“Why?”
He says nothing and I sigh. Gus did say the man doesn’t talk much.
“Do you know where Jag is?”
Nothing again.
Ugh. I go back to Gus and check the time. Jag should be here any minute now.
Chapter 11
Jagger
I’m coming out of my apartment to get on my bike when my cell rings from my back pocket. I glance at the screen. Looks like the school is calling. Fuck. Bet Marcie didn’t pick Gus up.
“Lo.”
Patience is on the other end saying no one picked Gus up. I fuckin’ knew it. I make plans to meet up with them after I deal with Marcie. I’ve tried to keep my cool with her, and I love my nephew, but she’s his mom. He needs her. I end the call with Patience and dial Mute. He’s already been keeping watch on the school today.
“Need you to stay on Patience. She’s getting ready to leave the school with Gus to take him to the Dairy Bar. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”
I pause a beat for him to respond. He gives me a groan. Over the years he’s improved in his speech since the shit his father did to him by cutting the tip of his tongue off, but he still hates to talk to a lot of people. He prefers talking to his old lady, Dawn, Romeo’s daughter. “Thanks, man. Talk soon.”
I throw a leg over my bike and ride out. Marcie’s going to hear it from me today. I’m done with this shit. Women are dying and Patience is number one on the list. I can’t have Gus in danger and be worried about making a choice between them. I would choose my nephew no doubt but it’s a choice I hope I am never forced to make.
I get to Marcie’s and her car is still parked in the same spot covered in more bird shit. She hasn’t moved it. I let out a breath and pull out my smokes. I’m so fuckin’ pissed I could smoke the whole damn pack. All the blinds are drawn shut and both the screen and main front doors are shut up. This shit ain’t healthy. She’s become a damn shut in. A fucking recluse.
Bang. Bang. Bang. I knock loudly with my fist. “Marcie, open up. You didn’t pick Gus up.” I listen for her to get up off her ass. “C’mon, Sis. Gus is with his teacher. Need you to get some clothes on. I’m on my bike and don’t have time for your shit. It’s important.” I take another drag off my Marlboro and wait.
Damn it. Boom. Boom. Boom. I kick at the side of the doublewide with my boot. I go around the whole damn house knocking on the windows. If she had neighbors close by, they’d probably call the police. I flick my cigarette to the ground and rub my chin while popping my neck. I’m fucking sore after getting that body down from the rafter and wrapping her up in a tarp. Tread took her to the incinerator at the scrapyard to dispose of the body. It’s shitty but sometimes good people have to do bad things to protect the ones they love.
I twist the knob on the back door and that’s when I notice the glass. Fuck. Fucking fuck. If that bastard touched her, I won’t leave any part of him on this earth. Marcie might be a bitch sometimes but she’s my sister and I love her.
I open the door and enter through the hallway by the laundry station off the kitchen. The dishes are still piled up and everything looks the same as it did yesterday other than the broken glass. I peek in the living room. Empty. Gus’s room is messy as usual. Lots of toys strung about in the floor. Bed unmade.
Marcie is nowhere to be found in the whole house. I know she wouldn’t have just left. Hell, she barely leaves her bed. I know fucking Choke is behind this. I pull out my cell and dial Mute. “Stay on Patience and Gus unless you hear otherwise from me. Marcie’s missing.”
Next, I call Prez. “My sister’s fucking missing. There’s no note.”
“I’m sorry. We’ll find her. You don’t think it’s her depression?”
I know she’s all fucked up over Denny, but she wouldn’t do something stupid. “Glass broken out of the back door. Her car’s here. Purse is by her bed. Nothing unusual.”
“What about her cell phone?”
He waits while I dump her purse out. Her phone hits on the pile of Denny’s clothes she sleeps with. “It’s here. He must have a truck or something. No way he is getting all these girls around on his bike and going unseen.”
“I’ll get Truth running through the traffic cameras in town. For now you need to get Patience and Gus to The Roadhouse. I’m ordering a lockdown for them. If in a few hours we have nothing you can call in a welfare check and let the police handle it. It’s not ideal but it’s something.”
“Right.”
We hang up and when I’m about to leave, I see it on the mirror. Smeared in blood. A note.
Patience for your sister.
—Choke
Motherfucker. I kick the bed and turn over the nightstand.