The Good One (The Ones)

“Aiden, tell me again exactly what you saw at Kasey’s.”

He goes over everything he already told me on the phone, but now that the shock of her being gone has marginally subsided, I can hear it a little clearer. It doesn’t really matter, though. There isn’t much to tell and there wasn’t much evidence left behind.

“How about cameras in the back alley?” Liam asks.

“None that I saw.”

Shit, even less than I was hoping for, apparently.

My phone alerts me then of an incoming video text from a number I don’t recognize. I open the video and see Lindsey’s face. She looks awful, tear marks down her cheeks and a petrified look in her sunken eyes. She’s saying something about Jackson needing to be with someone else. Helen? Who the hell is Helen? Jackson and Aiden both crowd around me as I’m watching the video message completely frozen. I have no feeling in any of my limbs. I feel like I’m floating away watching this.

Kasey’s face comes on the screen next. I’m thrown back into my body and laser focus on my girl. The tears streaming down her face and the terrified look in her eyes have me wanting to punch the wall and break everything around me. Jackson is standing next to me with his hand over his mouth, completely still. He’s just as shocked as I am. I feel the worry and tension rolling off him. Aiden is standing on my other side, his jaw clenched and narrowed eyes. He’s still angry that Kasey was taken from under his nose and now we see the evidence. The camera then points to who I assume is Helen. Jackson sucks in a breath.

“Fuck me,” he murmurs.

I watch this Helen woman saying crazy shit about me standing in the way of her being with Jackson. The video abruptly cuts off and the three of us are staring at a black screen, completely motionless. All of us processing what we just watched.

“Donovan, I know that girl. I recognize her. She worked at a club I used to go to. The one that you have pictures of. She used to work behind the bar.” He runs to the coffee table and grabs a picture, squinting as he holds it close to his face.

“This is her!” He turns the picture around and points to the blurry image of the girl he was thought was the connection. “This is the woman who was taking these pictures. I’m sure of it.”

I hurry to where Liam is standing over Sawyer, watching him try to clear up the image in a photo.

“Watch this.” I press play on the video again and hand him my phone. “The girl at the end of the video is the girl in the picture.”

He watches through the video with no expression on his face.

“I don’t see any details in the video that can help us with a location, but I should be able to track the location from where this was sent.” He takes my phone to another area and starts entering a bunch of numbers and slashes on the computer screen. I have no idea how long this is going to take, but I can’t sit and wait for him to finish.

“Jackson, we’re going to the club she works at. Aiden, you’re coming with us. Liam, let me know when you get a location.” Jackson and I both look at Aiden with worried expressions as he takes a gun out of his holster and double-checks it.

“I don’t like being unprepared. Since we’re obviously dealing with a psycho, I’m not taking any chances.”

I’ve never known Aiden to carry a gun, but I’m glad he is now. I need to get my girl back safely and if that means we go in armed, then that’s fine with me. Liam quickly prints off a picture of Helen from a still shot on my phone so we have something other than a grainy photo to show around and hands it to Jackson.

“Let’s go.” We pile out the door and head to my car.

On the way to the club, Jackson is quiet and withdrawn.

“Jackson, this isn’t your fault. You aren’t responsible for a crazy person and who she fixated on.” I don’t want him to take on even more of the burden for this situation than he already has. He looks at me with a vacant expression.

“But it is, brother. This is my fault. It’s me she’s after.” He turns back toward the window and stares blankly as I speed through the streets. I’m running red lights and dodging slower cars, but I don’t care. I’m not stopping for anything.

We pull up to the back entrance of the club, and thankfully the door is open for the liquor delivery that’s being loaded off the truck. I’m first into the bar area and see a man behind the bar looking over an invoice. He looks up when he spots me, alarmed there is someone else in the room.

“We don’t open until seven. How did you get in here?”

I’ve obviously surprised him, and from his tone, he is not happy about it. Jackson and Aiden come in right after me and the man’s eyes widen in recognition when he sees Jackson.

“Hey, Jackson, long time no see. What’s going on?” he asks, looking worriedly between the three men in his bar, tensions high.

“Paul, this is my brother Donovan and his… Aiden. There’s a situation that we need your help with.” He takes a photo out of his pocket and holds it up for Paul to look at. Paul rolls his eyes and looks at Jackson.

“I always knew that girl was trouble. What did she do?”

“She has my girl and her sister held somewhere. I need to know where she lives. Now.”

Paul sucks a surprised breath through his teeth.

“Fuck, man, I knew she was off, but I didn’t know she was full-blown psycho. She made the other girls here pretty uncomfortable. Always staring or copying their hair and how they dress or move. It was creepy.” He shakes his head and shivers like he’s creeped out by just talking about her.

“She was always missing shifts, then coming up with one excuse or another about why she wasn’t here or couldn’t call. I felt bad for the girl, so I kept giving her chances, but I have a business to run and other employees to think of. Finally, I had to fire her. I sent her last check to her address, and she cashed it, so I know she got it. Can’t say for sure she still lives there, though. Want me to grab it for you?”

“Yes. Thank you,” I tell him.

We follow him to his office. This man moves slower than a fucking slug. It could be me, though. I need to find Kasey, and I don’t have time to waste. The image of Kasey and Lindsey on that fucking video has my heart pumping wildly in my chest.

He ruffles through some papers in a filing cabinet and finds her information. He writes down the address, then hands it to me. Jackson shakes his hand and thanks him for his help. I don’t have time to waste on niceties and am halfway to my car when Jackson and Aiden catch up to me. I’m already plugging the address into my GPS when they get to my car.

“Donovan, I think we should call the police,” my brother tells me. I look at Aiden for confirmation and he nods in agreement.

“I’ll call Liam and tell him where we’re headed. It can’t hurt to have him know where we are, too. If he can spare someone, I’ll have him come as backup,” Aiden says.