Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
While she said this, Scott was on his phone.
When she was done saying this, Scott turned his phone their way and said, “Her parents reported her missing a month ago.”
And there it was, a picture of Madison next to a headline: Local Lubbock Woman Reported Missing.
“They’re probably scared out of their brains,” Pete remarked.
“Can I read that?” Diana asked. Scott offered, and she took the cell, scanned the article and her eyes got bright with tears. “They’re scared out of their brains,” she whispered. She returned the phone to Scott, went to her own, and had head bent to it as she walked back down the hall saying, “I’ll be back.”
When she disappeared behind Madison’s door, Pete asked, “What we got here?”
“Babić gets up to a lot of shitty stuff,” Scott said. “But we’ve never heard of him being into trafficking.”
“That something you’d know?” Big Petey asked.
Scott nodded. “We’ve been dedicating a lot of resources to this guy. Though, I’m sure it won’t surprise you, he has a vested interest in us not learning all we need to know. Then Madison showed and not long later, so did the Feds. They sometimes don’t cooperate great with the locals, but it came clear this was part of what they were investigating. Being honest with you, it shocked the shit out of me. There’s not even a rumor of it being part of Babić’s operations.”
“That phone gonna help at all?” Pete queried.
A slow smile spread on Scott’s face. “Technically, it’s stolen property. Officially, it was stolen by the victim after the commission of a violent felony, so it’s evidence in a rape case, and yeah, I figure we’ll find some interesting things in there.”
“He’s been fuckin’ with her head something bad,” Pete reminded Scott of what he’d shared after the man arrived. “She hasn’t replied, but he’s been repeatedly issuing threats against a whole slew of people she might give a shit about, including herself, for over a week. That a felony?”
“All I know is, when it gets to trial, it’s not gonna play well with a jury.”
Pete reckoned he was very right. If he was on a jury and he saw those texts, he’d vote to send the man so far down the river, he’d never find his way back.
They all looked down the hall to see Diana had her head and hand out of Madison’s door and she was beckoning to Hugger.
Hug prowled in that direction.
Pete and Scott watched as they had a low conversation. Hugger nodded. Diana disappeared behind the door. Hugger came back to them.
“Madison lost it again,” he told them both, but to Scott he said, “She wants to know if you’ll call her parents and let them know she’s okay.”
Being a cop and probably not getting to share good news too often, Scott was all over that.
“Fuck yeah, I will. Does Madison want to speak to them?”
“Di hasn’t gotten that far,” Hugger told him. “But she wants them to know right away.”
Scott nodded, hit a button on his phone and shifted from their huddle.
Pete heard him say to someone, “Yeah, need you to get me Lubbock PD. Texas. And the name of whoever is dealing with a missing woman named Madison O’Keefe.”
Big Petey got closer to Hugger.
“Those threats, brother…” He let that trail, because Hugger had also read them.
“I wanna be here in case Di comes out. Can you call Rush with the update?” Hugger asked.
“You got it.”
Hugger turned his gaze to the hall.
Pete went to the balcony.
He filled in Rush, who told them to stay the course. Dutch, Core and Linus had hit Phoenix, and Coe and Jag were heading down that day.
Rush also shared, as they suspected, Resurrection wanted to break off with Chaos to do their thing, leaving Chaos on security for Diana, Madison and Nolan Armitage.
“Kinda feel like letting them have at it,” Rush said. “We’re clean and clear, and they’re good at that shit.”
Pete didn’t disagree.
By the time he was off the phone with Rush, he’d started to head back inside when he saw Diana return, going right to Hugger. She fit herself into his side that time, but he made the way clear for it and didn’t hesitate to curve an arm around to hold her there.
This meant Big Petey moved back to the railing and returned his attention to his phone.
He engaged the cell.
Because it was time.
Long since time.
So he called Tack.
11
WORTH THE WAIT
Diana
“Come in.”
Early afternoon, I opened Madison’s door to see her still in bed, curled around a pillow, but this time she was on her side, and instead of a self-comforting-because-I’m-terrified pose, it just seemed to be a self-comforting-because-my-shit-is-real pose.
But when I walked in, she moved, scooching and pushing up with some difficulty due to her arm still in a sling, so she was sitting against one side of the headboard, an invitation for me to take the other.