Rebuilding Stone (The Stone Brother Series Book 2) (24 page)

Over the next several months, everyone walks around in a
daze. We are all numb. Not one word about Lani or Cade. No leads. Evan, Missy,
and Brayden are all a wreck. Missy delivered baby Juley two and a half months
early. My heart broke for them that day. After all that Missy had been through
and survived in her life, the day Juley was born should have been cause for
celebration. Instead, it was marred with sadness. They were glad when the
doctor said she’d be okay, but there was a void in their life. Until the day
Lani and Cade come home, there will always be a void.

Noah and Molly welcomed their healthy twins, Logan and
Lucas. Their house is constantly busy with the addition of two infants, but
Molly still has time to worry about others. I know she has a hard time putting
on a happy face in front of her kids. We talk daily, and it’s always the same
thing. We want to know if the other has heard anything. Mostly, I think it’s
just comforting to hear her voice.

And Evan, I don’t even know what to say about Evan. To say
he went off the deep end would be an understatement. He only speaks to the
guys. He wasn’t there when the new babies were born, and he refuses to be
around his nephews. I think it’s because he knows his behavior would scare the
kids. He goes home and obsesses, trying to form whatever plan he can. When one
plan doesn’t work, he forms another. I know he hoped money would buy a lead,
but it seems like no one knew anything, except Jackson, Dylan or Michael. He
has private investigators on them 24-7, looking for any lead.

Maddox and I are doing okay. Every time he comes home, he
takes me in the bathroom or the bedroom. It’s usually fast, but I know he just
wants to be inside me to reassure him that I’m still here. It’s the only time
of the day I can feel alive too. We’ve had good days - Gavin had his third birthday.
That was a very good day.

It doesn’t make any sense. We’ve located Jackson and follow
his every move. Jackson doesn’t have them. I think he knows who has them and is
trying to throw us off. You'd think he’d make a move after eight months. If he
thinks we're going to stop following him, he’s wrong. Evan will not rest until
he knows Lani’s fate. No way.

I didn’t want Kerrigan and I to spend our first year of
marriage like this. We adopted Gavin a few weeks ago. It took eight long
months, but he's finally ours. We’ve pretty much handed our house over to
Brady. He hired a crew in Chicago to help renovate it, and we haven’t seen the
house in over a month. It feels wrong to be excited about anything, especially when
people you love are hurting so much.

I spend every free second I can with Kerrigan and the boys.
We try to make it as normal as possible for the kids, but Gavin is very
observant. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but he senses something isn’t
right. Kerrigan and I have to try very hard to put on a happy face for him.
Don’t get me wrong; the moments we're at home with our family, we are happy.
Still, it’s hard to cover up such a devastating loss. We’ve lost Evan. My only
contact with him these days are about Lani. He works non-stop searching for her.

I’m sitting alone in my office. Donna needed the week off to
plan her own wedding to a lovely girl, Robyn. I’m so excited for her. I
sometimes laugh thinking about my first run in with Donna. I can’t believe that
we've become friends and that I get to be her assistant. With everything that's
going on, it’s nice to have the small distraction of work. But like everyone
else, my thoughts are never far from Lani and Cade. Watching Missy has been
difficult. I can’t imagine the pain she's going through. I don’t want to.

My phone starts ringing. I don’t recognize the number.
Hopefully, it’s a new customer and I can get lost in conversation with them.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Are you Mrs. Stone?” asks a woman with a deep voice.

“Yes, I am.”

“This is going to sound crazy, but I have a little boy named
Cade here. He had your number on him.” I almost drop the phone. I start to
tremble; I can’t breath. What's going on? Is this a joke? Please, don’t be a
joke.

“Hello?” the lady says again.

“Ma’am, where are you?” She tells me that she's just across
the border in Indiana, a small farming community, about an hour away. “Ma’am,
lock your doors. I'm coming right now.” I explain the situation and smile when
she tells me she has a 12-gauge shotgun loaded and ready to go.

I don’t want to hang up on this woman, but I need to call
someone. Shit. Who do I call first? I want to call Missy, but if something were
to happen before I get to them, I don’t want her to be devastated after getting
her hopes up. I get the woman's phone number and tell her I'll call her right
back. I decide to call Evan. Maddox has the boys and by the time we get someone
to watch them, I’ll already be there. Evan answers on the first ring.

“Hello.” His voice is void of any emotion.

“Cade is alive. I’m on my way to get him.”

“What?” he questions, unsure if he'd heard me correctly. So,
I repeat myself and tell him about the phone call.

“Give me the address, I’m going. Is Lani with him?” he asked
hopefully.

“No,” I respond as I get in my car.

“If Cade’s alive and got out, it’s because Lani helped him.”
I hear something in his voice that I haven’t heard in months. Life.

I stay on the phone with him until I get to where he told me
to wait. He wanted to meet me at a gas station about five miles from the home
in case it was a trap. I wait about ten minutes before he finally arrives and I
get into his car. He doesn’t say a word during the short drive, but I can see a
spark of life in his eyes.

We pull up to an old, dilapidated house. I start feeling a little
nervous as we get out and head toward the front door. I called to let her know
I was here to avoid being greeted with her loaded shotgun. The moment I see
Cade inside, I fall to my knees and start crying. I hug him and I can’t let go.
He’s grown so much.

“Cade, where’s Lani?” I ask.

“She helped me get out when the couple who had us went
outside. They're on their front porch a lot. She found a way out through the
attic. I had to jump. She tied two sheets together so I could get down, but I
still had to jump. I was so scared. She told me which way to keep running.” I
turn to look at Evan who's wearing his emotions in his eyes.

“Is she hurt?” Evan asked.

“No, but her baby is very sick. She’s scared for Harper.” Oh
my God, she WAS pregnant! She had a baby she didn’t want. Evan bursts out
through the door and starts screaming in anguish. I start crying and grab Cade
again, holding on tight. It takes several minutes for us to try and regain our
composure. Evan comes back in and kneels in front of Cade.

“When did she have the baby?” he asks.

“A week ago. Lani said she can't nurse the baby and that
Harper is starving. She keeps trying, though. What about my mom? Did she have
the baby?”

“Yes, she did. You have a little sister, Juley.” I answer
with a smile.

“Do they miss me?” he asks, his voice filled with
uncertainty.

“Yes, Cade. They miss you very much. Every moment of every
day.”

“I miss them, too,” he says starting to tear up. It’s time
to call Brayden.

“Why didn’t you try to escape sooner?” Evan asks.

“We were locked in the basement until the night Lani had
Harper. It was dark down there, so they moved us to the attic. Lani was in a
lot of pain. I tried to help her. I did, I tried. I promise,” he says solemnly
to Evan.

Evan hugs Cade and comforts him, “I know you did, son. I
know. And Lani knows, too.”

"People are coming to buy Harper tomorrow, so Lani said
it's now or never. I was afraid to jump, but Lani told me I could do it.” Evan
releases Cade and looks at him in disbelief.

As Evan stands, the look on his face changes to barely
controlled rage. I can tell he's thinking and planning, so it’s the perfect
time to call Brayden. I have no idea how close anyone is to finding us, so I
don’t want Missy to know anything until we can be sure, without a doubt, that Cade
will be safe.

I tell Cade we're going to call Brayden, but we can't talk
to his mom, yet.

“Hello.” Brayden's emotionless voice answers.

“Is Missy close by?” I ask.

“No, she's sitting in Cade’s room.”

“Brayden, listen to me. I’m with Cade; he's safe. I’ll
explain later, just get here, now. I’m texting you the address.”

“He’s safe?” I hand the phone to Cade.

“Daddy, come get me. I want to go home,” Cade pleads, his
voice breaking as tears start to fall.

I can hear Brayden in the background, “I’m on my way. I’m
leaving now.”

Where the hell is my wife? I’m getting worried. It’s not
like her to be late. I tried calling her a couple of times, but it just goes
straight to voicemail. Now Brayden is calling me.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I’m bringing my two sisters with me. They're going to
watch your boys. Be ready. Gun loaded.” What the fuck?

“Why?”

“Kerrigan and Evan are out at an old farmhouse with Cade.
She asked me not to tell Missy because they don’t know how safe they are right
now.” I swear I’m going to kill my wife myself. What kind of stunt did she just
pull?

“How?”

“I don’t know. Be ready. Five minutes,” he says and I start
to rush. Going to the lockbox, I grab two pistols. Why the hell wouldn’t
Kerrigan call me? I’m pissed, but more than anything, I’m scared. I try
clearing my mind of the fear so I can focus on what I have to do.

I’ve met Brayden’s sisters a few times and they’re all sweet
girls. Still, I don’t like the idea of leaving the boys, especially since I
have no idea when I’ll be back. I talk to Gavin and let him know I’m going
after the bad guys. I ask him to be good for Brayden’s sisters and to be a big
helper. He agrees and wishes me luck.

After what seems like a ten-hour drive, Brayden and I pull
up to the farmhouse and head inside. I immediately go to Kerrigan’s side and
Brayden picks up Cade. It’s all so surreal. How? I look over at Evan and what I
see scares me.

“Someone fill us in,” I request. Kerrigan updates us from
the phone call she received and her calling Evan, up to the situation with Lani
and her baby. I want to yell at her for not letting me handle this, but right now,
we have bigger issues.

“Evan, what’s the plan?” I ask.

“I spoke to this lady,” he says pointing to the woman
sitting on the couch. “She said there are two other farmhouses in a ten mile
radius. The one Cade described is about four miles West. It also happens to
belong to none other than Michael Cox.” All this time, we’ve been on Jackson,
thinking he was the ringleader. We’d investigated Michael and Dylan, followed
them. Nothing.

“Why wouldn’t this show up in his property search?” I ask.

“Because it’s listed under his wife’s best friend's name.
They are making cash payments until the house is paid off.” Fuck.

“Okay. Kerrigan, I’m going to escort you and Cade out.” I
tell her.

“Okay,” she says. “Please, be careful.” She hugs me, and
then hugs Brayden and Evan. “All of you.”

“Dad, are you coming with us?” Cade asks.

“No son, not right now. Go home to your mom. Tell her I’ll
be home as soon as we get Lani.”

“Okay. Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“I missed you,” Cade says and Brayden breaks down like a
little Nancy. I know Evan and I feel like joining him. I can only imagine how
this moment must feel for him.

“I missed you, too. More than you’ll ever know.” He hugs him
one more time and walks him to the car.

After we make sure they're safely on their way, we head back
inside. I’m concerned because the lady who owns this house could be trouble.
Evan says he’ll handle her. I’m worried his way of handling her will be with a
bullet.

“Ma’am, I need to make sure you don’t contact the police.
They kidnapped a woman. And they kidnapped this man's son.” He gestures towards
Brayden’s direction.

“I ain’t callin' no cops. Them rat bastards arrested me once
for just having a little weed on me.” Evan and Brayden both smile. All I can
think is, I’ve been called worse. After talking some more, we trust the woman
to keep this secret.

We’re standing at the front door of Missy’s house. I’m
excited to witness this reunion. We walk straight in and I call out for Missy.

“I’m in Juley’s room, Kerrigan. Come on in,” she says.

“I need you out here, right now.” I can’t keep the
excitement out of my voice. I hear her fumbling around before I watch as she
rounds the corner and locks eyes with Cade. She looks at me and then back to
Cade a few times before she runs toward us.

“Oh my God! CADE!” she exclaims as she hugs and kisses him.
She's utterly confused; tears of joy streaming down her face.

“I’m okay, Mom. I promise,” Cade says holding on to her
tightly.

“How? What happened? When did you know? What’s going on?”
Missy floods me with questions.

I sit her down and recap everything that happened. Then,
Cade tells his story with Missy's arms locked around him the whole time.
Through her tears, she manages to call her parents who are rushing over to see
their grandson.

“Where’s my baby sister?” Cade asks.

“Come look at her. She’s getting big.” She walks Cade back
to Juley’s crib.

“Does she know she has a big brother?” Cade asks.

“Of course,” Missy says, pointing to the photo next to the
crib. “We tell her every time she goes to bed that she has a big brother who
loves her.” Missy starts crying again.

“Cade, can you watch Juley for a minute? I’d like to speak
to Kerrigan for a moment.”

“Sure, but Mom, I’m not a baby anymore. I know Dad is going
to kill the man that took me,” he says, as if it’s no big deal. Missy and I
look at each other confused and wonder where that came from.

“Cade, your dad isn’t going to kill anyone,” Missy replies.
I wasn't so sure about that.