“She’ll come back in her own time.”
She so wouldn’t. But trust Oma to be optimistic about the loyalty of a teenage girl that may or may not be related to Satan. “That’s what we thought last time. And it didn’t end well. For any of us.” I abandoned my dinner and grabbed my car keys. “I’ll go look for her. Call me if she comes home.”
I got back into my car, suppressing the sigh I was desperate to release. That kid was going to be the end of me. As much as she drove me up the wall, I couldn’t really fault her for going a little off the rails. Our upbringing was tumultuous to say the least. Being left by a parent was never easy, being left by two was devastating. We would have been swallowed up by the state had Oma not taken us in. She tried giving us as much stability as possible, but living with a teenager was a challenge. Living with two was a drinking problem.
Since I was paranoid and knew how self-destructive Freddie could be, I drove straight to Dickhead’s house. I didn’t know what I was going to do if she was there. But I had to double-check. Gunner followed me as usual. Not sure if he ever tried to be inconspicuous because his black town car stood out among the dented and rusty Fords and Chryslers that could usually be found around Butler.
The drive was just as daunting as the first time, my clammy hands stuck to the steering wheel and I seemed to be getting slower the closer I got. I could be asleep by now. Dreaming of chocolate fountains and—like most nights—Rhett.
But instead I was stupidly driving towards what could possibly be another confrontation with a drugged-up rapist. Just what I was hoping for to make my week extra special. At least I had Mr. Commando with me.
When I got closer, the silence was deafening. I couldn’t hear any music. No voices. There were no cars parked along the driveway. The remnants of previous parties still littered the road and lawn. The house looked deserted when I pulled but since I was already here I got out anyway.
I held onto my phone and keys, one to defend myself, the other to call the police. He wouldn’t catch me by surprise again. A car door slammed shut and Gunner appeared next to me. All that muscle would be handy, my keys looked very lame in comparison. And unless he had something growing out of his hip and leg, he was also carrying.
Neither one of us said anything as we approached the house, but his silent disapproval was obvious. I bet he would go straight to Rhett and tell him what I did.
The front door hung on an angle, looking like it had been kicked in. The living room was a mess, overturned furniture and shards of glass everywhere. There was still no noise, except for the drumming of my heart. I felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. This kid was going to give me an early heart attack.
But I also loved her more than anything and would go to the end of the earth to make sure she was okay. So I kept walking, making my way through the rooms on the bottom floor. Every single thing in the house was broken. It was a mess to end all messes. It looked like a mini tornado had torn its way through. And to make sure it laid waste to everything, I reckon it had come back a second time.
I slowly made my way upstairs, my eyes wide, careful not to blink in case someone was going to attack. Gunner followed, his heavy boots echoing in the empty house. The banister was broken, looking like someone had smashed through it at some stage. I found nothing upstairs. It was just as deserted as the rest of the house. There was no way they would have just upped and left. What the hell had happened? I knew the parties out here were notorious, the drugs a given and Dickhead was a dickhead with way too much sway.
He paid off the local cops and scared the crap out of anyone else. Gossip was rampant in a town as small as Butler but Dickhead never got so much as a mention. Not even Betty said a word about him. And she was the biggest gossip the town had ever seen in its 114 year history.
“What happened here?” I said, not really expecting a response but getting one anyway.
“What do you think?”
“A tornado spontaneously developed inside the house and destroyed everything?”
I grinned at Gunner, hoping despite previous experience that I would get at least an eye twitch from it. But nothing. He just looked at me, looking all terminator with his short cropped hair and huge muscles.
“Come on Gunner, you are a badass commando, you could find out what happened.”
“I already know what happened.”
Say what? “Why the hell didn’t you say so to start with? I nearly shat my pants walking into this house, and you said nothing?”
He followed me outside and I stepped in front of him. Time for answers. “So? You gonna tell me? Or is it a big badass commando secret?”
“No secret. But I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out. There is only one person who has enough power and money to kick out Butler’s local crime lord.”
I stepped back and nearly tripped over my feet. “Rhett?” I said, before I let my mouth gape open.
“Yup. Now let’s keep looking for your sister. I’m hungry.”
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”
He walked the remaining steps to my car and opened the driver’s side door. “Yup.”
Too stunned to argue, I got in and he closed the door behind me. What the hell? How much money did Rhett actually have?
I checked my phone just in case Freddie had decided to become a human being instead of the demon spawn she had turned into.
Oma hadn’t called so Freddie wasn’t home yet, which meant I had to make the rounds again. Lucky Butler wasn’t all that big.
She wasn’t at the town’s one and only diner, so I tried the football field. There really wasn’t that many places she could be. Her best friend Laney wasn’t around at the moment, having won a scholarship to attend school in France for a semester, and this was likely one of the reasons Freddie seemed to be losing it more than usual lately.
