by Jeff Shelby
The knock was more insistent this time and I jumped out of bed, pulled on a pair of shorts, and grabbed the gun Alex had given me. I approached the door cautiously, my senses alert, and clutched the gun against my leg.
Ike’s face peered at me through the window of the door and he held up a hand in greeting.
I stuffed the gun in my waistband and opened the door.
“Hey, kid,” he said, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. “Not like you to not show up again and I knew you ran into some trouble the other day, so I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, Ike,” I said. “I overslept.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said, waving me off. “I set everything up. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’ll grab my bag and get over there.”
“Relax, Noah,” he said. “We’re good. Most employees get a couple days off every week. Besides, you’ve looked like you needed to sleep in since you got here.” He smiled. “Don’t sweat it.”
I appreciated his kindness, but I still felt guilty.
“I also wanted to give you a heads up,” he said, his smile fading.
“About?”
“Two things.” He leaned against the doorframe. “Some dude was asking around about you the other day.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I was in the deli getting lunch and he was asking the girl at the counter about you. She recognized you by the description, but didn’t have anything to give him.” He grinned. “Other than she thought you were cute.”
“Who was the guy?”
“Short. Beanpole. Dirty hair and a wispy mustache. Teeth like a weasel. Looked a lot like the guy you described to me when the other guy was asking about you.”
Zip.
“I’m not worried about him,” I said. “I don’t think he’ll be asking around anymore.”
“No?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“After he left, I talked to the girl,” he said. “She really didn’t have anything to give him, so I didn’t think it was anything to care about, but thought you should know.”
“Okay, thanks. What’s the other thing?”
His expression clouded. “This might be a bit more serious.”
“Alright.”
“Friend of mine, guy I have beers with every week, he’s a retired cop,” Ike said, folding his thick arms across his chest. “Worked over in Jacksonville for a long time, then came over here for about five years before he retired and then stuck around to find his next ex-wife. But he still hangs out with the guys on the force here, will do some security stuff once in awhile, that kind of shit.”
I didn’t say anything.
“He said he heard they got a call from San Diego,” he said, his gray brows furrowing. “Just a feeler. Nothing official. Looking for a guy in his thirties who used to be a detective.”
The news didn’t hit me as hard as I thought it might. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was expecting it, or because of Zip, or because I’d finally slept. But it didn’t put me in a panic.
“Okay,” I said.
“Way my buddy heard it was that they didn’t even want local to bring you in if they saw you,” he said. “They just asked for a call if you turned up.”
“Any idea who the San Diego cop was that called?”
“Nope,” he said. “I can ask, but I doubt he’ll know. He might be able to find out, but might draw attention, too, you know?”
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s fine. Don’t worry about it. How did he know to come to you?”
Ike adjusted the shades on his face. “When you got here, I put a bug in his ear. Just in case he heard anything. No details or anything, but just figured it might be a good idea in case you needed to know.”
“You trust him?”
Ike chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. I buy all the beer and trust me-he likes beer. He owes me a few favors. You’re good.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks, Ike. I appreciate it. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
He made a face and waved at me. “Whatever, kid. Carter said to take care of you and I’m not dumb enough to cross that crazy nut job. And he’s done right by me before, so I’m happy to help for as long as you need.”
I didn’t ask what Carter had done for him. That was probably a story that would take a couple days to explain.
“And if you gotta get outta here in a hurry,” he said. “Just leave the key inside. I’ll figure it out.”
“No,” I said. “I’ll let you know if I’m outta here. At the very least.”
“Whatever, kid,” Ike said. “You’re good with me. And take the day off, alright? I haven’t sat my fat ass over in that sand for awhile and my tan’s fading. I got it covered today.”
“You sure?”
He nodded. “Positive. I’ll find you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Ike,” I said. “Really.”
“Quit thanking me, kid,” he said, smiling. “Gonna make me feel like I need to hug you or something.”
We said goodbye and I shut the door. I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if it hadn’t been for Carter setting me up with Ike. There weren’t too many people who would just give you a place to live and a job without asking a million questions. No matter what happened, I wouldn’t just disappear on Ike. He deserved better than that.
The cell phone chirped and I jumped, unused to having a phone around. I dug it out from my pile of clothes and answered it.
“Noah.” It was Bella, her voice high-pitched, garbled. “He’s gone.”
“Alex? Where did he go?”
“No. Jackson.”
FORTY-TWO
Blood leaked from the corner of Alex’s mouth. He lay sprawled on his back on the sofa, his left eye swollen shut. Bella sat on the floor, squeezing a handful of Legos, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t look up when I burst through the door.
“Tell me,” I said.
“I was asleep,” Alex said, his voice groggy. “But I heard something. Thought maybe he’d gotten up for a drink of water or to go to the bathroom. I went back to look and got jumped. Saw at least two before I went out. Hit me with a gun, I think.”
“Did you see anything?” I asked Bella.
She didn’t respond, just sat there clutching the tiny bricks, as if the handful of Legos would somehow morph into her son.
“Bella.” My voice was harsher than I intended. “We need your help. What did you see?”
“I was already in the shower,” Bella said, her voice hollow. “I didn’t hear anything. I got out, put on my clothes and found him in the hallway.” She motioned to Alex. “I ran to Jax’s room and it was…empty.”
A sob tore from her chest and I looked away. I knew what it was like to lose someone.
“David.” There was no question in my mind.
“He took him,” she said, her voice breaking. “It was him.”
I nodded and felt the same rush of guilt I’d felt walking into Liz’s condo. I should’ve stayed with them. I shouldn’t have left them. I shouldn’t have been so stupid.
“I’m so sorry, Bella,” Alex said, trying to sit up. “It’s my fault.”
She bit her lip and folded her arms across her chest, her fingers still wrapped around the Legos. “No. It’s not. It’s mine. For letting this go on so long.”
“Noah left me here,” he said. “I should’ve gotten up when you got in the shower.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. David was going to make his point one way or another. And he decided to do it.”
I bent down next to her. “Bella. Listen to me. He did this because he’s pissed at me. Because I showed him up.”
“He took my kid.” Her voice broke and I put my hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll get him back.”
She looked at me with a ferocity I’d never seen. “Promise?”
The guilt sat on my shoulders like dead weight. My decision to get her out
had hurt Jackson. It was on me to fix it and I hadn’t been good at fixing anything in a really long time.
“Promise.”
She dropped the bricks she was holding and stood. “Tell me what to do.”
I fingered the Legos on the floor, thinking. “He wants his money, Bella. And he wants me. Because I did this to him. Put him in this position.”
“No,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “He’s doing it because he can.”
I waited, watching her. The sadness and helplessness were battling with some other emotion inside of her. Anger.
She paced the floor. “Control. I told you. He needs control. Just like Evan. When you told him I wouldn’t run for him anymore, he lost control of me. Now he’s got it back.” She paused. “Only way he’s gonna give that up is if he’s dead. I promise.”
Alex finally managed to push himself into a sitting position. He grabbed a tissue from the table and wiped at his mouth. “Not if we get you to San Diego. He won’t go that far.”
She sat down next to him. “It doesn’t feel like I can get far enough away.” She hesitated. The anger died out and the tears resurfaced. “And now he has Jax.”
The sobs came out in short bursts. Alex put his arm around her and she collapsed into him, her body shaking as she cried against him.
I watched her, helpless.
Liz’s voiced whispered in my head again.
Be you.
“Gimme your phone, Alex,” I said.
He looked at me, confused, but dug into his pocket. He fished it out and handed it to me.
I opened the contacts and found what I was looking for. “I gotta go outside and make a call.”
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Bella pushed tighter into him, her crying muffled as she pressed into his chest.
I headed for the door. “Being me.”
FORTY-THREE
Fifteen minutes later, I walked back into the house and handed the phone to Alex. He still had his arm around Bella. She’d stopped crying, but looked lifeless against him.
I sat down on the coffee table and touched her knee. “We need to get you packed.”
She didn’t move, but her eyes shifted in my direction. “I’m not going anywhere without Jax.”
“I know,” I said. “You have my word. We’re going to go get him and then we’ll get you to San Diego. But we need to be ready to go and that means getting you packed. Whatever you need to take with you. We’ll figure out furniture and things like that later on. But anything you and Jackson need for the short term? We need to get it packed now.”
“Why?” she asked, sitting up from Alex. “I don’t understand.”
“The only thing you need to understand is that we’re going to get Jax back and then get you both to San Diego,” I said. “But I don’t wanna waste time. As soon as it’s time to go, you need to be ready. So that means packing.”
Alex’s arm tightened around her. “And it’ll give you something to focus on. This is something you can do.” He looked at me and I nodded. “Best thing you can do is be ready to go when we bring him back.”
I hadn’t known Alex well back in San Diego, but in that moment, his willingness to just go along with me without asking questions and to suggest exactly what I’d been about to suggest, made me very glad that he’d come to Florida.
“I don’t know if I can,” she said.
“Start with your stuff,” he said. “Let me talk to Noah for a minute and then I’ll come help you with Jax’s stuff. Alright?”
She looked at me. “You swear we won’t go until he’s back?”
“I swear, Bella,” I said. “We aren’t going anywhere without Jax.”
She looked at Alex and he smiled at her and there was something in the smile that made me feel left out. Not in a bad way, but there was something intimate there that I wasn’t a part of. She stood and walked slowly back toward the bedrooms.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Alex said “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“I should’ve been awake,” he said, the features in his face tight with anger. “So stupid.”
“Why were in you Bella’s room?” I asked.
He sat up straighter, surprised. “How’d you know?”
“Whoever came in here, if you were on the couch, pretty sure you would’ve heard them sooner,” I said. “And pretty sure you would’ve scared the shit out of them and they would’ve done worse to you than they did.”
His shoulders fell and he exhaled. He rubbed his hands together. “Yeah. Right. I was in her room. She didn’t wanna be alone. Nothing happened. We just talked. She couldn’t sleep.” He shook his head. “We talked most of the night. About Jackson. His dad. Liz.”
I don’t think I winced outwardly at the mention of her name, but everything inside me did.
“We fell asleep on her bed together,” he said. “But nothing happened.”
“I’m not asking,” I said. “None of my business.”
“I know,” he said. “But I don’t want you thinking I’d do that. Take advantage of her or whatever.”
“I didn’t think that. I’m glad you were here to be with her. I think she likes you. That’s good.”
He shrugged. “For all the good I did.”
“Over and done,” I said. “And you’ll get a chance to fix it.”
He raised the eyebrow over the eye that wasn’t swollen shut. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I need to go do a few things, but we’re going to go get him tonight.”
“You’re sure it’s David?”
“I’m gonna find out for certain,” I said. “But, yeah, I feel sure.”
“So what are we gonna do?”
I stood. “I’ll tell you tonight. But we’re getting him back.”
He started to say something, then stopped. “Okay. Whatever you say. I’ll be ready.”
“No one comes in the front door but me,” I said. “Anyone else tries, shoot them.”
“Done,” he said.
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” I said. I nodded toward the back of the house. “Stay close to her. Just reassure her. And let her know she’ll be safe in San Diego.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Be okay if she stays with you for awhile when you get there?” I said. “In San Diego?”
He smiled. “Yeah. That’d be okay.”
I smiled back. “Thought it would be.”
FORTY-FOUR
An hour later, I had confirmation that David had Jackson.
I took Alex’s car and drove back to David’s house, parking two blocks away. I got out and walked up the street and was a block away when I saw Red at the end of David’s driveway. I was three McMansions away when he headed toward me, the bulge of a gun on him visible even from that distance.
“Can’t let you go in, man,” he said, meeting me half way.
“That right?”
He nodded. “Yup. I ain’t got no issue with you, dude, but I ain’t working for you.”
“You like working for an asshole like Hanson?”
He shrugged. “It’s a job. If not him-I work for some other asshole. Know what I’m sayin’?”
I nodded. “Got it. You okay with him taking the kid?”
He glanced away from me and didn’t say anything.
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s what I thought. Takes a different kinda asshole to take a little kid, doesn’t it?”
His eyes shifted back to me and held mine.
“I mean, taking a kid’s a bit different then shaking down some junkie who owes or some mule that’s skimmed,” I said. “Special kinda asshole right there.”
Red’s mouth twitched.
“That’s the kinda asshole that’s gonna end up dead,” I said. “Soon. Be a shame for someone just pulling a job to go down with him.”
Red stared past me down the street before looking at me again. “Kid’s fine. Got chips and ice cream up there. I bought it myself. Played video ga
mes with him. He’s alright.”
“Oh, yeah, sounds way fucking better than, you know, being with his mom.”
“He ain’t gonna get hurt,” he said.
“Fucking A right he’s not,” I said. “He does, everybody in that house is dead. That’s a promise. Last thing you’ll see is me feeding you a gun. So you better pick a side. Fast.”
Red raised an eyebrow. “That right?”
I stared at him and nodded.
He tried to hold my gaze, but finally blinked. “Look, man. I work for Hanson. He wants his money. That’s it. He’s just trying to scare the girl, but he wants the money. Give him the money back and he’ll let the kid go.”
“And he’ll still be all over the girl’s ass,” I said, shaking my head. “This is going to end. All of it.”
“You sure you know who you’re messin’ with?”
“Hanson?” I asked.
He nodded.
“I’m not afraid of Hanson,” I said, smiling. “If he knew anything about me, he’d be afraid of me. Begging me to keep the money and tripping over himself to give the kid back.” The smile died. “He has no idea about me. And neither do you.”
Red’s gaze wavered and he looked unsure of himself.
“All I wanna know is the kid’s gonna stay safe,” I said.
Red nodded. “He’ll be safe.”
“Okay,” I said. “And when I come calling, you can either get the fuck out of the way and we part friends. Or you can go down with the ship. Because I’m taking it down.”
“How you know I’m not gonna go back and tell him all this?” he asked.
“I really don’t give a shit if you do,” I said. “Either way, I’m coming. What you do is your choice. You were cool with me the other day so I’m returning the favor. Only thing I’m asking is that you keep the kid safe.” I paused. “Because you don’t seem like that special kinda asshole.”
I turned and walked away before he could respond.
FORTY-FIVE
I drove back to Fort Walton and found Ike on the beach, soaking up the sun and guzzling water from a gallon jug.