body.”
“It’s planted. I don’t have time for this, Chief, do a DNA sample and you’ll see it isn’t Dylan.”
Marsh hits mute. “I think we need to check it out. We’re only about ten minutes from Walnut Cove.”
“It’s not him. This is a waste of time.”
“Ryan, you put me in char …”
I glare at him. “Yeah and I’m revoking your title. We’re not going!”
“Chief, I have a solid lead on Shayla. I’m certain Dylan is with her. Just run a DNA test. Dylan’s results are already on file. The hard copy is in the filing cabinet in my office.”
“Okay. If that’s what you really want, but, Ryan, I’ve met Dylan and this kid looks just like him. We compared him to the picture in your office. I really think you need to come here.”
My stomach drops and my heart beat picks up. I turn to Marsh. He must see the panic in my eyes.
“Chief, we’ll be right there.” Marsh disconnects the call. “Ryan, you know this isn’t Dylan. You’re right. He wouldn’t take him to just kill him. He probably got someone who looked like Dylan.
“Marsh, the only kid I know who looks anything like my son, is my nephew, Danny. They could be brothers, it’s so close.”
“But your brother was just at your mom’s.”
I shake my head. “Danny is Paul’s son. They live in Walnut Cove.”
I stare at my phone, debating if I should call Paul or not. I decide to wait. I’ll make sure before I stir up trouble. We arrive at the coroner’s office less than fifteen minutes later. I hurry out of the car and jog up to the front door where the chief waits for me.
“Ryan, I want to warn you. This isn’t a pretty sight. If you want to wait until he’s cleaned up a bit I understand.”
“No. I need to see him.”
He nods solemnly and leads me into the building, down to the morgue. We walk over to the table where the body lies. I nod to let him know I’m ready. He pulls back the material and my heart falters. I know immediately that it’s Danny.
“Oh, God!” I cry, shoving my fist in my mouth to stop myself from completely losing it.
I squat down on the floor, trying desperately to control myself. This may not be my son but this boy is my blood, my family. I watched him grow up, albeit mostly in photographs, but he is my blood nonetheless. He was such a great kid. He didn’t deserve this. My brother and his wife don’t deserve this.
“Ryan?” chief says. “Is this Dylan?”
I shake my head. I stand up and wipe my face. “It’s Danny Jacobs, my nephew.”
“I’m so sorry, Ryan.” The chief pats my back. “There was one of those paper foxes left at the scene. Do you want it?”
I wipe at my eyes again and nod my head. I take the evidence bag containing the fox and hand it to Marsh. I can’t deal with that right now. I have to tell my brother that his son is dead. I swallow thickly as I look towards Marsh.
“I need to call my brother.”
“We’ll give you a few minutes.”
“Thank you.”
Once they are out of the room, I stare blankly at my phone for a long while before I call my brother. I haven’t talked to him in months. He answers on the first ring.
“Hey, baby bro.”
I sniffle. “Paul, I need you to meet me downtown at the station.”
His jovial tone changes immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Danny. Will you come down?”
“Of course I will, but what’s wrong with him? Did he get into trouble? He went to a friend’s house last night.”
“He’s not in trouble.”
“I’m just down the block. I’m almost there.”
“I’ll meet you out front.”
I head to the front door. We arrive at the same time.
“What’s going on?” I can’t hold back, tears fill my eyes and my lip quivers. He knows without me saying the words.
“No. No. Please no!”
“I’m so sorry.”
“What happened? Where is he?”
I grip his shoulders and make him look at me. “I don’t know what happened yet. They’re investigating. They thought he was Dylan, so they called me.
He looks a little confused. “Was Dylan with him?”
“I’m not sure, but Dylan is missing. I have a lead, but we haven’t found him yet.”
“Danny is here?” he asks, his eyes filling with tears. “Can I see him?”
“Are you sure? He’s …” I trail off, not knowing what to say.
“I don’t care. I need to see him.”
I lead him to the room where Danny is. He stands there at first, just staring at the sheet covered body. After a long few minutes, he looks up at me with sadness in his eyes.
“Why did this happen?”
“Because of me,” I tell him honestly.
“Why because of you?”
My heart flutters and my head hurts. I’m ruining my family. They’d all be better off without me in their lives. Because of my past, their futures are all at stake. My nephew, Dylan, and Shayla are proof that I’m a danger to those around me.
“Ryan, answer me!”
“When I was undercover in the FBI, I worked for a man named Mathis. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of to gain his trust, but I did them and I was able to take him down. He was in jail, but he escaped and now he is hell-bent on getting his revenge. He took Shayla with the help of his cousin, Trevor Daniels, and now they have Dylan as well,” I say quickly.
“But you don’t know for sure if this Mathis person has Dylan or if he actually did this to my Danny?”
“I know for a fact that Mathis has Dylan. He left his calling card.”
“His calling card?”
“When he kills someone, he leaves an origami fox at the scene. It’s kind of complicated.” I pause, not wanting to give him too much information. The less he knows the better. “But … I do know that it’s him.”
“But you don’t know that he did this to Danny.”
“No. I don’t. It’s not his MO at all; so this doesn’t make any sense to me.”
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “Ry, even if this Mathis guy is responsible, this isn’t your fault. I want to blame you, I do, but you can’t control what anyone does. I don’t want this to be my son, but you didn’t do this.”
“But I feel responsible. Everyone around me is getting hurt,” I say and then stop. This isn’t really the time or place to hash out my feelings. I gesture to the body. “Do you want to see him?”
“No, not at all,” he says looking away. “What I want is for him to be at his friend’s house. I want to be picking him up in an hour.” He turns to me and wipes his eyes. “I know you haven’t been a dad for long, but you understand, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I really do. I’d give anything right now
to have Dylan with me and not in the clutches of that man.”
“I hope that you find him before it's too late,” he says solemnly.
“Me too.”
Paul turns back to Danny and grabs the corner of the sheet. He slowly pulls it down, uncovering his son’s beaten face. He says nothing, has no reaction, he just stares.
“Tell me this isn’t real, Ryan” he says, his voice cracking. “Tell me that I don’t have to call my wife and tell her that our baby is dead. Oh God, Danny, please, no, this can’t be happening.”
He leans over and kisses his son’s forehead and starts sobbing uncontrollably. I don’t know what to do when I can’t even control my own tears. I wrap my arms around my brother and we cry together.
“Sorry to interrupt but we really need to head out,” Marsh says, as he steps through the door.
“Go, Ryan. Find your son. I’ll take care of mine.”
“I’m so sorry, Paul.” I give him another hug, run my hand over Danny’s head and place a kiss to his forehead. “So sorry, Danny. I love you.”
Marsh and I walk silently back to the SUV. Mathis will die for this. I don’t care what I have to do. Even if I have to rot in jail for the rest of my life, he will pay for the heartache he has forced upon my family. He will not screw with my family any longer.
After about fifteen minutes on the road, Marsh says, “I talked to Jon. They’ve landed and the owner of the hangar has given them access to everything he has. Riley and Howard have been in communication and have some ideas on getting through the security system. We should be able to have everything ready to move no later than tomorrow night.”
“Sounds good,” I say distractedly. “Did you talk to the chief about Danny’s case?”
“Yeah, there was a fox, as you know. When we opened it, there was a picture of Dylan. He was tied and blindfolded, but there were no background markings to determine where exactly he was. On the back it said ‘he’s next’.”
Anger surges through me. “I don’t care how, but Mathis is a dead man.”
“Agreed.”
About fifteen minutes later, we are pulling up to the hangar. It’s small, but there’s room for two small planes and a couple of tractors, and there’s plenty of space for us to set up a command area. I thank the farmer, then head straight to Riley and Jon.
Vengeance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 1) Page 24