by Sarah Curtis
She slid to his side so he could get out of bed. "No, I'm good."
He gave her a wicked smile, rolled from the bed, and left the room. She watched his bare backside on the way out, a stupid grin on her face, totally enjoying the view.
"Okay, keep me posted. Oh, and Mase, if you talk to Jack let him know that if there's anything he needs, not to hesitate to call me. Yeah, same here."
Cassie sat on the couch listening to Gage's side of the conversation. She couldn't decipher what the problem was, but she knew it was bad by the expression on Gage's face. Logan sat on the floor at her feet, playing with some action figures totally absorbed in his game, not feeling the bad, adult vibe in the air.
She watched Gage slip his phone in his back pocket with a questioning look on her face.
He sat next to her on the couch, took her hand, and spoke low, probably so Logan wouldn't hear. "That was Mase. He just found out that Alexis was kidnapped this morning."
Cassie squeezed his hand and yelled, "Oh my God, what?" Logan looked up at her. Oops, she forgot to use her low voice, too. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I cannot believe she's been kidnapped. Do they know by whom? Oh my God, I hope she's okay." She gave Gage a big-eyed stare. "Poor Jack, he must be beside himself right now."
Gage gave her hand a squeeze. "Yeah, Mase says Jack's a wreck."
"How did Mase find out about this so soon?"
"The police called him. Turns out, his date last night, that Sabrina chick, is the kidnapper. They wanted to know if he had any information on her."
"I knew there was something about her I didn't like, but I never would
have guessed her to be a kidnapper. Do the police have any leads? Do they know where to start looking for her?"
"Mase didn't have much information, but he did say Jack has a PI looking into things."
"God, I hope Alexis is okay, wherever she is."
"Yeah, me, too. Jack is absolutely crazy about her. He'll completely lose it if something happens to her."
Cassie had just stepped out of the shower when she heard her phone ringing. Gage was in with Logan, getting him ready for day camp, so she quickly wrapped a towel around herself and ran into the bedroom. She didn't want to miss a call if it were news about Alexis. Jack had found her late yesterday afternoon. She was a little beat up and had a concussion, but she would be okay. They were both very lucky.
Her phone stopped ringing before she could reach it. She looked at the screen and saw she missed a call from Officer Cruz. Rather than call him right back, she waited a minute to see if he would leave a message.
Sure enough, after a minute, her phone dinged a message, and she dialed her voice mail to listen. Basically, he explained, they couldn't open an investigation because there wasn't enough evidence to support any illegal dog fighting activity. Cassie silently fumed as she listened to the message. It had taken the police two weeks to come to that conclusion? And what did they mean they couldn't find enough evidence?
Cassie still fumed as she search through her dresser drawer for a T-shirt. Her mind wasn't on the task, thus creating a mess in her drawer and no T-shirt on her body.
Gage walked into the room mid-rant. "Everything okay?"
Cassie sighed, looked down at the mess she'd made, then sighed again. Gage went to her, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and placed his chin on the top of her head. "What's wrong?"
Cassie looked up and spoke to Gage's reflection in the dresser mirror. "Officer Cruz called and left a message on my phone. He said he couldn't open an investigation because they couldn't find enough evidence of dog fighting activity. I just don't understand how that can be. When I went to the warehouse," she felt Gage stiffen behind her, but she continued anyway, "it was clear something illegal was going on."
She turned around in Gage's arms, making a grab for her towel when it slipped. "How could there have not been any evidence?"
Gage was silent for a moment, then he said, "I don't know. Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe they change locations frequently."
Cassie nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess that's a possibility. I just wish I knew what happened to all those dogs."
"Cassie, you're done with this, yeah?" He said, giving her a squeeze. "Everything has finally calmed down. You've had no more threats, and I want to keep it that way."
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'm not planning anything." She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the lips. "But I do need to get dressed, or Logan will be late for camp."
He gave her more than a peck before saying, "Okay, I'll go pack his lunch."
She watched him walk out of the room, closing the door behind him. She had to admit, at least to herself, watching him leave a room was becoming one of her favorite pastimes.
Chapter Twenty-two
So, she didn't plan on going to the warehouse to take another look around. It just kind of happened. They had both left the ranch at the same time. Gage to go work on the album with the boys and her to take Logan to day camp. It was on her way home from dropping Logan off that her car mysteriously navigated itself into the neighborhood where the warehouse was located.
Okay, that was a small fib. As she was driving home from dropping off Logan, she couldn't get Officer Cruz's words out of her head. Not enough evidence found. She honestly couldn't understand how that could be, and she couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. She had to see for herself that there was no evidence left behind.
She figured this venture was relatively safe. After all, the criminals had already vacated the premises and with the cops snooping around, it was doubtful they would return. Yeah, she figured that place had been checked off their list of future fighting locations.
She slowed as she reached the mouth of the alley, craning her neck to look down it, making sure it was free from activity. All clear, she slowly turned her SUV into the alley and came to a stop across from the warehouse door. It wasn't ajar. Hopefully, it wasn't locked. Well, only one way to find out.
She got out of her car, put her phone on silent, and slipped it into her back pocket before heading to the door. She tried the handle. Not locked, and the door opened soundlessly. She peered just her head in at first, looking and listening for any signs of people. Nothing. She stepped fully inside, and the door shut behind her, surrounding her in darkness. Cassie pulled out her cell phone and lit the screen, shining it along the walls until she found a light switch to flip on. A lone, stark bulb alighted overhead, leaving much of the hall in shadow but still shedding enough light for Cassie to navigate around.
She went to the door at the end of the hall, first. It opened easily, and the room was bright from the many high windows that dotted the walls. She did a careful search, making sure the room was empty before stepping inside.
The cops were right. The room was bare. Not even a lone folding chair was left behind. She walked farther into the room, scanning the floor as she went, looking for traces of blood. She stopped about where the boxing ring had been set up, scouring the area with her eyes. A few smudges and dried drops were scattered about, but again, the cops had been right. It wasn't enough to prove it was dog fighting.
She went to the doors at the far end of the room that led to the outside area and looked out the freshly scrubbed windows. The yard was empty with no signs that any dogs were once held there, not even a stray piece of dog poop. Cassie was amazed the criminals had cleaned up after themselves so well. There had to be something they missed.
She traveled back across the room and opened the door. She looked around, hoping to find something to hold the door open so light could spill into the gloomy hall, but she couldn't find anything so was forced to close the door. She wanted to investigate the office. The d
esk and filing cabinet were still there, and she wanted to check inside the drawers.
The lamp on the desk wouldn't click on when she turned the knob, and a peek under the shade revealed a missing light bulb. She opened the top drawer of the desk and shone her cell phone inside. Nothing but a few stray paperclips and a rubber band. The rest of the desk drawers didn't yield anything better.
She moved on to the file cabinet. The top two drawers held nothing, but the third drawer down had a piece of paper crammed in the back, wedged so half the paper had slid behind the drawer. She reached her arm in far enough to grasp the paper with her fingertips. She carefully pulled it loose and aimed her phone at it. The paper was white and lined with those little paper tabs down the side like it had been torn from a spiral notebook, and it had five addresses written on it.
She folded the paper and stuck it in her back pocket. A quick search of the last two drawers found them empty. She glanced around the room, making sure she didn't leave anything out of place, walked back to the main door, peeked her head into the alley to make sure all was clear, then quickly hopped back into her car.
On the drive home, she thought about what to do with this latest information. Should she give it to the police and hope they'll follow through and investigate all the addresses? Should she give the addresses to Animal Care and Control, using up resources that were already strained on the off chance there might be dogs at one of those locations? Or should she check out the addresses herself to verify where the dogs were then give the info to Animal Care and the police? The last was her only sure option. But she would have to be smart. No way in hell did she want to be caught by anybody this time.
Cassie internally cringed at the thought of Gage finding out what she wanted to do, and she had no doubt that he would find out. She just hoped she was done with her shenanigans before he did.
When Cassie got home, she made herself a sandwich, sat on the couch, and ate it while plugging the addresses into her phone. She would start her quest tomorrow but for now, she had work to do. She stood, put her phone in the back pocket of her shorts, and took her plate into the kitchen. She had three hours until she needed to pick up Logan, and she was going to spend that time with Patches and Spike.
The next day her plans were foiled.
During dinner, Gage had informed her that he had talked with Jack and they could go visit Alexis the following day. Cassie didn't mind bumping her plans one more day, she wanted to see Alexis and assure herself she had recovered from her kidnapping.
"You're quiet, Sunshine. Want to tell me what's on your mind?"
Cassie looked down at the French fry she held pinched between her fingers as she twirled it through the glob of ketchup on her plate. They were at a small coffee shop close to Logan's day camp, eating lunch and had just come from visiting Jack and Alexis.
Cassie looked up and gave Gage a weak smile. "I know Alexis is okay physically, but I'm not so sure how she's doing mentally. She didn't leave Jack's lap the whole time we were there. I'm worried about her."
Gage reached over and took Cassie's hand. "Give her a few more days. I'm sure with time, she'll recover. Remember, she was only kidnapped a few days ago. I'm sure it takes some time to get over something like that."
Cassie nodded her head. "You're right. I'll call her in a few days and see how she's doing."
Gage squeezed her hand. "We'll go visit again next week, so you can see how she's doing."
Cassie gave him a genuine smile this time. "Thank you."
Gage tilted his head to her plate. "Eat."
Cassie popped the soggy fry in her mouth, chewed, swallowed, then grimaced.
Her plans were foiled again the next day, but for a far scarier reason. Gage's parents descended on the ranch house.
"Where is my grandbaby? I want to meet him." Mrs. Hunter stood aggressively, on Cassie's front porch, hands on her hips. She looked like a mom, slightly plump but carrying it well in a light purple, silk pantsuit. Her hair was a mixture of gray and black, cut into a bob that framed her make-up free face that had only a faint trace of wrinkles.
"Calm down, Mom, Logan's in the house. I'll get him in a minute. Why don't you say hello to Cassie first." Gage had his arm wrapped around Cassie's statue-like body. He gave her a squeeze, hopefully to convey everything would be okay.
When Gage had gotten the phone call that morning, informing him that his parents were in town, then given them her address, she totally freaked. Yes, she had met them once before, back when Gage and her had first dated, and they seemed to like her well enough, but that was before she had kept a secret grandchild from them. She had run around the house all morning like a crazy person, cleaning and then getting herself ready, counting down the minutes until Niles and Helen Hunter would arrive.
And now, here they stood in front of her, looking anything but thrilled at having to greet her. She swallowed with difficulty and held out her hand. "It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Hunter."
Helen took Cassie's hand and barely shook it, before releasing it. "It's nice to see you again, as well," she said stiffly.
"Mother," Gage growled, in warning. "If you want to spend time with your grandson, I suggest you be nice to his mother."
Cassie leaned in close to Gage and spoke low so only he would hear. "Please don't."
Gage frowned down at her. "Fuck that. I'm not going to stand here and have someone disrespect you and not do anything about it." This was not spoken low so as not to have anyone hear.
"Gage–," his father tried to interject. He was an older version of Gage and very handsome with a light dusting of gray at the temples of his close-cropped, black hair. He even wore an identical outfit of jeans and a black T-shirt.
Helen straightened her spine. "I didn't disrespect her, Gage."
"She has a name Mother, it's Cassie, and if you can't be the loving and caring person that I know you are, then you can turn around and leave."
Cassie watched as Helen's shoulders sagged, and her head dropped to look at the floor. "She kept my grandson from me for four years." She raised her head and looked at Gage. "How can I forgive her for that?"
"Cassie didn't keep Logan from you, I did. If anyone's to blame, it's me."
Cassie, who had been looking down at the floor as well, popped her head up to stare at Gage. "What?"
Gage captured her face in his hands. "It's true. It's my fault for walking away from you, leaving you no choice but to think I wouldn't be interested in our child."
Cassie tried to shake her head in argument, but he held it still. So instead, she voiced her objection. "No, Gage, your mom is right. I should have never kept that from you." She pulled her face from his hands and took a step away from him. Gage put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back to his side.
"My son is right," Niles said, sternly.
Helen whipped her head to him. "How can you say that?"
"Because it's true. He ended things with Cassie, and as far as she knew, he wanted nothing else to do with her."
Cassie's body got tight at his harsh words. Feeling it, Gage held her a little tighter.
"That may be true," Helen said, directing her words at her husband, "but even if someone walks away from a relationship, it's still the other person's responsibility to share important news... like a baby." She threw her hands in the air for emphasis.
Niles lowered his body to put his face closer to his wife's and with a raised voice said, "Not if said person was an asshat!"
"Mr. and Mrs. Hunter–," Cassie tried to interject but was cut off by Helen.
"Do not call your son an asshat. He left on tour and had every right to break up with the girl."
Niles wave
d a disgusted hand at his wife then pointed a finger at Cassie. "He's an asshat for letting this one get away. I mean, just look at her. Not to mention, she was sweet and smart."
Cassie felt Gage chuckle. She looked up at him and saw a huge grin on his face. "Aren't you going to stop them?"
He looked down at her, still grinning. "Not while Dad's winning."
Cassie thought it best to try interjecting one more time. "Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, please–"
That was as far as she got before Helen yelled, "You're the asshat." She poked a finger at her husband's chest for emphasis.
"Momma?"
Cassie turned her head. Logan stood in the doorway, hands covering his ears, looking as if he wanted to cry. Helen and Niles immediately stopped bickering and turned toward the doorway as well. Cassie went and knelt before him.
She heard Helen whisper behind her, "Oh my, he looks just like Gage did when he was a little boy."
Cassie looked over her shoulder and gave her a small smile before turning back to Logan. She gently pulled his hands from his ears. "It's okay, little man, we won't be loud anymore."
Logan looked up at Gage, placed his hands on his hips, and asked, "Daddy, who are these people?"
Everyone laughed.
Several hours later, Gage's mom came into the kitchen while Cassie prepared a pitcher of iced tea. Cassie watched as Helen leaned against the counter and waited while she seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say.
"I do realize that everyone makes mistakes in life. By no means, am I perfect nor have I done things perfectly. For example, I reacted badly when I found out I had a grandson I didn't know about. I blamed it all on you when the blame laid just as much with my son. I didn't put myself in your shoes, a teenage girl, scared, abandoned, and soon to be responsible for another living being. Thinking about it like that, I can just imagine how hard and scary those first few years must have been for you. I was selfishly thinking only about how I was slighted." Helen reached over and placed a hand on Cassie's arm. "You're a good person and a wonderful mom. Logan is bright, energetic, and most importantly, happy. Instead of feeling angry about the four years I've missed, I should feel blessed for all the years I'll have to watch him grow."