“Yeah, you too. Got to admit it’s a bit strange to have someone you don’t know asking what is my gut saying.”
Julian chuckled. “With my job, I’ve been exposed to an elite security company. All those guys are former special forces. I’ve heard many times how their gut feelings got them out of trouble while they were serving. If something feels off, trust it.”
“Right, well, I’m sure she’s just caught up somewhere.” Yet why did he sound so unconvinced of that? Something had happened to Cerise. He knew it.
“How many times are you going to tell yourself that before you believe it?” Julian asked.
Geez, was the guy psychic?
“Look, why don’t we find somewhere to sit where we can talk? I’ve always said to trust your gut too. So, Brodie, trust it, and as Julian said, if it’s telling you something is off with Cerise, then it is,” Gene interjected.
“I don’t want to move from here. What if she turns up?”
“Okay. Let’s find a place where we can still see the stand in case Cerise arrives and where we can talk privately,” suggested Julian.
The three men made their way to a spot under a tree which wasn’t crowded and still afforded them a good view of the taco stand. Gene wandered off to the side a little and got out his walkie talkie, probably just checking in with the rest of the crew.
“Okay, let’s take this on step at a time. Any ideas who may want her or her foster son?”
Normally, Brodie would be upset that someone seemed to be taking over but, in this situation, he was glad. His mind couldn’t form a coherent thought. Slowly, Julian’s last question finally penetrated the fog.
“Finn’s Aunt Poppy drops the boy off at the boys’ home in Kerrville every time she gets a new boyfriend. Finn’s parents died a couple of years ago and she was named guardian. I don’t think she’s been hassling Cerise about Finn because I know she would’ve told me.” He paused. Should he mention that Cerisewas thinking of adopting Finn? Could Poppy have somehow found out, and she’d gone after Cerise and wanted Finn back?
The thoughts journeyed around his mind faster that a dust devil whirling across a sandy plain. He needed to lay everything on the line and, if that meant breaking his word that he wouldn’t say anything about the adoption, then that’s what he’d do.
“You’re thinking long and hard there. Why?” Julian studied him a bit closer, not in a threatening way, but more of aI’m not going to judge anything you saykind of way.
“I’m trying to get my head around if Poppy would do anything to hurt Cerise and Finn. I have to believe she loves the boy. But Cerise was beginning the process of adopting Finn. I don’t believe Daphne would say anything to Poppy but maybe she found out somehow.”
“Have you met Poppy? And no way would Daphne say anything. My wife is very discreet when it comes to her cases,” Gene commented. Brodie hadn’t seen the older man come back to stand with them. The sound of the dirt scuffing behind him had him turning and he saw Dean, Eric and Chris standing in a circle.
“Umm, what are you all doing here?” he asked.
“Here to lend a hand. Gene said Cerise and Finn were missing.” Eric came up and tapped him on the shoulder before dropping his arm.
Brodie looked over at the taco stand, but there was still no pink sparkly cowboy hat to be seen. Something had happened to her. “Thanks, and yeah, it’s looking like Cerise and Finn are missing.”
He tuned out Gene introducing Julian to the other guys and willed Cerise to walk up to the stand with a big smile on her face. If anything happened to her, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He had a lot of money he could throw at a search and rescue mission, but there was no guarantee that they’d be found alive.There was nothing they had to go on, though. No clear indication that she and Finn were missing. Just them being late and him having a feeling in his gut.
Yet Julian told him to trust it, so he would. And he’d believe that somehow, someway, they’d find Cerise and Finn.
Cerise shifted againto try and get a little more comfortable but the springs in the back seat of the pickup, that had seen better days, were poking her in the ass. She wanted nothing more than to punch the back of Ed’s seat, but she had to remain cool, not only for her sake, but also for Finn’s.
“Where are we going?” Finn whispered.
“I don’t know, buddy.”
She carefully pulled out her cell from the pocket of her jeans. Ed had cut her purse off her and thrown it out the window as they drove away from the festival, laughing that she couldn’t get in touch with anyone because her phone was now smashed. Little did he know her cell had been in her pocket, and she had no plans of telling him how wrong his assumption had been.
She’d also put her window down and thrown her hat out, hoping that it wouldn’t land in the middle of the road and get squashed. Ed had been too busy looking at his own phone to see what she’d done.
Her heart sank when she saw she still didn’t have cell service. Wherever he was taking them she hoped that somehow, someway, he’d dump them in a sweet spot where she could get service so she could try and get help.
“Where’s Poppy?” she asked for the fifth time. Every other time he’d ignored her, and she suspected he would do the same this time too. With everything inside of her, she didn’t believe Poppy would be on board with Ed hurting Finn.
“That bitch? We’re getting married tomorrow and she believes we’re going to live happily ever after. She’s got no fucking idea what she’s doing. I’ve got her so looped out on various medications, it’s amazing she can walk.” He was laughing and Cerise curled her hands into fists, the urge to forget being sensible and punch him out getting stronger with every passing second. Even if they ended up crashing the car, maybe it would be the best outcome for them.
Hmm ... that was an idea. As dangerous as it could be for her and for Finn, it had to be better than whatever Ed had planned.
