Missing (The Brannock Siblings Book 3) (17 page)

"I'm sorry, Lily."

"Don't be. I'm not and I don't regret for a minute not
telling you. Knowing the truth-"

"Stop. It makes no difference now. Just know that I'm
here for you if you ever need to talk about it. I never was a big fan of
Brandon, but I can hold off on the shit talk if you need me to."

At that, Lily burst out laughing and pulled Aiden into
another hug, tears falling from her eyes before she could get herself under
control. "I don't believe that for a second, Aid."

They both held each other while they laughed hysterically.
That few minutes with nothing between them, no secrets, no lies, no regrets… it
was the reason she had dedicated her life to her family, the reason she loved
her sister so much.

"Aunty Aiden? Where's Gus Gus?"

Oh, shit.
She looked at the clock on her wall and
realized that he would be home any minute and coming for her and Aidy. She
hadn't even done her hair yet and she felt suddenly frantic.

"Baby, will you go to the bedroom and find me Aiden's
pearl earrings?"

"Yeah!" Aidy replied excitedly and darted down the
hall.

"Lily, I don't have pearl earrings."

"I know, but it will keep her occupied for a few
minutes so you can listen to me and so we can do something with that
hair."

Aiden tried to protest, but Lily dragged her toward the
bathroom and shut the door, giving her a look that told her she would regret it
if she did.

"Gus cares about you, more than you think. He wants
more than just friends and has from the very beginning, even when you two
thought you hated each other. I know you know that." She squeezed Aiden's
hand and took a deep breath before she turned her to face the mirror and
started in on her hair. "Now, pull your head out of your ass and be the
woman you were those days before that ridiculous blind date. Ready to fall in
love with the man of your dreams."

"Lily!"

"No, Aiden," her sister snapped. She looked at her
in the mirror, noticing the unshed tears filling Lily's eyes and a boulder
sized lump started to form in her throat. "You let go of this stupid idea
you've been clinging to that you can plan out your life. You can't. No more
than I could have planned for Aidy to have your red hair or prevented Brandon
from cheating on me with that bimbo slut. You take a chance on that man because
I promise you, it's worth it."

Hearing it from her mother was one thing, but hearing Lily's
tearful plea to just take a chance - consequences be damned - cut her to the
quick.

Lily didn't look at her as she twisted Aiden's hair into a
perfect, messy braid that gave her such a casual elegance. She didn't look at
her when they walked into Aiden's bedroom to look for something for her to wear
and found Aidy worrying over not being able to find those imaginary pearl
earrings. But when the knock came at the door, telling her that it was time to
face the music, Lily crossed her arms over her chest and participated in the
shortest staring contest the two sisters had ever held. Aidy ran at light speed
to open the door and her giggle filled the silence when Gus picked her up and
threw her over his shoulder.

He was beautiful, smart, sexy, funny, and so unaware of the
amount of power he had over her. Yet, Aiden knew that even if he
was
aware, he would still worship her. It was in his blood. It was in
hers
.

With Aidy crying out with laughter and still hanging over
his shoulder, he winked at Aiden saying, "You ladies ready?"

She nodded before she gave Lily a watery smile and pulled
her into a tight hug, finally whispering, "I'll try, I promise."

Gus

"I really hope this shit gives us something to work
with, because I've about had it," Linc grumbled from the driver's seat of
the car.

Reviewing all security footage from the station, the
surrounding business, and all the monitored parking areas nearby, had finally
gotten us somewhere. A camera picked up the back of a man climbing into a car
at a nearby parking garage. It was the same man from the station footage and
how he bypassed every other camera around was a mystery. The owner of the
parking structure had installed the camera ten minutes before the prick left
that letter at the station. Not expecting that the new equipment had recorded
yet until he fixed a few bugs in the system, the owner of the garage hadn't
sent the footage in until earlier this week when Pax stopped by a second time.

We got the license plate on the car, which got us the
owner's name, which got us the owner's home address. Linc and I were just
pulling onto the correct street and crossing our fingers that this would bring
us closer to shutting this case down.

Ever since that day at the park earlier in the week, I'd
been keeping a close eye on the girls and contacted them frequently throughout
the day. Lily hadn't suspected anything unusual, but Aiden started asking a lot
of questions. I told her that I was just checking in, but she wasn't buying it.

The truth was, that day with Aiden and Aidy, I'd gotten the
very distinct feeling that we were being watched. Our afternoon had started out
carefree and relaxed. I'd packed a picnic for the three of us and Aidy had
played non-stop for a good hour on the playground before my instincts perked
up.

I could still feel that gut wrenching tension I'd
experienced whenever I looked around the park. It wasn't crowded, but it wasn't
empty either. I should have been more vigilant when we'd gotten there, but
Aiden had been acting so different and I couldn't help but be distracted by it.

She had deliberately flirted with me from the moment we left
the apartment and I was dying to ask her what changed, but having that
conversation with Aidy around wasn't going to happen.

It wasn't until we got back to the apartment that the
uneasiness I'd felt the second half of our day finally faded. We'd even stopped
at her studio and picked out some paintings to hang in my apartment. The rest
of the night went perfectly. Lily picked Aidy up to take her out to dinner
while Aiden was determined to cook me something.

I was scared. Of course I was scared. I'd smelled her
attempts at food before, but there was no way in hell I was going to stop her.
She made spaghetti and I'd eaten the whole plate of food, inserting 'mmm's' in
all the right places and earning an Oscar for my one of a kind performance.
She'd burst out laughing the second I took my last bite and that's when I
noticed she had barely even touched her plate.

"What?"

"Oh my God, I can't believe you actually swallowed
that. It was awful!"

I forced myself not to hold onto my stomach as the
queasiness started to build. "No, babe. It was just fine."

Her brown eyes twinkled and she kissed me on the cheek
before clearing our plates. "I appreciate the lie, Gus. I promise you,
though, that I won't attempt another meal by myself again."

"Oh, thank God!"

She'd burst out laughing and I hadn't been able to take my
eyes off of her. The nausea from the food was quickly tamped down by my desire
for her. She was stunning before, when she had her guard up, but something had
changed. Her eyes were brighter when they weren't filled with worry and her
smile never faded.

Fuck, I loved her.

I loved her more every day that passed.

I told myself to talk to her about what happened at the
park, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her
anything
that would take
away that smile, so we spent the rest of the evening talking about anything and
everything that was safe.

Now, I really wanted to kick my own ass. Not telling her was
the worst decision I had ever made. I needed to shut this case down before it
got the best of me. I was getting paranoid and that wasn't going to be good for
anyone.

"Here it is," Linc said as we pulled up to the
curb in front of a beautiful two story home. "Doesn't seem fitting,
huh?"

"No, it doesn't. But nothing about this case makes
sense."

He grunted. "Let's go get some answers."

We kept our eyes moving as we walked up to the front porch
and before we were even close to the door, it swung open and an older gentleman
of about 70 appeared. "Glad they sent someone, I was beginning to think no
one cared."

"I'm sorry?" Linc questioned.

"You boys are here to dust for prints aren't you? Take
some samples or whatever the hell it is you cops do these days?"

"No, sir," I replied, my gut telling me this was
going to be another brick wall. "We are actually here because your vehicle
is now part of an investigation."

"Investigation for what?" he asked, his eyes wide
as he took us in.

"Sir, we have reason to believe that your vehicle was
one used by a suspect we have been trying to locate. We'll have to ask you a
few questions."

"Well, shit. I just called you people yesterday. I've
been out of the country for several weeks, took my wife to Europe for our
retirement. We just got back in yesterday morning and reported that one of our
cars had been stolen."

I glanced at Linc who looked like he wanted to pull out his
gun and shoot something. I knew his pain. "I'm Detective Gus Brannock,
sir. This is Detective Evan Lincoln. May we come in, Mr. Charlesworth."

"Roger, please. Yes, come in and let's sort out this
mess."

We spent the next hour finding out that Roger's car had been
stolen only hours after they had left their home five weeks ago. He'd asked one
of the neighbor's kids to check in on things each day, pick up the newspaper
and mail, and just keep an eye on the place while he and his wife were on
vacation. The kid, a 15 year old boy named Jared that lived across the street,
had checked on the house the same day they left.

"He said the car hadn't been in the garage that first
night. He thought we had driven it to the airport and left it in long term
parking. Do you know how expensive that shit is? He didn't know any better,
though. Poor guy feels just awful," Roger explained.

"Is there anyone other than family that knows the code
to your garage, has a key to your house?" Linc asked.

"No. Our two sons live in Texas so they don't have one.
Our daughter lives downtown, though, and she is the only person with a key.
Jared was using the garage code to bring the mail in."

Linc pulled out his cell, "I'll call in and have
someone come out right away to see if they can find anything. Anyone else
touched anything in the house since you left?"

Roger shook his head, "No, and only our family and
close friends knew we were even going away."

Someone else had obviously known they were going away if he
had dared to come take the car on the same day they left. According to Roger,
no neighbors had even noticed anyone leaving the house in the time after the
couple left in a cab to the airport.

"You said this guy is someone you've been looking
for," Roger directed my way while Linc spoke on the phone.

"Yes, sir."

"Did this guy, um… did he…"

"So far, it's not a murder case, Mr. Charlesworth. The
man we are trying to find just parked your car in a parking garage near our
station and left in the car a while later. He's a possible suspect in two
kidnappings."

"Shit. That's awful. Are the kids okay?"

"They were recovered soon after they were taken, but we
haven't been able to find this guy."

Roger looked thoughtful. "I'm sure the families are
grateful. You boys are doing a good thing and I'll do whatever I can to help. I
remember years ago, a little boy from our neighborhood had been taken. They
never found him, though. Broke my heart that we never saw little Donny again.
With the manpower and technology we have today, things like this shouldn't be
happening. In fact, I'm surprised they haven't found the car by now if you've
been looking for it since yesterday morning."

My phone immediately started to ring, interrupting my
response and I excused myself to answer it. Eckart.

"Brannock."

"We found it. Took us long enough with the APB out on
it, but we found it in a parking garage."

A shot of adrenaline buzzed through me at the news. We were
getting closer. "I'm with the owner now. He reported it stolen yesterday
so pull that statement up. What's the address?"

He rattled off the street number as I wrote it down in my
notepad. It wasn't until I confirmed it with him that I realized where it was.

"Son of a bitch!"

"What is it?" he barked.

"That's just down the street from my apartment."

"You're shitting me."

"No. I'm not. You and Pax get down there now. Linc and
I will be there soon."

"Got it."

Linc was just finishing up explaining to Roger what was
going to happen with forensics when they arrived later today, but I was already
out the door and scrolling through the contacts on my phone.

"Gus! What's going on?" Linc shouted and chased
after me.

I immediately moved to the driver's side and climbed in with
the phone pressed to my ear. Linc didn't even have the door shut before I
peeled away from the curb.

"Hey! What's up?" Aiden said brightly when she
finally answered.

"Where are you, babe?"

"At the studio, why?"

I sighed in relief, but it was short lived. She was still
too close to where that fucker had been. "Tell me Aidy is with Lily."

"She is. Gus, what's going on?"

"I'm on my way there. Stay in the studio and don't open
the door for anyone but me, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, clearly terrified by the
tone of my voice.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm the pure terror that
was coursing through me. "It's just a safety precaution, Aid. Trust
me?"

"Of course," she replied immediately, firmly.