After another week of following Daley, we still weren’t any closer to finding the girls and it was frustrating me to no end. Monty had taken a turn for the worse when they tried to get him to eat so he was still with ma at the vets.
Covering for Kay after my night shift, I pulled a double watching Daley so that she could catch up with some of the office work. Once Luke had pulled up behind me, I took a detour on the way home; driving past Kay’s old apartment block.
I’d started to do this once a week, just to check if Max’s car had turned up. It hadn’t yet but there was no harm in checking. He’d disappeared after what he did to Kay and I couldn’t find a trace of him anywhere. He’d disappeared off the face of the earth and I’d come to the conclusion that he must have had some help, no one could go that dark without help.
Spotting an old lady struggling to carry her bags, her wild gray hair flying in the wind, I smiled. Only Miss Maggie would carry all that shopping home on her own.
I pulled up outside the building, turned the truck off and jumped out jogging towards her.
“Miss Maggie?” I asked when I was closer to her. Speeding up, I stepped beside her.
“Oh!” she startled. “Hi there, Tyson.”
“Let me get those for you,” I said, taking the bags from her. She huffed and told me she could manage just fine, but I smiled and followed her through the building door and up the stairs.
“Ooh, these stairs are getting worse and worse for my poor hips,” she moaned when she got to the second set of stairs.
“They should really have some elevators,” I said.
“They wouldn’t spend that kind of money.” She laughed, shaking her head.
When we came to her floor and walked past Kay’s old apartment, I kept my eyes on the door. Just because Max’s car wasn’t outside, didn’t mean that he wasn’t in there.
“He ain’t been back,” Miss Maggie announced, pushing her keys in the door.
“He hasn’t?” I asked, following her inside.
“No.” She shook her head and shuffled through to her kitchen. “Want some tea?” she asked when I put the bags down on the table.
“Err…”
“Have some tea,” she said, putting her kettle on.
“Okay…” Looking around the apartment, I stared with wide eyes when her cat hissed at me. Kay had told me about that thing and I’d had the pleasure of meeting it once. Needless to say, I never wanted to cross the thing again.
“How’s my girl getting on?” Miss Maggie turned and watched me with knowing eyes, assessing me.
Shifting on the spot, I cleared my throat. “She’s doing good.” I nodded and took the cup that she handed me, looking down and frowning at the green liquid.
“You making sure she’s being taken care of Tyson?” She raised her brows. “That poor girl has been through enough.”
“Yeah, Miss Maggie, she’s taken care of.” Shifting uncomfortably on my feet, I looked anywhere but at her. Why did she make me so nervous?
“How’s Eli getting on? School okay? Is he watching the new series?”
I chuckled at that. Never in my life had I met an old woman who was obsessed with cartoons in the way that she was. She started to shoot so many questions at me that it was hard to keep up.
“Yeah, him and Luke have been watching them.” I took a sip of the tea, grimacing at the taste. How did she drink this stuff?
“Well?” she said, shuffling into the living room. “When will I get to see them next? I can’t get there with it being so far away and all.”
“You’re welcome any time, Miss Maggie,” I said, emptying my cup into the sink and walking into the living room. “Anytime you want to come over, just say the word and one of us will pick you up.”
“Does now suit you?” she said, lifting back out of her chair and picking her purse up.
“Well…sure?” She was out of the door and waving me back out within seconds. For an old lady, she sure could move fast when she wanted to.
“No time like the present.” She smirked, walking back down the stairs. “Don’t tell them I’m coming, lets surprise them,” she cackled.
Shaking my head, I wondered what I had just let myself in for.
After helping her into the truck, I drove us to the compound while fidgeting in my seat the whole way there. She always had me on edge and I knew that the other guys felt the same, only one other person could make me squirm like that.
Ma.
Pushing the button for the gate, I drove through and parked in my normal spot.
“Well help me down, boy!” she shouted when I jumped out. Rolling my eyes but chuckling at the same time, I walked around to her and held my hand out. “Don’t know why you need a truck so high off the ground,” she huffed.
Ignoring her, I said, “She’ll be in the warehouse.”
“Show me the way.” She waved her hand in the air. All regal and shit.
Shaking my head, I lead the way and pushed open the metal door, waiting until she was inside to follow her.
“Where’s my girl!” she shouted, I winced at the echo that sounded.
“Miss Maggie?” I heard coming from the office. Two seconds later, Kay came out.
She stood there in shock, her wide eyes looking from me to Miss Maggie. She came running forward and I watched as her chest bounced, liking the way it looked. Then realizing who was stood next to me, I cleared my throat and looked away.
Don’t think like that, not around Miss Maggie. I chanted in my head over and over.
But shit, I couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering back to her.
“What are you doing here?” Kay screeched, looking from Miss Maggie and then back to me with tears in her eyes.
“He was stalking the apartment block again and saw me.” Miss Maggie huffed, hooking her arm through Kay’s and walking off.
“Stalking the apartment?” Kay asked, looking back to me.
Shaking my head, I mouthed, “later” and let her walk off. Loving the sound of her laughter as it bounced off the walls.
“Boss?” Evan called from his station.
“Yeah?” I asked, walking over to him.
“Think I might have found a possible location.” He grinned.
“Really?”
He nodded and spun around in his chair. “Yep!” Pointing to the screen, he said. “Abandoned warehouse.”
“Let’s make a plan,” I told him, and pulled the chair out next to him.
It was so out of the blue for Miss Maggie to turn up at the warehouse but it had made my day. She always brought a smile to my face and knew just what to say to me so that I wasn’t stuck inside my own head. Which happened often.
I didn’t tell her any specifics about the job that we were working on but I did tell her about Serena. I’d vowed to myself that I wouldn’t lie anymore or keep any secrets so when she asked me what had been going on, more specifically, why I was acting strangely the night after she watched Eli, I couldn’t tell her anything but the truth.
She’d nodded and listened to me tell her how I didn’t trust Serena. I told her time and time again that I wasn’t jealous, this was just a gut feeling that I had and that no one seemed to listen to me.
I got it. I understood I could be seen as jealous that she had come back with no explanation. She was Ty’s wife, at least legally.
Miss Maggie told me to listen to my gut, to not let anyone else influence how I felt. “Your gut is right ninety-nine percent of the time,” she had said.
Decision made, I decided that I’d broach the subject with Kitty. Out of all of the guys, I felt like she would be the one who would listen to me the most with being the only other woman here.
After work, they all came over to ours, apart from Luke who was currently sat outside Daley’s house. Evan had fallen asleep in the chair with his laptop perched precariously on his knees. I’d put Eli to bed just before Miss Maggie had left with Ty to go home and now it was just me and Kitty. Oh, and Evan’s snoring.
Clearing my throat, I shifted in my seat not knowing how to broach the subject.
“Spit it out, chica.”
“Huh?”
“Whatever it is that you wanna say.” She smirked, turning on the couch to face me. “You’ve been shuffling around like you’ve got ants in your pants since you came back down. Now, spill.”
“Okay.” I raised my hands in the air and took a deep breath. “I know that I’ve mentioned this before-”
“Serena?” Kitty asked, leaning against the arm of the couch.
“Yeah,” I blew out a breath. “There’s something about her Kitty. Are we really sure that she hasn’t got anything to do with this?”
“Honestly? I really don’t think she would.” Gritting my teeth, I tried my hardest to listen to her. “I knew her back when she was with Ty, and sure she was a raving bitch and a total slut, but this?” Shaking her head, she turned back to face the TV. “I don’t think she’d do this.”
“What makes you so sure?” I gritted out.
I was getting beyond pissed. None of them would listen to me, I was getting so fed up with talking and not being heard. This was my last resort so if I couldn’t get any luck saying it in a meeting, then this was my final chance to be heard and I was being blown off.
“Trust me.” Kitty cut her eyes to me. “There’s things in her past that tell me she’d never do anything like this.” Her eyes blazed with a warning, and any other time, I would have backed away into a corner and accepted it. This time, I wasn’t going to let that happen, I wouldn’t be backed down by anyone, not anymore.
Nodding my head, I turned away from her. Concentrating on the painting on the wall and ignoring the swirl of anger in my gut, I hated feeling like this, of having no say in anything, yet again. I opened my mouth to give her a piece of my mind and closed it again.
Ever since we’d got back from the vets and I told her I’d met Ty’s mom, she’d been different with me, everything I said she rolled her eyes at and I felt like she was constantly looking down at me.
This wasn’t the Kitty that I had come to know, this was the bitch version and I didn’t like her.
Clearing my throat, I rubbed my sweaty hands on my jeans, deciding this wasn’t the best time to bring it up.
“Okay…” I stood up, slowly. Afraid that if I moved too fast, I’d say something that I might regret. A part of me wanted to shout at her, scream at her, but the me that was still used to holding back, kept that part at bay. “I’m going to bed.”
“Night.” She didn’t look up at me from the TV, instead she just kept her focus on the show that was playing. Frowning, I looked to her and then Evan. My blood pumping that much harder through my veins.
That was meant to be her cue to leave but she just sat there, aware that I was still stood watching her.
“Unbelievable,” I murmured when I walked away.
“Whatever,” I heard her sneer.
Shaking my head, I stomped up the stairs, straight into my bathroom and into the shower. The feel of the water raining down on my body, calming me. Leaning against the shower wall, I heaved a breath.
We were getting nowhere with this case and to top it off, Ty had started to pull away from me and the nightmares were happening more and more often.
I felt lost.
Totally and utterly lost. I wanted to talk to Ty about it, but every time I felt myself get to that stage, something always happened. He’d have a call about the case or one of the guys would have new information. There was never a time that felt right.
Turning the water off, I stepped out of the shower and pulled a towel around me. I frowned at the raised voices I could hear now that I wasn’t locked away in the bathroom. I walked out of the room and checked on Eli. Still asleep. That boy could sleep through anything.
“I don’t give a fuck!” Ty shouted, I winced at how loud he was.
“Boss-
“No! This ain’t your house, this is mine and Kay’s home. What gives you the right to think you can stay when she’s gone to bed?”
“I didn’t think it would matter,” I heard Kitty reply.
“The fuck? If I went to bed would you still stay?” Ty growled back.
Stepping closer to the top of the stairs, I held my towel tighter around me and carried on listening.
“Calm down, boss,” Evan said softly.
“Listen, I didn’t realize that she was living here permanently. I just thought it was a stop gap,” Kitty said, the bitchy tone in her voice evident.
“What the fuck would make you think that?” Ty growled.
“Well, with Serena back-”
“Don’t,” Evan warned her.
My hand rubbed my chest, a pain shooting through it. They always said be careful who you listen to, I didn’t know who ‘they’ were. But right now? I wish I would have taken that advice after hearing Kitty talk about me like that. It hurt.
“Listen, and listen good Kitty, you don’t know what the fuck went on with Serena. You have no fuckin’ idea. I’d never fuckin’ go back to her.”
“I just thought…”
“Well you thought fuckin’ wrong. If you can’t respect me and Kay, then you know what you can do!” I winced at how loud his voice became. I’d never heard him shout like that before.
“I-”
“Leave it, Kitty, let’s go” Evan said, the door shutting behind them a few seconds later.
“Fuck!” Ty shouted again. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and turned back to my room.
I couldn’t be around him when he was like that, no matter how much I knew that he wouldn’t hurt me. I just couldn’t be around it.
There was too much going on and my mind was a whirl of thoughts. When I shut my bedroom door, I pushed the chair up against it, locking myself away for the night.
Pulling on one of Corey t-shirts, I snuggled under the covers and closed my eyes.
Everything would be better in the morning. It had to be.