Now I just had to figure out who the hell this Melanie person is and why the fuck she thought it was a good idea to fuck with me and mine.
The two of us went back and forth trying to figure out where we’d crossed paths with someone named Melanie, but nothing came to either of us.
I had no memory of meeting anyone by that name, and neither did Zandi, so the question became, how had she locked in on us? And how had she known about the babies?
“This couple didn’t say anything more? Did they say why Zandi was taken?”
“I didn’t hang around long enough to get anything else out of them. Once I learned where the children were being held I figured you’d want to get moving on that right away.”
“You’re right. Getting them out is the most important thing. I just wish I knew who the fuck these people were and why the hell they decided to come muddy up my backyard.”
“We’ll know soon enough brother, keep your cool.” He gave me a look that spoke volumes. If anyone would know what I was feeling right now it would be him, or my dad.
Zandi would usually pick up on that shit as well, but she’s off in her own head right now so I don’t have to worry about her sticking her nose in my shit.
Beneath the calm façade my heart was filled with dark rage. My one-track mind was thinking of ways to kill somebody and get away with that shit. I’m straight up trying to find ways to justify that shit.
There aren’t many circumstances in life where you can say someone deserved to die for something they did, but of the few that exists, this shit is one of them.
I adjusted myself in my seat and stared out the window at nothing. I realized as we drove that things had come full circle. My brother had been there that first night when I went looking for her. And now he was the one taking us to get our kids back.
“Thank you Mike, I can never repay you.”
“Don’t be stupid bro, that’s my niece and nephew.” I let him think that that’s all I was talking about. There’ll be time enough in the future to show him my gratitude for everything he’d done in the last two years.
“How did your guys find the place when the cops couldn’t?” I changed the subject that was making us both uncomfortable.
“Sheer determination. Mac gave us a rough idea of where he thought she’d come out and we went from there.”
“The place is well hidden on all sides and even from above. The forestry is dense as fuck. If we hadn’t walked in on foot we would’ve missed it too.” He stopped talking and I knew from the tick in his jaw that he was pissed about something.
“I got to see the room where you were being held sis. Saw the box, the chains, everything. It took everything in me not to end those two when I saw that shit.” Her only response was a slight jerk of her hand in mine.
I didn’t ask him to elaborate since she was in the truck but I was dying to know. It was one of those cases where I wanted to know but was afraid of what I was going to hear.
I’ve already imagined every horror known to man and then some, but from the set look on my brother’s face I was guessing that shit was really bad.
“So you caught this couple in the act of trying to burn the place to the ground?”
“Yes, this Melanie person gave them orders to destroy it once sis escaped but the woods have been crawling with cops and our men for the last couple days and they dared not risk it.”
“So why now? Aren’t the cops still looking around out there?” He nodded his head as he navigated traffic. Zandi was still not talking and I wasn’t too sure about the look on her face.
“Apparently she called them today and told them to get it done no matter what. I’m not sure what happened, maybe we were getting too close and she decided to risk it. Whatever the case, they said she was adamant that they get it done today no matter what.”
I mulled over his words trying to make sense of them. How would this Melanie person know that they were close? I’m pretty sure they weren’t hanging around the woods with so many cops out there. The cops have been keeping her return under wraps so no one other than her captors knew that she’d escaped.
So what could’ve made this woman make that call? Who the hell is she? What does she have to do with us? It can’t be someone I’d slept with in the past. I’ve never treated any woman that poorly that she’d go to these lengths.