It’s been two hours and no one has any more information than they did when we started. The police are here at the cabin and pulling fingerprints off of everything they can. They took a blood sample from the bathroom and bedroom floor. I didn’t even notice there was blood on the floor when I first got here. All I was focused on was finding Lanie and Ben. An ambulance is waiting on Ben to finish giving his statement before they send him to the hospital. My phone has been going off for the past hour. Sofie can wait. I know she’s safe and we’ll be seeing her before too long.
“For the love of God, Jax. Pick up the phone.” Brad chimes. I take it and silence it so it doesn’t bother anyone any longer.
“It’s my sister. She’s probably worried about Ben.” I push off the kitchen counter and head out the back door onto the patio. “I don’t know where you’re at Lanie, but fight for me sweetheart. Fight for us. Please. I’m not done with us yet.” I rub my hand over my face, trying to stay strong and not show weakness in front of Ben.
“We’ll find her.” Brad comes and rests his hand on my shoulder. His phone begins to chime and he answers on the second ring.
“Tows.” He answers, turning away from me. “Sofie. How did you get my number? Are you okay?” He keeps jumbling his words. “Lanie? Oh.” He faces me with a confused look.
“What?” I ask, eager to hear what he has to say about Lanie.
“Okay. Yeah, we’re on our way.” He hangs up.
“What about Lanie?”
“C’mon. Let’s go. I’ll explain in the car.” I follow him inside. Ben is finished answering questions, so Brad requests to bring him along with us instead of the ambulance taking him to the hospital. He hasn’t said anything to Ben about him being the father, which is good. The kid doesn’t need any more shocking news right now.
When we get in the car, Brad explains that Sofie got his number from Lanie. I figured it must have something to do with the fact that Brad contacted us while we were at Sofie’s house and she must have kept the number from caller ID.
Brad continues to ask Ben the same questions that the officer did earlier. I think it’s routine to see if the same answer is given. That or maybe it’s a way to trigger a memory that wasn’t there earlier. I stare out into the darkness while checking my phone for any sign from Lanie.
Tonight has been a shit storm. One thing after another and it’s all because of Frank Morris. He was dead set on making Lanie pay for leaving him. She warned me so many times, but I really didn’t know how dangerous he was. I thought she may be over exaggerating. He’s single-handedly flipped my world upside down. In one fucking night, he managed to damage my property, tie up my sister, kidnap my nephew and my girl.
My girl. God, did I let her down or what? I promised to protect her from harm, but in the end, I couldn’t. And now she’s in the hands of the one that’s tortured her for so long.
“Uncle Jax. Did you hear a word I said?”
“Oh shit. I’m sorry bud. I was lost in my thoughts.”
“No kidding.” He sounds annoyed.
“Hey, I said I was sorry. I have a lot of shit on my mind right now?” I snap.
“Doesn’t matter anyways. We’re here.” He opens the back door and exits.
“Don’t worry about it. He’s going to be on edge for a while. I’ll help him out and make sure he gets through all that has happened.” Brad says.
“You? You want to be the one to handles things? Where the fuck were you when he had a nervous breakdown in high school? Where were you when he was disrespecting his mother, which almost landed him in a correction facility? Who took care of him when he needed help? I did. Where were you? You were off following your dreams and becoming deputy detective or whatever the fuck your position is.”
“That’s not fucking fair, Jax. I didn’t know I even had a kid until a few fucking hours ago. You know what? I don’t need your shit right now. My son needs to be medically checked out. I’m going to chalk your attitude up to being stressed out. But believe me, speak to me like that again and I’ll lay you on your ass. I’m just as shocked at this information and just as stressed out about Lanie too. She’s my fucking case and I’m responsible for her. I’ve never, EVER let someone down. And I don’t plan on doing it now.” He exits the car and slams the door, leaving me in the dark to process everything.
He’s right. So is Ben. That poor kid has gone through so much today. Now he’s about to find out who his father is. I know I’m stressed out about Lanie disappearing, but I need to apologize to both Ben and Brad for my attitude.
When I join them inside, Sofie has her arms wrapped around her son with Brad standing in an awkward silence next to them. She’s crying when she looks up into his eyes. Why didn’t I see it before? Was I so caught up with being angry at him that I didn’t even see he was still the love of her life? She cracks a tearful smile and opens her arm out to him. Brad swallows hard before stepping into the embrace of where his heart lies. I know he still loves her. He’s all but said it aloud to me on numerous occasions.
“Mr. Montgomery, would you like to see your wife?” The nurse taps me on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry?” I shake my head and turn towards her. “Did you just asked me if I wanted to see my wife?”
“Well, she is still your wife, isn’t she? Her file doesn’t show any changes were made.”
“You mean…” I ask, turning to Brad. He smirks and nods. “My wife. She’s here?”
“Yes sir. She’s in room four.” Before she can finish her sentence, I’m already headed to the room.
Sliding to a stop just outside the door, my heart begins to pick up a pace that had stopped the moment she went missing.
“Lanie.” I say her name softly. She looks like she’s sleeping, but when she hears me, she opens her eyes slowly. “Please tell me this isn’t a dream.”
Tears begin streaming down her face when she speaks. “Not a dream, more like a nightmare that I can’t wake up from.” When I make my way to her, she sits up and leans into me.