Twenty Seven
M A K O
WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?
The same mantra has been running through my mind from the moment Amelia told me River is missing. Even now, only an hour after watching River’s kidnapping, I’m banging my fist on Barbie’s door, I’m still chanting the same words. I dropped Amelia off her at house, despite her incredibly angry protests. Like hell am I allowing a pregnant woman to step foot inside this house—this town— where Billy could easily show up. I don’t need to meet her husband to know that he’d murder me.
And I’d let him.
“What, what, what, I’m fucking coming!” Barbie shouts from the other side of the door, her attitude increasing by the word. River’s mother flings open the door, hellfire that she is, with no regard to who could be banging on her door late in the evening.
I’ll give it to her, this woman has balls of fucking steel. Too bad I’m going to crush them in my fist if she doesn’t tell me what the fuck I need to know.
Both brows shoot to her hairline when she sees me. One slow perusal consisting of her dead eyes sweeping my body from head to toe and a salacious grin later, and I’m ready to knock her the fuck out. Same shit she did the first time I met her, and it still gives me the creeps.
“Well how can I help you, suga?” she says with what’s supposed to be a charming grin. She leans against the door, getting comfortable.
“Billy kidnapped your daughter. Let me in now,” I say, getting straight to the point. Her spine snaps straight and what looks like concern flashes across her eyes for a brief second before a blank mask takes over once more.
She opens the door without another word, woodenly turning around and leading me to the kitchen. The smell of mold, mothballs and something fishy hits first, poking at my gag reflux dangerously. I have to clench my teeth to keep the disgust from showing on my face. I don’t bother taking close inventory of her living space—I’d rather not see something I can’t unsee like I did last time. Big mistake. Last time I was here, I took note of the exit points. Now, I take great care to listen out for sounds of anyone else in the house.
“So, when was she taken?” Barbie asks, like she’s striking up a conversation about the fucking weather.
“Last night,” I answer. She sits at the table, cluttered with paraphernalia of all sorts. I could easily arrest this woman, but it’d only be a waste of time. It already feels like the walls are closing in around me as each second ticks by and she’s still in the hands of that psychopath.
Is he hurting her? Did he already kill her?
I shake my head. I can’t think like that. Not now, or I’ll completely lose it.
“Do you know where he could’ve taken her?” I ask. I took a single step into the kitchen, crowding the entranceway.
Barbie lights a cigarette, inhales deeply, her cheeks hollowing out as she does. A low growl reverberates from chest up and up my throat. More seconds go by.
“I don’t,” she says finally before taking another drag. I cross my arms across my chest, needing to do something with them or else my hands will end up wrapped around Barbie’s neck before I can stop myself.
“You’ve been Billy’s bitch for half your life, and you don’t know where he could be?” I push.
It’s a guess how long Barbie has known Billy, but from the haggardness in her decrepit body, it’s not hard to see that a soul-sucking demon like Billy has been in her life for too many years.
She laughs, the sound hollow and weak. “Do you really think I’d want to know? The more I know, the more of a liability I am and less of a chance I have of surviving. I purposely stayed far out of Billy’s business.”
Surviving. Not living, but surviving. That’s all Barbie’s been doing, and it’s all River has ever known. Pity forms in the pit of my stomach for River’s mother. I don’t feel bad for her situation, not when she’s been a terrible mother to River, but a part of me understands why Barbie has been. She’s been chained to a monster. And when you bring a child into that type of situation, sometimes it’s safer to make them hate you. Because if they hate you, they won’t grieve when you ultimately die. And if you refuse to attach to the person you brought into this world, it won’t hurt so bad when they leave you with your shackles while they go off to find a better life. Or in this case, if they die first.
It’s no excuse. No justification. But it’s Barbie’s logic.
“I think you know more than you ever let on,” I guess, cocking a brow. River has said before that Barbie mastered the ability to obtain information from her clients. She also mentioned that Billy would rant to Barbie in his crazed states, back when he was killing people the first time he got hooked on meth. Back when he killed my father. I’m sure all kinds of shit came out of his mouth in those moments—shit he more than likely doesn’t remember saying. The breath in Barbie’s lungs attests to that.
She’s street smart—even I can see that. Barbie may have made it look like she wasn’t listening and gleaning info from Billy, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t. She’s too smart to purposely stay clueless, especially when dealing with someone like him.
I’m becoming desperate. If Barbie doesn’t tell me anything, then I’m left with nothing. I’d have to start from scratch. Track down the people affiliated with Billy, find out where his stomping grounds are, and follow the fucker wherever he goes.
The washed-up woman flicks her cigarette before inhaling once more. Her hands are trembling and she’s sucking on that thing so deeply, that it’s obvious I’m right.
“What do you know, Barbie?” I demand through gritted teeth. When she doesn’t answer, I stalk towards her, slam a hand on the table—avoiding the needles—and put my face right into hers. Her eyes widen into round discs as she inhales sharply, stunned by my sudden proximity.
“I swear to fucking god, Barbie, if you don’t start talking, I will make all the years of suffering alongside Billy look like a fucking pipedream. Put that cigarette in your mouth one more fucking time without answering my goddamn question, and you’ll be swallowing the wrong end. Now. Where. Is.
She?”
I stare straight into her dead eyes, now infused with the fear she’s been lacking since I told her that her daughter has been kidnapped by one of the most dangerous men in the country. Heavy breaths fall from her cracked lips, her chest pumping deeply.
“I… I’m being honest when I say I don’t know where he took her. But I do know that he conducts some of his… operations at Hawk’s downtown. He’s good for showing up there a few times a week.
That’s the only information I have. I meant it when I said I stay out of his business.”
Liar. But I’ll take the little information she gave. Better than fucking nothing, I guess.
Without breaking eye contact, I slowly pull away. Her hand continues to tremble as she ashes the cigarette and then ever so gently, brings it to her lips.
“I’m going to find River. Alive. And then I’m going to take her home and give her the life she deserves. But you will never see her again. So, if you give any fucks about your daughter, then take comfort in the fact that she will live like a fucking queen while you rot here and waste away.”
She blows out a cloud of smoke and ashes her cigarette. She doesn’t look affected by my words, but she does bring her gaze to mine, an unnamed emotion glittering in the depths of her dead eyes.
“Thank you.”
She stands, drops the cigarette butt into a soda can, the cherry extinguishing in whatever liquid is in there. And then calmly walks past me and disappears down a hallway, shutting a door gently behind her.
Unsettled by her reaction, I turn towards the exit, push open the crooked door and slam it behind me. Right outside of her house, about a hundred feet away, is the river where River was born. It’s murky and lifeless, just like the rest of this town.
The complete opposite of the woman named after this body of water.
Because if River is as lifeless as the water before me, I will take great pleasure ripping Billy apart piece by fucking piece.
HAWK’S RESTAURANT IS PROBABLY the nicest building I’ve come across in Shallow Hill yet. Which is pretty fucking sad considering it looks like the building is starting to collapse in on itself. A twenty-four-hour Waffle House sits across the street, looking just as pathetic as its competition. I parked in the very back of the parking lot, closest to the street and in direct view of Hawk’s. The lack of foot traffic and the window spanning the front of the building provides me with a perfect view inside. Though I have to concentrate to see past the handprints and thin layer of grime coating the window.
If Billy is inside, storming in the restaurant like a Hellion is nipping at my ass wouldn’t get me anywhere except shot. All I’m waiting on is a warrant for Billy.
Billy knows my face. He’d only been giving me false leads and attempting to fuck with my case.
And he would rather attempt homicide in front of Shallow Hill residents dining than let me cart his ass off to prison. After all, he owns Shallow Hill and if he succeeded in shooting me dead, no one would tell a soul. They’d probably even offer to help him hide my body.
My fist curls tight, my knuckles bleaching white. It takes all my strength not to send my fist flying through the windshield. My knee bounces, restless energy coursing through me. More seconds go by.
Minutes. Hours. Until eventually, the restaurant closes and the lights go out. I’ve seen every type of person go in and out of that restaurant. Sex workers, pimps, drug users and dealers, and even some average joes who look like they work a nine-to-five job.
So many faces, but none the one that I need to see.
I throw my head back on my headrest and loose a harsh breath.
I need to go home and catch a few hours of sleep before I come back out. By then, I’ll have my warrant. Because when I do, I will hunt for my girl in every house in this shitty town if I have to.
“HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY sleep?” Amar asks from beside me.
My fingers tick on my thigh as I continue to stare at the restaurant. It’s only ten in the morning and it’s been a week since River has been taken. A week of her going through god-knows-what abuse at the hands of a walking dead man. He’s been elusive. No leads. No tags. Nothing. I refrained from banging on random doors. Only because I know Billy runs this town and if word gets out that a detective is looking for him or River, he’d go into hiding like a groundhog that just saw his shadow.
Amelia reported River missing, and I let my sergeant know my suspicions of who the Ghost Killer is and showed him the video of River being kidnapped. Finding River isn’t a solo job, I have several undercover cops patrolling every block in Shallow Hill, keeping themselves elusive. I’ve no idea how much Billy knows about my relationship with River, or if he knows we have one at all. The less Billy suspects about any cops coming for him, the more comfortable he’ll feel walking outside and showing his face around town.
I got a warrant, which allowed us to search any of Billy’s property. He owns one house in Shallow Hill under Benedict Davis. The house was completely barren, devoid of any signs that the house is being used. I’m sure he owns property under false alias’, but that does me no good when I don’t know the names he’s using.
Amar sits next to me, watching Hawk’s closely, waiting for Billy to appear. Amar showed up a few hours ago, walking into the restaurant himself, questioning the owner and eventually getting the stubborn man to admit Billy frequents the restaurant often, with only a single nod. He refused to say anything more than that, and Amar let him be for now.
After going through the surveillance at Ryan’s house again, we caught on one of the cameras a black SUV parked behind the house, where Billy eventually dragged River into. With a partial license plate, we were able to track down the car and confirm its registration to Benedict Davis. We tagged the make, model and license plate across the board. Anytime the street cams tag the car, we’ll get an immediate alert as to where and when.
“Mako?” Amar pushes. I glance at him for a second, before my eyes involuntarily slide back to Hawk’s.
“Barely,” I admit. Amar doesn’t say anything for a moment. I know he won’t berate me. Not
when he’d be doing the same exact thing had his wife ever gotten kidnapped.
“He’s going to show up.” While I appreciate his encouraging words, they do nothing to make me feel better. I won’t be able to breathe properly until I have River in my arms, alive and safe. And if there’s one hair out of place on her pretty little head, I’m going to lose my shit.
“Am I going to be held accountable for what I do to him when I find him?” I ask. I’m not asking because I’m worried, nor is his answer going to change anything. I’m asking to get an idea where Amar’s head is.
He’s silent for a few moments. “As long as no one else is around… no. No, you won’t be.” If Amar were anything but a man in love, I don’t know if he’d feel the same way. I’ve never been more grateful for his wife in my entire life. “She’s going to be okay, man. She’s a tough girl.”
That, I know. River McAllister is perfectly capable of grabbing her prey by the throat and tearing them to pieces. She’s the strongest fucking person I know, and no matter what Billy puts her through, my girl will come out the other side stronger than before.
I drag my eyes to his, shooting him a brief look of gratitude before turning my focus back to Hawk’s. Right as I do, my phone buzzes in the cupholder next me. Snatching it up, I look to see that we got a hit. Billy’s car is down the road, heading towards Hawk’s. I angle the phone to Amar, showing him the alert. A slow, sinister smile builds on his face, matching the one on my face.
We got him.
“What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to wait until he leaves and then tail him.” Adrenaline releases into my bloodstream steadily. He’s here. And he’s going to lead me back to where I need to be. I’m so fucking close, I can
taste the bloodshed on my tongue.
And fuck, does it taste sweet.
“HE’S LEAVING,” I SAY aloud, perking up from my hunched over position. Billy parked his car in the back, hidden away from street view. It took a few drive-by’s, but Amar and I managed to find a little alleyway to park in, close enough to get an unobscured view but far enough away that Billy shouldn’t notice us.
Billy revs his engine and takes off down the street. I wait until he makes a turn until I pull out behind him.
Eventually, Billy turns into a trailer park—Towner’s Park. The trailers are placed sporadically, each house sporting a different design of rust and rot in the paneling. Overgrown, brittle grass lick at the sides of the trailers, with more rusted items cluttering the beds of grass. Cars, trinkets, kid toys.
Everything about this place looks rundown and beaten.
Five minutes. River was five minutes away from me this entire time.
Ahead of me, Billy speeds up and whips around a corner. Not wanting to seem obvious, I force
myself to keep the same pace. Turns out, this park is more elaborate than I gave credit for. Once I turn down the road, Billy’s car is no longer in sight. Various roads and dead ends break off from the street.
“Fuck me,” I spit, stepping on the gas harder. I no longer care if Billy sees me coming. The last thing the fucker will see is my headlights before he turns into a mangled mess beneath my tires if I have it my way.
“Do you see him?” I bark, my voice nearly rising hysterically. My heart is pounding so hard, it’s all I can hear. I barely hear the words come out of Amar’s mouth.
“He can’t be too far. Turn here,” he directs.
I follow his directions a little too eagerly, jerking the car roughly to the left and squealing the tires. I speed past several homes, searching down every side road, desperate to find even a glimpse of Billy’s car. In the streets or parked by any of the homes. But his car has completely vanished. The tension in my body rises until all my body can process is unfiltered hysteria.
“FUCK!” I roar, banging my fist on my steering wheel several times, causing the car to swerve.
Amar grabs my hand before I put my first through the wheel and engage the airbag or run us straight into a trailer. Whichever comes first. Straightening the car, I force myself to calm down as I take more turns, getting lost in the maze of this shitty ass trailer park.
“Turn here,” Amar says again, his voice barely penetrating the blood rushing through my ears. I follow his directions and will myself to calm down. Losing my shit isn’t going to find her any faster. I need to fucking focus.
I’m searching every yard and driveway, my eyes sweeping one side of the road while Amar inspects the other side. For another hundred feet, I don’t see anything. Just as I’m casting my eyes forward to see which way to turn, I notice off in the distance a lone, dilapidated house. It doesn’t look like it’s part of the trailer park, but it appears to be on the land. I see a car poking out from behind the house, but it’s not revealed enough for me to tell if it’s Billy’s car or not.
“Do you see that?” I ask. Amar directs his eyes towards where my finger is pointing.
“Let’s check it out.”
I’m already driving towards the house before Amar can say so. Billy is not anywhere in this park. What other reason would he have to drive through here? A gut feeling settles in my stomach. I just know this is where River is. I can feel it.
My hands threaten to tremble, but I force them steady. The adrenaline is becoming more potent in my bloodstream as I drive up towards the house. I see a flash of movement through one of the first- floor windows. The movement was too quick and I hadn’t been close enough to make out who it was to be sure, but it looked like a flash of black hair.
My car crests the driveway and Billy’s car comes into view. My foot is slamming on the brakes and just barely do I shift the car into park before the door is open and my ass is off the seat. I round my car and charge towards the front door, just as said door is flung open and my girl comes barreling through, her eyes wide with panic.
“River!” Her eyes fix on me, and when they do, tears flood them. She nearly tackles me, throwing all her weight into my body.
“Mako! Watch out!” The last thing I see is the barrel of a gun being pointed directly at my head.
