Armed and Inked by M.S. Swegan (17)

Chapter 17

“When Hell opens up.”

Dylan

As the hours passed of questioning and investigating I find myself slip right back in the mindset I had to be in while in the military. The planning and thinking in an orderly fashion brings a whole new calmness over me and I see only one way this is going to end. I will get Lilly back even if I die trying, and the person responsible for this will regret every second of their retribution.

I’m in hunting mode now as the last cop car pulls away. It’s dark out and luckily for us we know the cops around here and we stand on pretty good ground with one another. Which means we won’t be kept in the dark if they find something. Jen, Maddox and Sill are still at the shop waiting to hear what’s next as Shane and I sit on the side walk in silence.

“I’m going to make a call. My Aunt and Uncle are going to want to know about Lilly, plus it wouldn’t hurt to have an attorney on our side just in case something comes up where we need him.” I tell Shane and he only nods while continuing to stare off into the darkness.

The phone rings before my Aunt picks up. “Hello?” She answers. “Hey, it’s me.” “Oh hi honey, happy Halloween!” “I wish it was. Listen, Aunt B. it’s Lilly.” I pause as I try to think how to break this to her. “What, what’s the matter? Is she okay?” Panic is set in her voice before I can even explain. “Someone has her. I found a note that they left at her apartment. She’s gone…and I have to find her.” Silence, then sobs. “We are coming down to help! I…I just can’t stand by and not do anything. We are leaving now. I’ll meet you at your house!” The line goes dead and I know she is in full panic mode now.

When I get back over to Shane I see that he hasn’t moved. I place a hand on his shoulder and he jumps. “Come on we’re leaving.” I say but he doesn’t budge. “Shane, we aren’t accomplishing anything here on the sidewalk.” After a pause he lets out a defeated laugh. “My parents would kill me if they knew. I should have kept her safe; I should have installed cameras or something. Someone on this block had to see something.” Frustration fills his voice and anger takes charge as he stands up. With a black A& I t-shirt on and black shorts along with some old school high-tops, I’ve never seen a man more ready to go to war. He lost so much and now his sister’s life is at stake.

“Shane, brother, listen to me. This isn’t your fault. If anything it’s mine. I left her alone this morning. I should have made her come with me. Dammit! I should have told her…” The urge to punch something or destroy something is overwhelming. It’s my fault….MY fucking fault.  “Told her what?” He asks me as I pace the sidewalk. Then I stop to look at him. “That I love her. I should have told her. She said it first, but I didn’t say anything back. I wanted it to be special dammit! Now she’s gone.” My fists are clenched tighter than they’ve ever been. I’m losing control, and I can’t afford to do that. Lilly needs me.

I squeeze my eyes shut and focus. “Well, let’s get her back then. What’s you plan?” Shane steps up and asks firmly. Knowing that he understands how I feel about Lilly makes it all become clear. “We have to think… text Maddox and tell them to come over to my place.”

About a half an hour later and my house is full. Everyone from work, plus Everly and my Aunt and Uncle are here. In the living room we all sit and try to think of anything that could help. I mean sure the cops are doing their job but how can we just all sit here and go about living without doing something?  “My old friend Jerry from the station has agreed to come over and talk to us as soon as they get organized.” My Uncle says as he sets his phone down.  “I tried to get a hold of Lilly’s EX, Brandon, to see what he’s been up to.” Everly adds in. “But he’s not answering me back.” Shane looks up at her in silence as a tear falls down her face. His jaw clenches as does his fists then he looks away. Jen sits down next to her and offers comfort because even though Everly has lost composure Jen is right there with her and what are friends for I guess. Maddox is staring out the window and Sill is scrolling through his phone checking anything on social media that would look suspicious. Me on the other hand, I just feel fucking lost.

Hours of retracing steps and taking into account customers at the shop who seemed a bit sketchy has got us down to nothing. No cameras that face the alley where we parked that day so we’ve got nothing there either. I tried to get a copy of the security tape from the gym that day when the first pictures were taken but the police have already requested that now. We’ve looked high and low in the neighborhood, back allies and back yards. No sign of Lilly. Her apartment is off limits to us and the yellow caution tape blocks the door so I can’t even go in and pretend that she is there.

Something has to give, and after 24 hours it needs to happen now. We have all been quiet mostly, like we’re waiting for the phone to ring with good news. Shane has been at his place trying everything he can think of to do next. He even hired someone to track down Jessa. Jen, Maddox, Sill and Tony are trying to keep the shop going in the meantime. I however just parked down the road from Lilly’s apartment. It’s dark and quiet on the road, but maybe something will happen. We had to miss something, with defeat and lack of sleep it’s hard to focus, but I’ll never give up.

The light in Lilly’s living room just turned on from the timer I set for her because I can see it through the sides of the curtains. It’s almost like she’s in there and I’m no longer welcome. The thought alone has a sick feeling run through me. I never wanted to be without her and now that I am, I find that being alone now is even more painful than before. She fucking wrecked me, and because of her I’ll never be the same.

A tap on my window startles me as I look out to see an old woman standing next to my truck. After rolling down my window I dig deep to put a smile on my face so I don’t scare the poor woman.

“Hello.” I begin. “You mind telling me why you’re blocking my driveway?” The frail old woman asks and immediately I look to see that I’m doing just as she says. “I’m sorry I’ll move right now.” I tell her apologetically and her small hand taps the side of my truck. “I didn’t say you have to move right this minute, but I just want to know why you’re parked here before I decide that calling the cops is in order.” She’s brave, I’ll give her that as I take note of mace she has gripped in her other hand that she is holding against her chest. “I’m just watching my girlfriend’s apartment. She went missing and I can’t sit around and just let other people worry about it. It’s taking too long and I’m restless.” “Ahh, I heard about that. My husband listened to the police scanner all the time and when he passed I find that I can’t sleep without it on. So why don’t you come in for a cup of coffee and you can tell me all about this stake out of yours.” I’m stunned, taken back, blown away by how courageous this little old woman is. “But you don’t know me.” She shrugs. “If you were a bad person you wouldn’t have that look on your face.” “What look?” I ask. “Like you’re more scared of me than I am of you.” This makes me laugh. So I nod and open the door, making sure not to move too fast and wind up with eyes full of pepper spray. “You sure are a big fellow, but come on follow me.” So I do, how can I tell her no, besides maybe she saw something. “You know this isn’t safe, taking in strangers.” I tell her and she stops and turns to look way up to meet my stare. “Son, you don’t scare me. You look as lost as a puppy dog, but sound as fierce as a soldier when you speak. My boy was a lot like you.” She shakes her crooked finger at me then turns towards to front door. When she goes inside I follow reluctantly but stop right inside by the door. “How do you take your coffee...?” I shake my head at my lapse of manners. “Sorry, My names Dylan Wright.” She smiles. “Call me Marge, Dylan. Do you like it black? With cream or sugar?” Her eyebrows are raised as she waits for an answer. “Cream and sugar please.” I tell her and she turns to go towards the kitchen. I look around her living room as the smell of old perfume stings my nose. Pictures line the walls with men in uniform and women with very large hair. Further over are pictures of children and pets. A life time of family moments, memories of what used to be. “Here you go Dylan. You want to go sit on the porch so you can continue this look out business of yours?” She asks and honestly the offer of fresh air is very enticing. “Yes, that would be great.”

Marge takes her seat in the rocking chair out on the porch and I have a seat on the steps as we both look down in the direction of Lilly’s. “So tell me something, what is this stake out your doing helping matters, Dylan.” She asks as she rocks slowly. “Well Ms. Marge, I don’t know what else to do. For the first time ever in my life I feel helpless, and the one person in the world that matters more to me than anything is missing.” I take a sip of the hot coffee and the liquid turns almost sour as it hits my empty stomach. “Ahh, I see. How did you two meet?” She asks and I chuckle. “She’s technically my boss I guess. Lilly and her brother own the tattoo shop in town. That’s where I met her.” As soon as the words leave my mouth the image of her walking into the kitchen that day twists my heart. Her smile, the touch of her hand in mine, she just lit a light inside of me that I don’t think ever worked before her. “This Lilly of yours… is she a sweet girl?” I blow out a noticeable breath. “The most kind hearted, loving woman I know, well…next to my Aunt.” I admit. “You know my grandson has tattoos like you, not as many of course but still he has quite a few. He tells me they all mean something. Then after he said that I got to thinking…I never really cared for them really, but if something matters that much to have it permanently put on your skin, then you must be brave.” “Huh, I never really thought of it like that.” I tell her. “Well yours mean something right?” She asks and I don’t know where she is going with this but I’m intrigued so I’ll play along. “Every single one of them.” I confirm. “Ahh, see you must be very brave then. To put that much time and emotion out there for the world to see, it’s almost like wearing your heart on your sleeve.” I can’t help but huff out a laugh at her way of thinking. “Not all of them are happy memories.” I say with a bitter sound to it but her smile never waivers. “Regardless, I know that this Lilly of yours needs you right now, and I can see that you’re not the kind to give up. So my advice to you is this, and you can take it or leave it. It’s up to you.” She stops rocking and leans in. “Keep looking and use that brain of yours. She needs you. These cops around here are good, but sometimes they take a bit too long. And by god if this story has a happy ending then make sure you live this life with no regrets.”  She finishes and then continues to rock. I take in her words of wisdom and honestly they just piss me off because I know she fucking needs me, but I have no way of helping her. So as politely as possible I set the cup on the railing. “Well I guess I better get busy then huh?” I say as I stand up. “Nothing gets done standing around I guess.” She counters with a laugh. “Thank you for the company and the coffee.” I smile and nod as a general way of saying goodbye. “Anytime Dylan.”

When I get back inside my truck I feel the rush of urgency and anger kick back in. It seems to come in waves…defeat…sadness, and then panic along with anger. I step on the gas as I drive up to the corner and then slow down to look at her place once again. No movement inside, no shadows against the curtains. Then something catches my eye upstairs and whoever it is up there must be watching a pretty intense movie because there is light flickering from the side of the blinds. So nothing that stands out to me this time either.

With determination set in my bones again I go straight to Shane’s place. Park out front and climb the stairs. I give two knocks and then just walk in. On the couch he sits, no TV on nothing, just a small lamp on the end table is lit. Setting on the coffee table is a hand gun, one I’ve seen before but none the less he is ready for something. So my approach is slow and easy. “Hey man.” I say and he looks over to me. His expression is expected because I feel exactly how he looks. “Hear anything?” I ask and he just shakes his head. “Nothing helpful anyway.” He manages some sort of response. “Well I just came from her street. I’ve been parked there for a while, until some old lady came out to see why I was parked there. So after talking to her I came straight here.” He nods this time. “You want me to get you something to drink; you’re looking a little pale.” I ask. “No worse than you fucker.” His reply is about as normal as we can be right now. So I get up pat him on the shoulder and go over to the fridge. He’s always stocked up on those horrible energy drinks, but since sleep isn’t an option I just grab two and then hand him one while I chug the other. This along with half of that coffee, I’m ready for anything.

After a moment he sits forward. “I feel like we’re getting nowhere, and I can’t handle it.” I crush the can and understand completely where he is coming from. “Well fuck it then. Come on let’s go out and ask some questions. We’ll go walk the fucking town again. I don’t care what we do first but I need to be doing something.” I admit as all the caffeine begins to run through me. So Shane silently agrees and stands up as well only this time he grabs his gun and tucks it behind him. Really I can’t blame the guy, he’d never hurt anyone on purpose, and definitely not an animal, but fuck with his family and you just might eat the bullet.

“Where is everyone at tonight?” I ask. “Probably at the bar getting some food.” That’s where everyone usually goes around here since the next restaurant is about 15 to 20 minutes out of town. “Well that’s stop number one then.” I say as we head in that general direction. We glance in A&I and see Jen leaning on the counter talking to Sill while Maddox is working on someone. I know none of them want to be working right now, but if this is what will help Shane then that’s what they’ll do.

Memories of Lilly and me are everywhere in this town now, and the more I feel her the harder it is to breathe without her.

Inside we go and pick a seat in the corner like always. It’s better this way so we can scan the crowd and watch for anything that stands out. “Have you talked to Andy down at the station?” Shane’s friend who is working on finding Lilly. “He called earlier and said that they can’t find Jessa, but they did get a hold of Brandon and he is has an alibi for the whole week. Plus they viewed the footage from the gym and can’t find who took the picture. That’s really all but I feel as if there is more he can’t say.” Shane informs me as I scan the room. “What can I get you boys?” The new waitress’s cheery voice seems to make my mood worse. “Water.” I order. “Whisky.” Shane tells her. When she turns away something hits me.

“The pictures… holy fuck the pictures…” I find myself mumble as things start to fall into place. Shane looks at me and waits for me to make sense. “What?” he pushes. “The pictures, they were taken here, at the bar. So this person was around us that whole night.” He looks at me like I got two heads. “Yeah, we know this already.”  He doesn’t get it. “No, that’s not it, listen. The other picture of me at the gym. The angle it was taken from. It’d have to be from here.” There, he finally gets it as his face perks up to be on alert as we look around. “What’s missing from here?” I ask because I already know the answer as the new waitress brings over the drinks.  “I’m going to fucking kill him.” Shane says as we stand up. I walk towards the back and right through the employee entrance to find Jim in the office. “Where the fuck is he?” I ask and he jumps at my presents. “Dammit you scared the shit outta me.” He grabs his chest as he takes a deep breath. “Fucking tell me.” I demand, with zero fucks given as to how scared he is. He has no idea that he is two seconds away from my hands around his throat if he doesn’t answer. “Calm down Dylan. The police were here this morning to get a copy of the tapes from the night you guys were here. They questioned me on any strange behavior, and I just said I haven’t noticed anything.” He shrugs which makes me want to knock his head off his fucking shoulders. “Give me his address.” I demand as I grab hold of the front of his shirt. His hands fly up in surrender. “Fine, but this is the only one I’ve got on file.” He reaches in the file cabinet with shaky hands, grabs the paper and hands it to me. Snatching it up I don’t even bother to waste another word on him before I leave.

Shane follows my lead as we rush to street number that the paper tells us, and with a bunch of flashing lights ahead, it appears we’re on the right track. The same blast of adrenalin and urgency set in just like they did in the desert when I had a mission. We spot Andy standing on the lawn talking on the phone. “Is she in there?” I interrupt and he shakes his head. So I go down around the side of the house and see a few more buddies of ours as we come up to basement door. “Dylan you can’t go in.” One of them tells me as calmly as possible. “I just want to look; I promise I won’t touch anything.” I practically beg. When he looks around to see who is all standing close by he nods with a sigh. “Don’t touch anything, and hurry the fuck up!” He tells me in a low voice.  

I don’t know why but I just feel like I have to look. In the dark outdated 1970’s style basement there are boxes and bins sitting everywhere. An old TV in the corner setting on an end table has about an inch of dust on top. Next to that is a couch with brown flowers on it, and then on a shelf is a newer stereo. The one thing in the room that doesn’t belong. So I go over to it and see a CD case sitting on the shelf next to it. It reads “Live Techno” in big bold letters and a bunch of artists listed underneath. “Weird.” I say to myself because I can’t imagine someone living like this and listening to that.

“Come on, times up.” I hear the call for me to leave. So I walk out and toss the keys to Shane who is standing talking to Andy. My head is thumping with the beginnings of a headache starting. Right behind my eyes lays the pain.

I get up into my truck and put pressure on my temples as Shane gets in and starts it up. “Well?” He asks. “I don’t fucking know, but something isn’t right about that place.” I shake my head as he pulls out and goes back down towards the shop. “Did Andy say anything?” I ask. “Nope, nothing new. Just the same things we came up with also, like the fact that Jessa is still missing too.” “Fuck! Where the hell are they?” I scream in the silence of the ride back.

After we park we head inside the shop, because honestly where else is there to go. Jen starts right away asking questions and I’ll just leave that up to Shane to provide the updates, which is nothing actually. Walking back to her office and not seeing her there is horrible. Why did I willingly come back in here? I mentally ask myself as I take a seat in her chair. The overwhelming pain of her absence is life changing. I can’t even explain. From her so called secret snack bucket on top of her filing cabinet to the new picture she has of us on her desk in a cool black frame. I feel sick, but I just can’t stop. I open her desk and find that her drawers are fairly organized and she keeps her rubber bands in a ball. All pointless stuff, but it’s still her stuff. I open the next drawer and I see her old Mp3 player and I laugh because she insists on keeping it for jogging even though she has a phone that has music on it already.

So I put the headphones in and hit play. The sound of old school music fills my ears and I laugh because I can imagine her singing every song. However, as fast as the images of her come …they also go, leaving a wake of anger and sadness behind.

I toss the player back in her drawer and just stare. Music, who the fuck would listen to that techno stuff in a basement.  I can see how some people might like to dance to it in a club or even their car, hell even in a bedroom if a bunch of kids are practicing how to dance. Whatever really, to each their own, but it all just looked so off and out of place in that house. So I pull my phone out and look up that disc specifically. I hit play and listen.

Hard beats hit the bass line as deep tones filled the space in between. Almost like taking a heavy metal song and putting a remix to it. Weird. I’ve been in clubs a few times and I’ve never heard this before. I look up and see Jen standing in the doorway. So I turn this shit off and prepare myself for the impending conversation. “That music, I’ve heard it before.” She says with a twisted look on her face. “It’s garbage. Once you’ve heard the original song it’s hard to follow this shitty remix.” I admit and she shakes her head. “No, I heard this recently.”  She squints her eyes as she tries to remember. Then she snaps her fingers. “Yeah, I remember now. I was with Lilly, and that’s the day we left her apartment to go to your house to cook because that shit was playing so loud in the hallway.

My heart starts to race and my muscles begin to stiffen as I stand up and look wide eyed at Jen. “Fuck…I know where she is.”