Chapter 22: Alex
Jenni’s car was gone by the time we got home, and I could immediately see the look of disappointment on Kelly’s face. She looked at me, and I tried my best to smile.
“I’ll call her in the morning, I promise,” I said.
“You can call her now,” Kelly protested.
“One night, Kelly,” I sighed. “Give me at least that.”
Kelly looked at me for a few more seconds before she nodded and climbed out of the car. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we made our way up the stairs and I pulled out my keys.
“What are you going to do about the truck?” Kelly asked.
“It’s safe where it is,” I said. “I’ll figure the rest out in the morning.”
“Maybe Jenni can drive it back.”
I chuckled and pressed her close. “Maybe.”
I opened the front door just as the telephone in the hallway began to ring. Kelly raced forward and answered it, and I knew deep down that she was hoping it would be Jenni.
“Hello?”
I watched her with a smile, hanging my coat by the door and stretching, feeling the day finally taking its toll on me. I would sleep like a log tonight, as long as I could keep my head clear and stopped my mind from conjuring up images of Jenni.
Kelly frowned, looked at me and handed me the receiver. “It’s for you.”
I frowned, suddenly worried that it might be the hospital calling to give me some bad news about Samuel. I took the phone from Kelly and braced myself.
“Hello?”
“Alex, buddy, hey!”
I clenched the receiver tight, my hand hurting with the effort. Heath’s voice on the other end immediately made my blood boil.
“You son of a bitch!” I hissed.
“Hey man, is that any way to greet a friend?” Heath laughed. “Oh, right, yeah, your dad. Listen, sorry about that, but let’s be real. The old man had it coming.”
“When I get my hands on you,” I threatened, “I’ll make sure I break your bones one by one, slowly.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, so you’re still pissed, that’s understandable,” Heath said. “But listen, that’s not why I was calling, although the whole threat to my life thing is kinda amusing.”
“What do you want, Heath?”
“I have a message for you, from Garth,” Heath said. “He says to meet him in Little Harlow in an hour, house twenty-three. Just tell the security at the gate who you are, he’ll leave word that you’re coming.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“Because if you don’t, you won’t see Jenni ever again.”
My heart jumped into my throat, and a cold rushed through me. “What?”
“Oh, didn’t I mention? Damn, sorry, should’ve led with that. Yeah, well, we have your girl, and if you want to see her again, you’ll do what Garth tells you to do.”
“What have you done with her, you bastard!”
“Nothing, man, calm down,” Heath said. “Well, no, that’s a lie. I slapped her around a bit. But hey, she hit me first.” Heath laughed, and my blood boiled. “Sounds kinda familiar, doesn’t it?”
“I’m going to kill you!”
“See, there you go with the threats again,” Heath chuckled. “Really amusing, buddy, gotta hand it to you. Real comedian. Anyway, one hour, house twenty-three. Got that?”
I slammed the phone down, making Kelly jump.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, eyes wide as she watched the rage dance across my face.
“Wait here,” I said.
I raced down the hallway to my father’s room and opened his closet, reaching into the back of the top shelf where I knew he kept his rifle. I grabbed it and a box of ammunition, and quickly began loading it. Kelly stood shaking in the doorway.
“Dad?”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” I said. “I’m just going to go have a chat with the man who bat your grandfather.”
“Dad, you’re not a cop here,” she said. “Can’t you get in trouble with that?”
“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to use it,” I lied. “It’s just to scare them a little.”
“Them? You said you were going to meet one person. Who’s them?”
“He may have a few friends with him.”
Kelly came up to me and put a hand on my arm. “You’re scaring me.”
I reached down and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. “I’m going to be okay, I promise. No death wish here.”
“That gun sure makes it seem otherwise,” Kelly protested.
“Like I said, it’s just to scare them,” I assured her, hoping I sounded convincing enough to calm her down. “Now, come one, we have to go.”
I pushed her down the hall and towards the front door, already picturing myself blowing the top of Heaths head off with the rifle.
“Where am I supposed to go?” Kelly asked.
“I’m going to take you to the hospital,” I replied, pulling on my coat. “You stay with your grandfather until I come back to pick you up.”
“Will they let me stay with him?” Kelly asked, clearly flustered. “Won’t they say refuse, you know, visiting hours and all that?”
“Don’t worry, your dad’s very convincing,” I replied, urging her out of the house and closing the door behind us. “Besides, your grandfather’s a hero now. They’ll make an exception.”
“I don’t like this,” Kelly protested as we made our way down the steps and to the car. I waved at her to hurry up and get in, and quickly started the car, shifting into reverse. “Dad, seriously, I don’t.”
“You’re going to have to trust me, chipmunk,” I said.
“You usually say that when you’re going to do something stupid,” she said. I could see the tears well up in her eyes again. “I thought you said you weren’t going to do that anymore. You promised me.”
I stopped the car, shifted it into neutral and held Kelly with both hands. “Listen,” I said. “You want me to be honest with you, right?”
Kelly nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek.
“Some really bad people have Jenni, and I need to go make sure she’s okay,” I explained. “Do you understand that?”
She nodded. “But why don’t you call the police.”
I hesitated, hating to wreck the perfect image of the law that I had worked so hard to make her believe in. There were some things about her being a child that I wanted her to hang onto for as long as possible, even if she knew what happened to little girls who were left alone by the side of the road. “Because the police aren’t going to do anything this time.”
“What?” she asked, frowning in confusion. “Why?”
“When I get back, I’ll tell you all about it,” I assured her. “Now, can we go?”
She nodded.
I shifted the car into drive and pressed down on the gas, hoping that when I finally got to Little Harlow, I would have calmed down enough to not just shoot everyone and kill them all.