Ezra sighed as he clicked off his phone. He had made call after call to anyone he thought could help find JD; anyone to whom he could call in favors. He made a quick call to the hospital and he had been reassured that Chris was sleeping.
Thinking on the last few months, Ezra pondered the significance of finding out he was brother to the other six. He hadn't embraced either the idea or any of the brothers at first. He was now surprising himself at how much he cared about each one, remembering the fear he felt at seeing Chris shot and Vin and Buck hurt, and then learning JD had been kidnapped. JD. The baby brother Ezra often compared to a black lab puppy with expressive eyes. A puppy loving and energetic and always moving, begging for love and hurt when denied. A puppy trusting and kind as JD himself was.
JD had been the easiest brother to become fond of, though Vin and Ezra had more in common. Buck was growing on Ezra, he didn't know anyone that disliked Buck – except for Samuels, Ezra frowned. Ezra still at times was wary of Nathan and Chris and it was Chris, the natural leader of the brothers, Ezra was thinking of now. Would Chris approve of his decision? He didn't know. Ezra couldn't track like Vin, he didn't have the friends Chris, Buck and Nathan had made; but Ezra did have money and he would use what he could to save their baby brother and deal with the consequences later. He got up and put his coat on. It would take about fifteen minutes to get to his destination. And then he would check on Chris at the hospital. He wondered how his other brothers were faring and hoped they were having more success than he was.
Buck shoved the gearshift of his white pickup in park and jumped out, slamming the door. The place he sought was in a quiet section of town, a building with a simple sign: Women's Resource Center. He took a deep breath and opened the door.
A gray-haired woman peered over her glasses at him. "Mr. Wilmington?"
"Mrs. Jenkins. You remember. I'm . . ."
The woman took off her glasses, rubbed her eyes and sighed. "Mr. Wilmington, a Mr. Standish has already called and a Mr. Sanchez has dropped by. I can't give you confidential information any more than I could release it to them. You know the rules."
Buck sat down, wringing his hands, but not giving up, smiling at her in his most persuasive way. "Darling, of course I know the rules. I know why they are set up, to protect the women. But, darling, Maria's husband took my kid brother after shooting my brother Chris . . . and I need your help getting him back. The information wouldn't go anywhere else . . . Maria is my employee and I want to help her, too. And JD . . ." Buck's voice broke as he pulled out a picture of dark-haired smiling JD and Milagro and held it out for Mrs. Jenkins to take. She did so; studying the boy and handing it back with a sigh and a shake of her head.
Buck's heart felt like a lead balloon, he reached out and held the picture tightly; staring at the picture of JD, so proud and happy with his first horse. Buck felt a tear slide down his right cheek. Mrs. Jenkins, her own heart vying with her head, couldn't take it and hurriedly left the room. Buck stumbled out the door and laid his head down on the steering wheel. So caught up was he in his guilt and worry, he did not hear a noise coming from the back of his extended cab pickup. . .
TBC
