Ollie sloshed over and wrapped her arms around Gage’s neck to give him a giant hug. “You’re not Daddy, but I still love you Uncle Gage?”
“I’m sorry, Gage. They haven’t spent much time around Garret in the last year,” she apologized as she approached.
“And whose fault is that? Something wrong with your dryer?” he quickly asked to change the topic.
“It boken. Mommy don’t know how to fix. You fix it, Daddy?” The toddler asked and then returned to her play.
“I’ll take a look at it for you before I leave. I came by to check on all of you and to give you a prepaid phone. It’s not safe for the four of you to be alone out here with no way to call for help.” He held the phone out to Brooklyn.
She hesitated to take it. “Thank you for the offer but it doesn’t feel right taking it from you. We don’t take charity.”
“I wasn’t offering. I’m giving. You might as well take it because if you don’t, I’ll just leave it in the house. I know Mom and Dad would feel more comfortable knowing you can call them if the need arises.”
“That’s very kind of you,” she relented as she accepted the phone.
As the sun set, Brooklyn gathered her children. “Alright Hennesseys, it’s time to go inside and get in your jammies.”
Gage watched closely as she dried Olivia and Makynlee off with Sadie snug against her chest. He swooped the girls up into his arms and carried them inside with them giggling the whole way.
The house was quite warm which made him curious why the air conditioner wasn’t running. “What’s the thermostat set on because it’s hotter than hell in here?”
Makynlee clamped her miniature hand over his mouth. “You not post to say dat wod. Mommy get mad at you.”
“Sorry muffin, I forgot,” he said with a chuckle.
“I’ve been meaning to have the repair man come out and charge the system. With everything that’s happened, I haven’t been thinking clearly,” Brooklyn explained without making eye contact.
As soon as Gage set the girls down, they took off to their rooms promising to return shortly. Brooklyn gently pulled Sadie out of the sling. “I’m going to go feed and change her in the other room,” she announced before she disappeared.
The air was stagnant and stifling in the house. Gage pulled a glass out of the cabinet and opened the freezer to get some ice. The only thing in the freezer besides ice was a resealed package of chicken nuggets. He reached down and opened the refrigerator door. There wasn’t much in there either. He closed both doors, unhooked his phone from his belt, and dialed. “Hey, Martha. This is Gage Hennessey. I want to order two large pizzas with pepperoni and extra cheese. I need those delivered out to my sister-in-law’s house. Would it be possible for the delivery guy to stop by the store and pick up a gallon of milk and some orange juice? I really appreciate it,” he said before he disconnected the call.
Two small girls barreled around the corner, grabbed both of his hands and pulled. “Come see where we get to sleep tonight,” Olivia announced.
When he turned the corner, he noticed the inflatable mattress was in the middle of the family room.
“Mommy say we on advetion…adbenton…ab...”
“Adventure,” Olivia corrected.
“Dats what Kynwee say,” Makynlee announced with her hands firmly planted on her hips.
About fifteen minutes later, Brooklyn returned with a sleepy Sadie and gently laid the baby down in some kind of foldable play pin. Gage had never spent all that much time around babies so he wasn’t completely sure what it was.
“This is from your parent’s house. The burglars, I guess that’s what you would call them, destroyed the crib mattress along with everything else. Marie and Daniel were nice enough to let me borrow this until I get a chance to go shopping.”
The doorbell rang interrupting their conversation. Olivia and Makynlee rushed to open the door. “Stop!” Gage shouted a little too forcefully. Both girls froze into stone. Gage knew his intentions were good but he could tell he’d startled them. “You’re not in trouble. I just don’t want you to open the door from now on. Let Mommy or me do it. Okay?” he explained as he knelt down to their level. As soon as his nieces nodded, he answered the door.
“You ordered two large peperoni pizzas, a gallon of milk, and orange juice. That will be twenty six dollars and seventy one cents,” a pimple faced kid announced.
Gage could hear the shrieks of delight behind him. “Pizza dude tame,” Makynlee announced as she twirled around.
“Who’s hungry?” Gage asked as he set the pizza down on the table.
“Me!” Both Olivia and Makynlee shouted in unison.
Once the girls started eating their pizza, Brooklyn whispered to Gage. “They ate at your mother’s house. They’re probably not that hungry.”
“Remember Mommy? The mac and cheese wasn’t good,” Ollie said around a mouthful of food.
“That’s because it was made by old woman Davis. She never could cook worth a da….” His voice trailed off before he finished the word.
“Dis is best pizza evew,” Makynlee announced.
Olivia stopped chewing and looked at her mother. “Mommy’s pizza is better because she makes it with love,” the preschooler commented with a solemn look on her face.
Gage decided not to confront Brook about the lack of food in the house while his nieces were present. Something was going on and he planned to get to the bottom of it soon enough.
When everyone’s appetite was appeased, Brooklyn announced it was bed time. Makynlee held her arms up so Gage would lift her. “Awe you sweeping with us?” When Gage shook his head no, the toddler gave him a hug. “Doodnight, Daddy.”
Next, Gage lifted Olivia. “She’s just a baby, Uncle Gage. She doesn’t know you’re not Daddy. You’d never hurt Mommy like Daddy did,” she said before placing a kiss on Gage’s cheek.
Brooklyn walked him to the door and he waited to hear her engage the locks before he turned and walked back to his truck. The sun hadn’t disappeared completely but by the time he’d roll into town, it would be dark enough for the scumbags to come out. That’s when he’d start getting some answers to his litany of questions.
****
Even in small towns drugs were readily available, you just had to know where to look. The first pass down the main drag, Gage spotted two hookers and their pimp. The most disturbing part was he’d graduated with the sleezeball. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t surprised John turned out to be such a loser. Even though it annoyed the hell out of him to have to pretend to like the guy, he’d do whatever necessary to find Garret’s killers.
He pulled the rental truck into the parking lot of the only bar in town. John was sitting alone at a table on the patio drinking whiskey. Gage entered the bar and immediately headed for the outdoor seating. He sat down blocking John’s view of his working girls.
“Get lost. I don’t want any company,” John stated without looking to see who’d taken a seat.
“Is that any way to talk to a fellow high school alum?”
John finally made eye contact. Gage noticed immediately the asshole became nervous. Hopefully he could use it to his advantage.
“Hennessey,” he said with a nod of his head. “It’s been a long time since you were in town. Sorry about your brother.”
Gage didn’t believe for a minute the son of a bitch had the capacity to feel anything. If he had a heart, he wouldn’t use women the way he did.
“What do you know about my brother’s death?” Gage didn’t mince words, he didn’t have the luxury or desire for small talk. The people that tortured and killed Garret had to be eliminated quickly before they got a chance to hurt Brook or the girls.
“I don’t know nothing. Now fuck off.”
John didn’t even have time to blink before Gage flipped the table out of the way, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him to the ground. “Wrong answer. Now if you want to keep breathing, you’ll tell me what I want to know. What do you know about
my brother’s death?” Gage repeated the question but much slower taking care to over pronunciation.
Doing his best to pry Gage’s fingers from around his neck, John’s eyes rounded with fear. “Garret was involved with some really bad dudes,” he choked out, desperately needing air.
“Give me their names and tell me where I can find them?” Gage demanded as he loosened his hold just enough so John could get adequate air to speak.
“I don’t know who they are, just that they supply all the drugs sold on the street.”
Gage clamped down on his throat. “Give me a lead or I swear I’ll strangle your ass right here.”
“Tony D. from high school is involved with them. He’ll be able to give you any information you want.”
“If I find you’ve lied to me, I’ll come back and finish the job. Gage released his strangle hold, stood up, and walked away without paying any attention to the crowd watching the exchange.
Chapter Four
As the sun came up over the horizon, Gage turned the key to start the engine. It had been a while since he stayed up all night on a stakeout. Nowadays, he assigned shit details like this to his crew. The rental truck wasn’t necessarily made for comfort so his back was a little stiff. The good news was no one came near the house during the night.
Even though Sam seemed lackadaisical about the break in, Gage wasn’t. He had too much training and experience not to recognize why the house was destroyed in the manner that it was. Throughout the night, Gage’s mind replayed everything he’d learned since arriving in town, ticking off the disjointed facts on his fingers. Number one: the men who tore the house apart were definitely searching for something. Most likely whatever they wanted was directly related to Garret’s death. Two: Brook’s house was in terrible disrepair. Three: there was very little food in the refrigerator. Four: what incident was the sheriff referring to that had landed Brook in the hospital? Five: how was it possible even a little girl knew how badly Brook had been hurt? Six: how the hell could Garret have been stupid enough to get involved with drugs and lost the most amazing wife ever?
The truck slowly pulled out of its concealed location and headed toward the Hennessey home. He’d get a few hours of sleep and then get to work finding answers to his questions. Hopefully the people that demolished the house wouldn’t be dumb enough to try anything in broad daylight.
****
It wasn’t even noon and already it was miserably hot outside. Ollie and Makynlee were splashing around in the pool, Sadie was asleep in the shade, and Brooklyn was tending her garden. She’d dug up the ground by hand and planted the seeds in early spring. She’d hoped the garden would help provide some vegetables and strawberries. With finances being so tight, the bounty from the garden had freed up money to spend on staples like meat and milk.
Around lunchtime, they entered the house and the cell phone Gage had given her was ringing. “Hello,” Brooklyn answered sounding winded.
“This is the third damn time I’ve called. Why haven’t you picked up?”
“We were outside and couldn’t hear the phone,” she answered defensively.
“You’re supposed to take the phone outside with you. I was worried something was wrong, dammit.”
“I’m sorry. It’s been a while since I had a phone so I wasn’t thinking. Is there another reason you’re calling besides just to yell at me?”
“As a matter of fact there is. Get the girls ready, I’ll be there in ten minutes to pick you up.”
He didn’t give her a chance to argue, he just disconnected the call. Gage had always been bossy, rude, arrogant, and if she didn’t have to get everyone dressed quickly, she was sure there were at least a dozen other negative traits she could think to list.
Ten minutes later, Gage walked through the door. “Wook, Daddy. Kynwee all dwess up. Mommy wip hew dwess up to make Kynwee dwess.”
“That’s not Daddy and he doesn’t care if Mommy ripped her dress apart to make your new dress. Uncle Gage, come have a tea party with me,” the little girl commanded as she pulled on his hand.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea. I bet Uncle Gage loves tea parties,” Brooklyn laughed.
“We don’t have time right now, Pumpkin. Maybe later,” he said with an awkward smile.
“Exactly where are we going? The girls are missing their afternoon nap. You don’t understand how it will affect their behavior. Have you ever heard of Jekyll and Hyde?” She struggled to keep her amusement hidden.
“I want to take my best girls out to lunch and grocery shopping. Surely it won’t have an adverse effect if they miss their nap just this once.”
Ollie and Makynlee squealed as they jumped up and down. “We’re going to a restaurant,” Olivia shouted.
“Macadonawds has tood hambugaw,” Makynlee added.
“We’re not going to McDonalds,” Gage said with finality.
It was difficult to think about how her daughters were missing out on so many advantages other preschoolers had. For the last eight months, she’d felt like a horrible mother. Still, she didn’t anticipated that it would change anytime in the near future.
****
If taking three small children to a restaurant wasn’t enough stress, grocery shopping with the same two preschoolers and baby was a nightmare. Gage was convinced he must be in one of Dante’s levels of Hell. Brooklyn was correct when she said the girls would be impossible if they missed their nap. This was definitely the last time he didn’t listen to her when it came to his nieces. He’d offered to run back into the store for the forgotten M & M’s Makynlee was melting down over just so he could get a minute of peace. Who would have thought such adorable little girls could cause such chaos? Jekyll and Hyde couldn’t hold a candle to those three. The exorcist would be a better comparison. All he needed was for one of them to throw up green pea soup all over him to make the scenario complete.
As he passed the van parked next to his rental truck, he saw the terror in Brook’s eyes. It took less than a second to see the cut in the front of her shirt and the stream of blood running down her chest. He dropped the M & M’s, unholstered his weapon and turned a three-sixty looking for her assailant. No one was anywhere near the truck. “Brook,” he shouted to snap her out of her shock. “Are they still here?”
Her head moved slightly from side to side. He holstered his gun, unclipped his phone, and dialed nine one one. While he was giving their location, he stripped out of his shirt and applied pressure to her wound.
It wasn’t until he lowered her to the ground that he heard the three girls crying hysterically. Until help arrived, he couldn’t soothe them. The cut didn’t appear deep but it was long and currently bleeding quite a bit. “Brook, did you recognize the person who did this?”
“They wore pantyhose on their heads,” she whispered.
“How many were there?”
“One held my hands behind my back, while the other one cut my shirt then my chest.”
“Could you tell what race they were or if they had accents?”
“The one with the knife was white. The one holding my hands had a Hispanic accent.”
The shirt soaking up the blood was saturated. “Olivia, grab the baby blanket and hand it to me.” The brave four year old crawled across the seat to hand him the blanket. “Thank you, pumpkin.”
When he switched out the cloths, Brooklyn whimpered. “You’re doing great, baby. Hang in there, I hear the sirens. It won’t be much longer. What did they say to you?”
“The one behind me said if I didn’t want my girls hurt, then I better give it back.” Apparently the pain and stress converged on Brooklyn at once because she suddenly started to cry. Before he had a chance to console her, a sheriff car pulled up quickly followed by the EMTs.
At that point there were so many emergency workers around, he couldn’t ask her any more questions. He stood and backed up out of the way. The little ones were still crying, so he unsnapped Sadie’s car seat and picked her up. At the same time, he pul
led Olivia and Makynlee into a one-armed hug. Thankfully one of the deputies offered to call his parents so his mom and dad could take over the youngsters care.
Fifteen minutes later, Sam came on the scene and Gage aggressively approached the official. “About damn time you showed up. Where the hell have you been?”
“I was busy with another case, not that I owe you an explanation. Give me a minute to speak with my deputies and then I’ll deal with you.”
“Fuck that! I know more about the crime scene than all of your inept deputies put together.” He didn’t wait for the sheriff’s response. “Two males approached the truck at one thirty five. One man with a Hispanic accent secured Brook’s hands behind her back while a white male used a blade to slice her shirt open and cut her chest. She was told to give them what they were looking for or they’d come after her daughters. Less than five minutes later, I arrived but they were already gone. Since the search of the house didn’t produce what they were looking for, they decided to raise the stakes.”
“Does Brooklyn know what they’re looking for?” The sheriff asked.
“You already know the answer to that. Do you have any leads since the night of the break in?”
“No. And it sounds like there probably won’t be any evidence from today’s attack either. I’m sorry this happened but these men appear to be professionals. They’re careful not to leave any evidence behind.”
“Please? It’s obvious we’re dealing with amateurs. If they’re bold enough to attack Brook in a public place in the middle of the day, then they’re either dumb as fuck or they don’t fear the law. You need to assign at minimum of one but preferably two deputies to monitor the house from now on. It stands to reason they’ll continue to come after her until she gives them what they’re after.”
“Wait one damn minute. Stop trying to tell me how to do my job. I don’t have the manpower to waste waiting for a couple of guys to contact Brooklyn. I highly doubt they’ll be back since she clearly doesn’t have whatever they’re after.”
“If you had any real investigative skills, you’d already have them incarcerated. Either you get your thumb out of your ass and solve this case and Garret’s murder or I’m going to do it for you. And I can promise if I get involved, it’s going to get messy,” Gage threatened as he got in the sheriff’s face.
Abandon: The Unloveable Series Book One Page 4