Doc sighs but agrees to my request, patiently walking us through the events leading up to Lena’s disappearance and what he found out afterward for the fourth time since his return.
I stop him when he gets to the part that’s been eating away at me. “Those were Lena’s exact words? ‘I’m not sure if I can stay if Rex continues to punish me,’ that’s what she said?”
“Yes,” he admits. I can tell he didn’t want to admit to this part. He knew how much it would pain me to hear it.
“Well then, there you have it. Lena left of her own accord,” I say, looking between my friends.
“She wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” Cole says.
“In case you’ve forgotten, that’s precisely what she did last time. She left without a word, without even asking me if what she heard was true. Who’s to say she hasn’t done it again?” I insist. They look back at me, silent. They don’t know what to say because I’m right. “This is what Lena does. As soon as things get tough, she runs.”
I try to hide my hurt behind anger and indignation. How dare Lena do this to me again? To my friends? Now that I know Mia is my daughter, she has no right.
“She didn’t run. She wouldn’t,” Judge interjects calmly.
“Judge is right. I was there, she didn’t leave voluntarily,” Doc agrees.
“She calmly climbed into the car with a woman, and they drove away. That sure as shit doesn’t sound like a kidnapping to me,” I snipe bitterly.
I wonder who the mystery woman is. There’s a whole part of Lena’s life and time away from me that I know nothing about. I know so little about her past, too. Only that she was in foster care and that Big Joe was one of her foster parents. Unfortunately, she went through a lot of shit before he came into her life. I presume that’s why she does this, runs when things get tough. It’s how she copes. She told me she often ran away as a kid. It seems some things don’t change.
Doc throws his arms up in exasperation. “A woman who was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap to hide her face! Doesn’t that sound suspicious to you?”
“Has it not occurred to you that maybe that was for our benefit? That Lena didn’t want us to follow her?” I reply. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Lena left of her own free will. That she left because of me. I’m the cause of the pain and worry on my friends’ faces.
“Jesus, you are so fucking stubborn sometimes!” Cole shouts, losing his temper. “This isn’t about you and your bruised ego. Lena and Mia, your child, are missing! Even if you’re right—which I don’t think you are—don’t you want to find them? Don’t you think you have a right to see your daughter?”
“And what if you’re wrong?” Judge adds.
I think about that for a second. What if I am wrong? What if the woman worked for Zeke, and he now has Mia and Lena?
Doc voices my thoughts exactly. “If you’re wrong and Zeke has kidnapped them, could you forgive yourself for doing nothing?”
He’s right, I owe Lena and Mia that much, especially Mia. She’s my kid, I gotta step up and start acting like it. Even if I’m right, and I still think I am, I still should try to find my daughter.
The fight goes out of me. “You’re right.”
I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to find them. Even if Lena doesn’t want me—and I’m not sure I’d blame her based on the way I’ve treated her—I have to look for them. I need to make sure they’re okay. As long as they’re safe, I can live with whatever Lena decides. Even as I tell myself this, I don’t believe it. Part of the reason I’m scared to find Lena is that she will reject me, that she’ll tell me she doesn’t love me—because I love her.
I feel the collective relief from the others. Regardless of my feelings, I’d have helped them no matter what. A big part of me still believes we’ll find Lena holed up somewhere, perfectly safe and happy to be rid of us, but they need to know. If I turn out to be right, I’ll also need to be there to pick up the pieces of my friends’ broken hearts.
“So, what’s the plan? How are we meant to figure out where she went?” Doc asks.
Cole takes charge, slipping into his role as Prez. “We need to track down any CCTV footage from where she went missing, and the roads nearby. Doc, you head back to the diner. See if anyone has any more info. Judge, you talk to your law enforcement contacts and see what they can do to assist. Me and Rex will do some digging into the Iron Vultures to see if there’s any talk about the kidnapping and the locations of all of Zeke’s properties.”
With our tasks delegated, we don’t waste time talking further. We rush to our bikes, hopping on and tearing away, the rumbling sound of our bikes piercing the quiet.
Our first call is to meet with our Iron Vultures informant, a former barmaid turned prostitute named Trish. She’s a club girl that most of the Vultures have fucked and a coke head, which means she tends to overhear a lot of info, and she’s easily bought with a couple of grams here or there. She’s also a stone-cold bitch, but I think most of that is a front, a survival tactic. I feel sorry for her mostly and blame Zeke and his buddies for how she’s turned out. They’re the ones who fucked her and used her, getting her hooked on drugs.
Lena used to work with Trish. That’s how Trish became our informant. I met her for the first time when Lena went missing, and I was trying to find her.
“Lemme guess, you’re here chasing after Lena again?” Trish asks dryly as she opens her door and sees us there.
Zeke didn’t extend the same offer of free accommodation to Trish as he did to Lena, especially now that she no longer works as a barmaid for him. So, Trish lives away from the Iron Vultures’ clubhouse, which is good for us since it would be a lot harder to pay her a visit on their property.
“Did you hear something?” Cole asks.
Trish raises her eyebrow at Cole. “That depends on how much the information is worth to you.”
