“What, you have a grievance against mom now too?” Apparently that was the wrong damn thing to say as well. What the hell had gotten into her anyway? Sure she was a feisty little thing in the past, but nothing like this. I don’t think I’d ever heard her say a bad word about anyone.
“I don’t have a grievance against anyone, I’m just telling it like it is. Now you need to find out if your mother told her I was back after we told them not to tell anyone.”
Could she be right? Am I missing something here? I’d hate to think I was that blind but she sounded so sure. And if what she’s saying is true, then Mindy knew she was here before she came over.
My gut started to turn at the implications. Could mom have told her that Zandi was back? I don’t see mom betraying me like that, but had she let it slip by mistake?
“Fine, I’ll call mom, but you need to calm the hell down. And get this straight, I’m not defending her against you, I’ll never do that. I was just trying to calm the situation.”
She stuck her damn nose in the air when I released her to grab my phone and make the call. Pain in the ass!
Cade
As it turns out, mom hadn’t spoken to Mindy, or her mother in a while and she had no idea how Mindy would know that Zandi was back. That settled it for me but Zandi was still sure that Mindy knew she was here before she came over.
I tried convincing her that she was wrong but the argument got cut short when the phone rang. “Yeah Mike you got something for me?” She crowded me as I held the phone to my ear.
“We found the cabin, I’m coming to you now.”
“Did you…” I wanted to ask if he’d found my kids but he would’ve said if he had. He was long gone anyway so I hung up.
“Mike’s on his way here, he found the cabin.”
“Does he know where the babies are?” She’d forgotten all about Mindy for now but I still had no answers for her.
We were on pins and needles for the next hour or so while we waited, argument forgotten. And when the knock finally came at the door we both rushed forward to answer. “You stay back.” I put her behind me and opened the door.
“What is it?” The look on my brother’s face did not bode well.
“We got the people who were holding her.”
“What…how? Who are they?” I damn near snatched him up in my angst.
“We finally found the cabin today and just as we were moving in, this old couple came in from the other side. They had gasoline to burn the place down.”
“Where are they now. Did they tell you anything? What about my kids?” Now I really did grab the front of his shirt.
“As far as they know the kids are okay.”
“Where are they? Where are my babies?” I pulled her around in front of me and held her as our hearts raced with excitement.
“I’ll take you to them. That’s why I’m here. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to call in the cops or handle things ourselves.”
“Where are they now, this couple?”
“My guys are watching them back at the cabin. Just tell me what you want to do.”
“Where are my kids?”
“They’re being kept in a house in Brighton.” That’s the neighboring town on the opposite side from where she’d been held.
“Who took them?”
“The name doesn’t sound familiar Melanie Dewitt. Does that name sound familiar to either of you?” We both shook our heads as we headed for the door.
“Let’s go, I want to find my kids, I’m not waiting for the cops. Did they tell you anything else?”
“Not much just that they didn’t think the children were in any danger.” Except for the fact that they’d been snatched from their mother at birth.
We headed out to the truck and I noticed that Zandi had gone quiet. It was an eerie kind of silence that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I’d suggest leaving her behind while I went after our kids but knew that shit wouldn’t fly so didn’t even try.
I was torn between whether or not we should call the cops or not. If we called them they’d have to go through all kinds of red tape and bullshit.
On the other hand, if shit went south because of me going in on my own that could get kinda sticky. Fuck I care! I’ll deal with that eventuality if it does come to pass. Right now I could give two fucks about that shit.
My only priority is getting my kids out of there and back with their mother and I where they belong. I’ve dealt with the cops enough to know they have too many ends to tie up and shit. It’s best if I get out in front of this thing. Decision made.