Trusting You: The Switched Series book two (13 page)

“Who is he?” my mom asks confused.

“It’s a long story. Callie can fill you in,” I say, before turning around to Ash. “Do you have any flashlights? Maybe they are somewhere close.”

“I’ll get them,” he says, before giving Callie a quick kiss and handing a baby to my mom.

“Please take care of them,” he says to my dad, before heading back inside. Collin comes around the corner of the house holding something black. What is that?

“I think he’s okay, just knocked out real good. I’ll put him in the back of the truck and y’all can keep an eye on him,” he says to my dad. The dog, of course. If she would knock a dog out so quick he never made a sound, I’m afraid to think about what she has done to Leighton.

After my parents, Callie and the girls are gone, Ash comes back outside with flashlights. We start to head out to look around when the police finally show up.

“Go start looking. I’ll take care of them,” he says, looking at the cop cars pulling up.

“I’ll go with you,” Josh says, walking over to me with Jaxon and Collin. I nod my head at them and we head out to look over the property. I go straight to the barn and start looking around. Everything looks normal here, even the horses are fine. She has to have gone somewhere. There’s no car anywhere around.

I head back to the house, followed by Josh, Collin and Jaxon. I go inside to talk to the local police in hopes they have had something reported to them that may be a clue as to what’s going on with her. After finding Ash, I see he is still filling them in on everything that has happened around here. They are now in the bedroom looking around.

“She has to have rented a car. Can someone call the airport and see if they have a record of it? If she didn’t use her name, see if they can send us video surveillance of the rental counter. At least then we will have some idea of what we are looking for,” I say, suddenly feeling exhausted. I think I may have to start being a little more sympathetic toward families I have to meet with in these horrible situations. You really never know how someone feels until you have been in their situation.

“I’ll do it,” Josh says quietly. He walks out of the room and I turn around and put my fist through the wall. I scare everyone out of the room except Ash and my brothers. I’m glad I have them right now, but I really just want to be left alone.

“Hey, we will find her,” Ash says, coming up beside me.

“I know we will find her, but I also know I have lost her,” I say, watching him walk into the bathroom.

“What are you talking about?” Jaxon asks. “I know you’re a pain, but the girl moved to a new town to be with you. You couldn’t have possibly made her want to run in the two days you have been gone.”

“Josh,” I say. “He has lived with that crazy woman for seven years to protect Leighton and I have ruined it all with one dinner.”

“I don’t understand,” Collin says.

“Her sister is Sam. We had dinner with them tonight. Josh is Leighton’s ex who married her crazy sister to protect her because Sam blamed her for me dumping her,” I say, watching their shocked expressions. “When she finds out what he did for her, I will lose her. All I have done is made her boyfriend marry her sister and get her kidnapped.”

“I promise you that girl is in love with you,” Ash says, bringing me a washcloth for my now bloody hand. “Brody, we will find her.” I nod my head at him, even though I don’t believe a word he is saying.

“Sorry about your wall,” I say taking the wash cloth from him.

“It’s okay. Callie will be glad. She wants to knock this house down and build a bigger one. She likes the land, but for some reason thinks our kids need their own room,” he says, shaking his head. I’m really glad he is talking about something so stupid right now. It’s just what I needed. I love my brothers, but Ash is definitely the person who always knows exactly what I need.

“I have the car make. She used her real name for some reason. I guess she didn’t think of everything. Unfortunately their computer systems just went down and they can’t track the vehicle. They are supposed to call me as soon as it gets running again, but they said it would probably be morning,” Josh says, coming back into the room. He looks at the wall and looks back at me. “I guess you were probably pretending that was my face.” I’m about ready to hit him in the face for that remark when Ash’s phone starts ringing.

“It’s Callie,” he says before answering. “Hey baby. Are y’all okay? We know what kind of car she rented, so we will find her. I know, I will. I promise I will call you. Okay. Okay. I love you too. I promise I will call as soon as I know anything,” he says, before hanging up.

“Is she okay?” I ask, feeling really bad we have brought all of this her way tonight. I really don’t want her sitting around worrying about all of this. I honestly can’t believe she left without a fight.

“She’s worried about Leighton and about you,” he says. I nod my head at him before turning back to Josh.

“What kind of car is she in? We can head out and start looking. They couldn’t have gotten far,” I say, heading back outside. Josh follows me outside and starts going through his phone.

“She rented a 2014 Chevy Tahoe, which is really strange because she hates big vehicles,” Josh says when Ash, Jaxon and Collin meet us outside.

“Does Sam have a job?” Jaxon asks, reminding me of what she does. This can’t be good. Why didn’t I think about her job?

“I’m assuming she’s still a nurse,” I say to Josh, who just nods his head at me. If she’s a nurse, that means she has had access to all kinds of drugs.

“Did Callie mention how Scooby was?” I ask Ash. “If she got him down without even a bark, she probably gave Leighton the same thing.”

“I didn’t think to ask. I can call and find out,” he says when my phone starts ringing. I look down and see Callie’s name showing up. I know this is killing her. Leighton is like a sister to her.

“It’s Callie, I’ll ask her,” I say, before answering. I guess she is going to call all of us all night.

“Hey Callie.”

“Hey Brody, do you know anything yet?”

“Not yet, we are fixing to head out and start looking,” I say. “How’s Scooby? Is he awake yet?”

“He woke up a few minutes ago, but he is just laying in the floor right now. I think he’s still pretty drugged. We should probably take him to the vet in the morning,” she says.

“Mom let him in the house?” I ask trying to imagine that. That dog hates my mom. He hates everybody except Ash and Callie.

“I didn’t really ask,” she says quietly.

“I’m sure she doesn’t care. We are fixing to head out now. I’ll call you when we find out something,” I say. I really need to get off of this phone.

“Can I come with you? I want to help. I can’t stand just sitting here waiting,” she says crying.

“Absolutely not. You need to stay right where you are. Take care of those babies and I promise you will us soon. Okay,” I say, listening to her cry harder.

“Okay, be careful,” she says, before hanging up.

“Your dad won’t let her out of the house, will he?” Ash asks me. I shake my head at him. I can guarantee they will both do everything in their power to save those three girls.

We all finally split up to find my girl. I just really hope we’re not too late.

My head is pounding. Why do I feel so weak right now? I keep trying to open my eyes, but they won’t stay open. My body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds right now and my wrists are throbbing. Where am I?

I finally get my eyes open and try to figure out where I am. I look up at my wrists and realize they are tied with rope to a stall in a barn. Why am I in a barn? I finally get my eyes to focus on the image in front of me. What is my sister doing here?

“Manna, what’s going on?” I ask. She just keeps staring straight ahead, right at me, waving a gun in her hand. What is she doing?

“All the people in this world and you had to find him,” she says, confusing me even more.

“I had to find who?” I ask.

“Brody. Why do you get to end up with the only man I have ever loved? I don’t care what he tells you, we were so in love at one time. Until you ruined it all,” she says. Why would she blame me for ruining that relationship?

“I don’t know what you are talking about? I didn’t know Brody until a year ago,” I say.

“You’re lying,” she screams. How can she possibly think I am responsible for them breaking up?

“You always get exactly what you want, don’t you? She asks. “I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear it, but he loved me first. He was the best thing that ever happened to me. He made me feel safe. But you ruined everything.”

“I don’t understand how I ruined it,” I whisper.

“You ruined my entire life. Do you have any idea what it’s like to lose your parents and have to become a parent? I was supposed to be going to college and having fun. Instead, I was being mom to a teenager, while working a full time job and going to night school. You have no idea how lucky you were,” she says. I had no idea she ever felt this way about me. Why did she fight so hard to keep me?

“I don’t understand. You fought to keep me with you,” I say while she stands up to move closer to me.

“I had to keep you. Everybody made me feel so bad for you. It was like I didn’t have a choice but to protect you. What about me. I needed somebody to protect me,” she screams. I don’t know what to say to her right now. She’s the one that married my boyfriend, but she’s blaming me for ruining her life. I am so confused right now.

“I’m sorry,” I say, not knowing what I am supposed to feel sorry for.

“I found someone to protect me. Brody and I were perfect together. We had so much fun together. We loved the beach. The first time he told me he loved me was on the beach. It was so romantic,” she says lost in her thoughts. I can’t believe he told her that there and told me the same thing at the same place. Maybe I don’t know him as well as I thought. “But you ruined it,” she screams again, before slapping my face with the gun. I can feel the blood pouring down my face mixed with my tears. Why is she doing this?

“You came home one night when we were watching a movie. You didn’t bother us, you just stayed in the kitchen. We could see you through the door. I asked Brody how he liked the movie and he never answered. I looked up to see if he had fallen asleep, but he was just staring straight into the kitchen at you.” I know she’s telling the truth about this. I remember that night. I thought about that night after the miserable dinner tonight. Was that tonight? This has to be the longest night ever.

“He broke up with me not long after that. He said I was too clingy and didn’t trust him. I knew in that moment I would never find anyone who could love me and protect me like him and it was all your fault,” she says.

“But you did. You have Josh now. He obviously loves you. You two have been married for seven years,” I say hoping this will calm her down enough to figure out a way out of here. Why has Brody not found me yet?

“I have never had Josh. The only reason I have been married to him so long is because he is so in love with you,” she says, confusing me once again.

“If he was in love with me, he wouldn’t be married to you,” I say regretting it as soon as I see her face. She is furious and I have no idea why. She pulls her hand back and this time I know what she’s going to do. She slaps my face so hard it would have knocked me down if I had been standing.

“I saw Josh at a club one night. He had been drinking pretty heavily. He started telling me how disappointed you would be in him for quitting school. I figured this was my chance to get you back for taking away the love of my life. I put a little pill in his drink and convinced him to let me take him home. He was practically passed out by then, so it was no trouble to strip him and crawl in bed with him. The next morning he didn’t remember anything. So when I showed up a few weeks later with a positive pregnancy test I stole from the hospital, I told him he had to marry me. He said he wanted to tell you the truth. I couldn’t let that happen, so I told him if he ever thought about talking to you again, I would make sure it was the last time you ever talked to anyone again. He knew I was serious, so he has been doing everything I have told him to do for the past seven years,               to protect you. Because that’s what true love really is,” she says with a wicked smile. Is she serious right now? There is no way Josh is still in love with me. Who would do that to a person they loved? “True love will make you do crazy things,” she adds with a laugh.

“I was hoping we could come up with a little trade when I saw Brody was the man with you tonight. You know, I get him and you get Josh back,” she says, standing up to get a jug of gasoline. “As soon as I realized he had fallen under your spell and was in love with you too, I knew that wouldn’t work.” How did I not ever realize how crazy she is? How do you do this to your own sister?

“So instead, I am going to let them find out what it feels like to lose the one person you love the most in the world,” she says, pouring gasoline on the hay on the other side of the barn.

“Say hi to mom and dad,” she says, before pulling out a match and lighting it.

“Can you think of anywhere else she could have taken her?” Josh asks from the passenger seat of my truck. Does he not realize I would do anything in my power to find her?

“This town’s not that big. She must have taken her out of town. It will be light in a couple of hours. Maybe we will have a better chance of finding her vehicle then,” I say as I am pulling into my parent’s driveway. Ash’s truck is already here, so I guess he hasn’t had any luck either. I get out and we head inside to find everybody sitting up in the living room. Ash is sitting on the couch with Callie leaned on him asleep. At least someone is getting some sleep tonight. The girls are in bouncy seats in the floor with Scooby laid out beside them. I guess he has found two more girls he likes.

“Can I get y’all something to eat or drink?” My mom asks looking exhausted. We both shake our heads at her and sit down. After a few minutes, Jaxon and Collin come inside.

“I sent all of the information to all of the surrounding counties. Maybe someone will find her soon,” Jaxon says, sitting down beside me. “We will find her.” I really hope he’s right, but right now I am finding it hard to believe. We all sit in silence for what feels like forever when Jaxon’s phone starts ringing.

“Who would be calling you at this hour?” My dad asks.

“It’s Thomas, maybe he knows something,” Jaxon says before answering. Thomas and Jaxon have been friends since we were little. He works for the local police department here in town. I think he was at the house earlier, but I honestly wasn’t paying attention to who was there.

“Hello,” Jaxon answers.

“Are you sure,” he says with wide eyes looking straight at me. “We are on our way.”

“What’s going on?” I ask, jumping up seconds after he did.

“They just got a call, your barn’s on fire.” How is my barn on fire? I don’t wait around for him to tell me anything else. I jump in my truck and head to my house, vaguely aware of Ash and Josh running behind me. We all jump in trucks and I don’t stop until I am at my barn seeing the smoke coming out of it. I drive past the house to the barn. I peek inside at all the smoke.

I jump out of the truck and run straight inside. The first thing I see is Leighton on the ground. I start to run to her when Sam walks between me and Leighton with a gun in her hand.

“Come any closer and I will shoot her first,” she says smiling. How did I not see how crazy this girl is? I peek around her to see Leighton’s wrists tied to a stall in the barn. I look up and see the roof is about to cave in at any second. I have to figure out how I can get her out of here safely without getting either of us shot.

“Put the gun down Samantha. We can walk out of here and go home. We never have to talk about it again,” Josh says coming up beside me.

“She needs to pay for taking everything from me,” she says very calmly back to him. A piece of the roof finally caves in behind Leighton getting Sam’s attention for a split second. In the second she takes to look up, Josh tackles her to the ground while I run to Leighton. I start untying her hands as quickly as I can without breathing, when I hear the gunshot. There is so much smoke in here now, it’s hard to see anything.

As soon as I get Leighton untied, I pull her in my arms and start to get up when she starts screaming. I turn around to see Josh on the ground with blood coming from his abdomen. Sam is lying underneath him, with her head laying in a pool of blood. Before I can register what’s going on, Leighton is out of my arms and crying huddled over Josh. I can vaguely hear sirens coming our way.

“We need to get out of here. The building is about to collapse,” I say, picking her up.

“We have to help him,” she screams over and over. Finally Ash, Jaxon and Collin come in and grab Josh and Sam. They barely make it out of the building when the entire thing caves in. The fire trucks and ambulances pull up about the time we hit the ground. Leighton is running back to Josh when I reach out and grab her again.

“You need to get checked out, let the paramedics take care of all of you,” I say, trying to calm her down. She looks at me with so much distance in her eyes and tears streaming down her face. She looks back at Josh with so much love in her eyes that I know in this moment I have lost her forever.