Chapter Twenty-Five
Although Trent knew what to expect, nothing prepared him for the sheer terror and rage that overtook him when he got to Chloe’s house. Her car, parked in its usual place, now held a sense of abandonment. The dark windows of the home, absent of any signs of light, were like soulless eyes staring back at him.
She’d only been missing for a little over twenty-four hours, but—knowing the statistics in cases such as hers—he feared the worst. The gaping void in his chest left his heart anchored to the pit of his stomach.
Where was she? Back in Virginia? Her ex was unlisted so that didn’t make him the easiest person to find. Luckily, Pete had all the records from years ago. Trent just hoped the man hadn’t moved. The number on file was disconnected, so getting there was the first priority.
He climbed out of his truck and grabbed the notepad he used for jobs. He carefully examined the front door frame. No signs of forced entry.
He reached above the porch light and felt around for a key. Nothing. He lifted a flowerpot, checked in the window box, and finally found what he was looking for under the welcome mat. There, in a dusting of pollen and grit, was the outline of her missing house key.
“God, Chloe, you let him walk right in.”
He checked the knob. Locked. Moving around the back of the house, he looked for any evidence that she might have been watched. There were no objects moved close to the exterior of the house. He examined each screen, searching for tears, but why bother when the key was waiting right under the mat? Chances were this wasn’t the first time he’d been in her home.
As he worked his way back to the front of the house he stopped at her car. The door was unlocked. Under the seats, he found a tube of lipstick and slipped it in his pocket. The registration and insurance cards were insured to a Regina E. Wolfe. How was she managing to keep her aunt’s death a secret?
“The cops already searched her car.”
He turned and found Adam standing a few feet away studying him. Trent leaned back in the seat and looked up at the house, running his fingers over the wheel. “Did she say anything to you?”
“She says lots of things to me. If you’re asking if she told me about the gun, then yes.”
“She hates me.”
“No, she hates anything having to do with violence.”
This wasn’t the time to focus on his insecurities, so he got to the important matters. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“Sunday, when we dropped the kids off. She was upset and wanted to be alone. Tommy took the boys to the skate park and I stayed and talked to her for a while.”
He looked up as the other man’s voice cracked. Adam seemed to be fighting back tears. “You didn’t see her on Monday?”
“Tommy saw the boys get on the bus Monday morning. Then… Well, it was dark by the time we both got home. Her car was here. We didn’t think anything of the dim house. It wasn’t until this morning that things seemed too quiet and Chloe’s car still hadn’t moved.”
His fingers played with a gash in the seat beside him. “It’s been twenty-four-hours.” It was time to face reality. “How badly would he hurt her?”
Adam’s face tightened. “You think it’s him, too?”
“The kids were signed out of school. Only a parent has the authority to do that.”
“The police haven’t—”
“Only a parent. They wouldn’t go with anyone else and they’re too innocent to see him as a danger.”
Tommy stepped outside holding a cell phone. “Adam, it’s the police.” He handed over the phone.
Adam took the phone, covered his ear and walked closer to their home. “This is Adam Peters.”
“So…” Tommy said, seemingly at a loss and lacking the energy to be his normal upbeat self. “You’re gonna go after them, right? That’s what you do, isn’t it? Find people?”
Trent followed Adam with his stare as he ended the call.
Adam came back to the car. “That was Officer Striker. He signed the kids out.”
Just as Trent suspected. “Do they have an exact time?”
“Ten fifty-three, Monday morning.”
“Fuck.” Trent walked to the grass and shut his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Tell me what you know about Marcus Hunt.”
“We know he was abusive, lived somewhere in Virginia six years ago, and that Chloe’s still terrified of him.”
Trent’s stomach knotted. Usually, he was the calm one on a job, but this was personal. “What about you, Tommy?”
“I know he was a brute. He abused Chloe in every way possible, not drawing lines from the kitchen to the bedroom. He never hit the kids, but toward the end, she feared that might change. She always intercepted, taking more of his shit if it meant possibly protecting Dayton and Mattie.”
Trent ground his teeth as he swallowed hard. “Why this sudden interest? They’re divorced. It’s been six years.” It was as if saying it out loud changed everything. He was a fucking idiot. She ran. Hunt was nuts. How had he convinced himself she somehow managed to get a divorce without some sort of consequence?
Because she let you believe that. Whenever her ex came up in conversation, he assumed the marriage was done. He was certain he referred to the man as her ex-husband, and she never corrected him.
Tommy and Adam were quiet and Trent knew the truth. “She’s still married to him.”
Adam’s mouth opened, but no words came. Tommy frowned. “Honey, we thought you knew. Nothing’s in her name and none of this is legally hers. It’s all a lie. He stayed away because he couldn’t find her.”
“I thought...” His body shivered. “She changed her name. The house is—”
“Regina’s. Before her aunt passed she moved everything into an LLC under the alias Chloe Wolfe. Her name’s still legally Hunt and she’s still married to him. He didn’t give her custody of the boys. She—”
“Stole them.” Jesus. Trent forked his fingers through his hair and paced. “All this time… Why wouldn’t she—”
“Because he was that terrifying. And if he ever found her, he’d never forgive her.”
His eyes closed. Shit just got a lot more complicated. Chloe had kidnapped her children. It was a second-degree offense and, due to the longevity and the fact that she’d crossed state lines, possibly a federal one. Hunt was no doubt using that information to threaten her.
Visions of Chloe trapped with her vengeful husband flooded his mind. He shook with rage as fear twisted his gut. “The guy’s fucking nuts. He’s a spoiled brat who can afford very dangerous toys and has no experience using such things. He doesn’t like being told no and thinks he’s entitled to anything he wants.”
Hazy memories dusted off in his mind. The day he’d told Hunt he’d lost his wife somewhere along the border he’d gone ballistic. The man who hired him had fed him a load of bullshit, calling his wife unstable when he’d seen first-hand how terrified she was of her husband. He’d never seen a grown man in such a fit, throwing a tantrum like a spoiled child who lost his favorite toy. And he’d never forget the threats that spewed from his mouth as he promised to make her pay when he found her.
Fisting his hands in his hair, Trent growled. “Rather than fearing guns, she should have taught herself to use one.”
He would’ve shown her how to arm and protect herself had he known that fucker was still a threat. His breathing was jagged and he needed to calm down.
Tommy looked as if he had seen a ghost and Adam was scowling.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Adam’s voice held an edge of hostility. “Have you met him?”
Trent shut his eyes and sighed. Fuck. “I … yes.”
Both men glared at him, their distrusting eyes demanding answers.
“I’m not on his side, so stop looking at me like that! He hired me to find his wife and I did, but in the end, I made sure he never would. I brought her here and told him I lost her somewhere near Mexico.”
Tommy gasped and covered his mouth. “But you were her hero.”
“I…” In the end, maybe that’s what he’d been, but that wasn’t how it started. “It was just a job. In the end, I quit and it cost me a lot of money and stress, but I didn’t betray her.”
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Adam growled.
“I planned to tell her everything—”
“When? Before or after you got her into bed a few more times?”
“Oh, my God. This is bad,” Tommy mumbled, massaging his temples.
“It was six years ago, Adam, and I didn’t—”
“You’ve been seeing her for weeks! How are we supposed to trust you when you’ve kept this a secret? For all we know, you led him here!”
He lunged forward and growled, “I would risk my life to protect her!”
“But you’d lie to her! You lied to all of us.”
He glared at both of them. “I’m only going to say this once, so listen carefully. I love that woman. I want a life with her. But even before I knew her, I wanted to ensure she had a life for herself, the kind she deserved. You can twist the facts any way you like, but I didn’t finish the job and I would never help a monster like Marcus Hunt. I’m going to get her and the boys home and make it so he can never threaten her again. If saving her means I lose her in the process…” An ache knotted in his chest. “I just want to get her away from him.”
With that, he pivoted and marched to his truck. Enough wasting time. He was going to bring his girl home.