Double Trouble (20 page)

“We are talking now.”

Blaine nodded. “Yes we are. Do you have a few minutes so I can go over what is happening?”

“No. Just tell me the main points and how you think I can assist you?”

Something in the tone of Julio’s voice alerted Blaine that this was not going to be easy, but it was his son. He had to try every avenue.

“My son is missing. We have gone everywhere, talked to hundreds of people, showed his picture and nothing. Most of all, few would even talk to us. I would like your team to ask questions to help me find him. He’s only sixteen.” Blaine hoped that was short and concise enough to gain Julio’s assistance.

“I am sorry to hear of your troubles, and I wish you and your family well in your search. But I am cannot help you in this search.”

Blaine waited for an explanation. None came.

“Okay, well thank you for your time,” he said, resentment rife in his voice.

“You are most welcome.” The line disconnected.

Disappointed, Blaine removed the phone from his ear. Donald closed his eyes as he sat back and looked up at the ceiling.

“He said no?” Red asked in a soft voice.

Blaine nodded.

“Okay, we hit the streets again after we eat. It’ll be dark and maybe someone will tell us something. We keep at this,” Frank said, as he picked up the hotel phone. “We are going to find my nephew.” He paused. “Room service?”

Chapter 15

Belinda picked up her phone as soon as it rang praying it was Adam needing a ride or something.

“Hello?”

“Hey Belinda…you okay?” Pam asked, her tone of voice changing from happy to curious.

“No, not really. My son…he hasn’t been home since the day before yesterday. I filed a missing person’s report and have been out searching, but…” Her breath hitched as she tried to explain.

“What? You didn’t call me to help you search? What's wrong with you? Just one minute.”

Belinda sat on her bed with her head down. Visions of Adam lost and alone troubled her every second. She and Abe had walked blocks, talked to everyone, some a few times in their search.

“Is it Abe or Adam?” Pam asked when she came back to the phone.

“Adam. But Pam, I don’t want to bother you with this, you're still honeymooning. Just hearing your concern and knowing you want to help is great. I need a sounding board for when my thoughts scream too loud.”

“You’ve got that and anything else. I’m going to have Julio send some guys out to look and if Adam is in the city, they’ll find him. Do you have a picture?”

Taken aback by Pam’s certainty, Belinda hesitated a bit. “Yeah, but it’s from last year.”

“Tell me about him, he’s sixteen, I know that. How tall?”

“A little over six feet.”

“Weight?”

“He has a slim, wiry build similar to Tex.”

“Hair and eyes?”

“Short reddish brown hair and whiskey-colored eyes.” She responded to Pam’s no-nonsense, rapid fire questions with a feeling of hope.

“Any tattoos or birthmarks?”

“No. At least he didn’t the last time I saw him.”

“Okay, I am going to pass the information on to Julio and I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m not going to tell you to take it easy, I know that’s impossible. Just breathe. Inhale and exhale, calm your thoughts so you can see your next step clearly. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay, and thanks.” Disconnecting, she was thankful to get more feet on the ground searching for Adam and hoped Pam’s certainty paid off.

An hour later there was a knock on her front door. Eager for news regarding Adam, Belinda opened the door to Tex, Pam, and Julio. Pam walked in with a large container of something that smelled divine. Belinda’s stomach rumbled in acknowledgment. Tex had two large bags and both of Julio’s hands were in his pocket.

“Aw, thanks, Pam. It smells too good for me to say you didn’t have to do that,” Belinda said, following the tantalizing aroma to the kitchen.

“I know you aren’t eating, so I whipped up something while Julio looked into a few things.” Pam glanced over her shoulder. “Honey, bring Belinda up to date on what we’ve been doing.”

“We?” Tex said, laughing. “You’ve been ordering everyone around.”

Pam slapped his shoulder lightly. “Brat. I had to make sure you understood my writing. Anyway, I was talking to my husband.”

Belinda chuckled as Pam unpacked the bags as if she had been in the kitchen hundreds of times when this was her first visit to Belinda's home.

“First I must ask you, who is your son’s father?” Julio said in a soft voice.

Pam looked at her and shrugged.

Belinda wondered why it should matter, but since he was going to search for her son, she answered. “Blaine O’Connor. Why?”

A grimace flew across his face so quickly she thought she had imagined it.

“What’s wrong? Have you met this guy? You know him?” Pam asked.

“Nothing is wrong, I do not know him personally and I have not met him. I will need to find another way to teach an important lesson. That is all. Now Belinda, I have sent men out to gather information regarding Adam. I will have some news for you tonight. My wife intends to spend time comforting her best friend and I would ask if I could join you for supper. Otherwise I am afraid I’ll starve.”

“Oh stop,” Pam said, smiling at him. “I left some at the house. Not to mention we have a chef on staff.”

Julio spread his arms open. “Okay, I just want to be with you. And this is the only way to do so.” He looked at Belinda. “She was very determined to be here, to wait with you. Is the father out searching as well?”

Warmth curled in her chest, taking the edge off the block of ice that had been lodged there since Adam’s disappearance. “I appreciate you coming, Pam. I had no idea how much this meant until you walked in the door with food.” They all laughed at her emphasis on food. “Yeah, Blaine has a large family and quite a few of them are here visiting. They’re hitting the area hard. I think a few more will be flying in this weekend.”

Julio wore a strange, almost pleased, expression on his face as he nodded.

“Who all is in the house with you?’ Tex asked as he looked around.

“My dad and his nurse. Abe is out helping in the search.” She took a seat in front of the plate piled high with food Pam had set in front of her.

“Soul food, just what the doctor ordered,” Belinda said after she silently blessed her food. She eyed the baked chicken, greens, corn bread, homemade macaroni and cheese, and steamed carrots. “Thanks, girl.” She dug in, sensing Julio taking a seat nearby. Pam was the last person to sit.

“Where’s Tex? Is he going to eat?” Belinda asked around her food when she noticed he wasn’t at the table.

“Not right now, he’s coordinating the search,” Pam answered.

Pleased that the search was ongoing, she relaxed and ate every morsel on her plate.

Pam shook her shoulder, waking her. “Belinda, they found someone and need you to come verify if he is Adam.”

“Whaat?” she asked groggily, trying to clear her mind from the cobwebs of sleep. “Adam? Where?”

“I don’t know if it’s Adam or not. They found a tall teenage boy being held by a gang. They took him and need you to see if it’s him. Put on your shoes so we can go.” Pam held out the slippers she had been wearing while they watched a movie.

Had she fallen asleep? She looked at her watch, two and a half hours had passed. “Did anyone call while I was asleep?” Belinda asked to calm herself.

Pam shook her head. “No, it didn’t ring. You were tired and took a couple hours of sleep, you feel better now?”

Belinda stood and slid her feet into the shoes. After running her hand through her hair, she realized she felt more alert than she had in days. Smiling, she met Pam’s concerned gaze. “I do feel better. I’ll be ready to go after I freshen up a bit. Be right back.”

“No, no, that’s not Adam.” Thank God she thought, looking at the bruised and battered teenager who lay hooked up to numerous machines on the hospital bed. Pam had wrapped her arm around her before they walked into the hospital room and she leaned into her. Together they walked out into the hall. Pam shook her head at Tex who met them at the door.

“We’ll keep looking and searching for clues, Belinda. By the way I’m glad he wasn’t your son. All that damage is from a gang initiation.”

Belinda nodded, remembering the black and blue marks on the kids unbandaged arm. “That’s horrible.”

Tex nodded as they headed to the lobby. “Yeah, but that kid wanted that. He’s a new gang member, that’s why I’m glad he’s not yours.”

She nodded as they walked to the glass door. A dark Mercedes pulled up. Tex opened the back door so she and Pam could slide in. During the drive home, one question kept rolling through her mind, where was Adam?

Chapter 16

Belinda sat in the back seat of Blaine and Donald’s rental. Today marked day three and there had been no word or anything regarding Adam’s whereabouts. Over the past seventy-two hours, her world had crashed around her with her son missing. Donnie and Blaine had become her pillars of strength, keeping her safe and sane. The three of them had settled into a small unit, spending hours tracking down every lead. She knew they were just as concerned over her son as she was and that strengthened their bond. Being with both of them no longer worried her. When people reacted or looked at the three of them strangely during their search, she ignored them and concentrated on who and what was important.

They were returning from some abandoned mountain hideaway, a hundred or so miles away from her home, where someone claimed to have seen a teenager meeting Adam’s description. That lead was as dead as the town it was located near.

“I’m tired,” she said, turning slightly. “And hungry.”

“I’m hungry too, let’s stop and grab a bite to eat,” Donald said to Blaine, who was driving. Instead of answering, Blaine nodded. He had become more and more withdrawn each day, often not speaking for hours. His mother had spoken to her about it as if she could pull him out of it. Problem was, she knew exactly where Blaine was. If she didn’t have so many other responsibilities piled high on her plate, she would shut down as well. Unfortunately, that didn’t go over too well when she told Blaine’s mother that.

The roadside restaurant didn’t look like much from the outside, but she hoped the bathroom was clean since she had to go. If the food was hot and decent, she could deal until she got home. Pam kept her refrigerator stocked with made-from-scratch goodies that she and Abe gobbled with abandon. It was one of the few bright lights during this time.

There were only a few patrons sitting inside. They grabbed a booth and she headed to the bathroom. The restaurant was a lot larger and nicer inside. When she finished, she headed back out to the main dining area.

Voices she recognized reached her before she turned the corner. Belinda stopped and listened, refusing to believe her ears.

“I’ve been doing okay, Uncle Robert. How’s Lorie?”

Belinda’s brows rose.
Trinity was her ex-boyfriend’s niece? Why didn’t she know that? Had Robert known who she was all along? Were they playing some type of game?
She flattened against the wall and inched closer to the opening.

“She’s good. Up for another promotion, she thinks she has a good shot. At least she won’t be dealing with criminals any more. I never liked that job for her.”

“I thought she worked with juveniles.”

“She does, but they're just underaged criminals.” He paused. “Well some of them. She's been able to turn some of them around. Now tell me why we had to meet way out here?”

“I live out this way, it was easier for me.”

“Trinity are you still working for that church?”

“Uncle Robert, I'm not going to discuss my faith with you. We don’t agree, so let’s leave it at that.”

Church my ass, it’s a damn cult.

“Okay, okay. So what do you need? You called me and asked me to meet you, so I know you need something.”

Belinda had to give him credit, he wasn’t stupid.

“I’m leaving town and need some money for the trip. Not a lot,” she said fast. Belinda could imagine Robert’s stern expression at the request.

“You moving again? Why does that group keep moving? You’re not into anything illegal are you?”

“No.” The forcefulness of her answer made Belinda think the opposite. “We are merely doing God’s will in the midst of hell. I know—”

“Spare me the fire and brimstone fanaticism. I’ve heard it before from your mom. If she wasn’t my sister I would’ve told her what I think of that super religious group she was a part of years ago. You people think you're better than everyone else just because you live apart.”

“You don’t understand. We don’t think we are better, God thinks we are better, and that makes the difference.”