Charlie didn't sleep that night. Brax wasn't back. He hadn't replied to Georgia's phone call, Charlie's messages or anyone's calls or messages for that matter. Charlie lay on their bed staring at the ceiling; she glanced at the empty space on the bed, next to her where he should be lying.
'Charlie' Georgia whispered, knocking on her bedroom door. Georgia had stayed the night she filled Heath in on what had happened and had gone to bed with him.
'Mmm' Charlie murmered not moving from her position on the bed.
Georgia crept through the door and sat on the edge of the bed.
'Hey sweetie, how did you sleep?' She asked
'I didn't' Charlie muttered
'Charlie I know you miss Brax and that you are worried about him but you need to rest' Georgia insisted
'I will rest when Brax is back with me' Charlie snapped
'Ok' Georgia said lightly, she stood and left the room.
Heath was standing outside Charlie's room, when Georgia came out of the room he immediately asked her 'Has Charlie heard from Brax?'
'Nup' Georgia replied 'Heath, you would tell me right? I mean if Brax tries to get you involved in his stupid plan, you would tell me?' Georgia asked
Heath put his hands on Georgia's shoulders 'I promise' he smiled
Georgia smiled back but she knew that Brax needed to be found before his anger and defensiveness took hold.
.
Brax hadn't found Grant yet. He had been circling around towns, asking people whether they knew who he was.
Brax walked into a small news agency. Behind the counter an old man stood, he immediately glanced up at Brax as he walked through the doorway.
'Hey mate' Brax smiled, he grabbed a coke from the fridge and wandered over to the counter
The old man nodded in response to Brax's greeting. Brax put the coke on the counter and handed a five-dollar bill over. The man grabbed the money and shoved the change back I Brax's hand.
'Hey, do you by any chance know a man named Grant Bledcoe?' Brax asked casually, trying to subtly stare at the man. He was desperate to find a connection.
The man grunted 'Do I know him? Grant is my son' he smiled 'Are you a friend of his?'
Brax took a breath. He was one step closer to finder Grant; this man could lead him directly to his target.
'Um sure a friend' Brax muttered, even saying those words made him feel sick in the stomach. 'Could you give me his address, I want to have a chat with him' Brax asked taking a sip of his coke.
The old man smiled 'Sure, he doesn't normally have many friends visit so I'm sure he will be glad to see you' he wrote down Grant's address on the back of Brax's receipt and handed it over.
.
Charlie reached for her phone and she was that there was one message, she hurriedly clicked on it and saw that it was from Brax.
I love you, you don't need to worry. I'll be back in a few days.
Xx
Charlie was filled with a mix of emotions. Part of her was extremely glad that Brax had texted, she felt such a yearning to be close to him. But she knew that Brax needed to be found earlier if they were to have any chance of getting him before he did anything stupid.
'Charlie' Georgia called out, walking out to the kitchen where Charlie was standing.
'G! Brax, he texted' Charlie grinned, thrusting her phone in front of Georgia's face.
Georgia smiled 'Perfect, the police might be able to find where he is if they can trace his number' she murmered
'What!' Charlie snapped, grabbing the phone off Georgia.
'The cops, I want to report Brax missing, the police can help us find him'
Charlie slammed the phone on the table 'No, if Brax has even touched Grant or threatened him, he could get put away for it. We can't get the cops involved'
'Sweetie, the police can get to Brax before he even has the chance to hurt Grant' Georgia insisted
'If you get the cops involved, I will never speak to you again' Charlie muttered, it may have seemed dramatic but she couldn't bear the thought that Brax could get put away in jail and Charlie would be stuck talking to him through the jail bars, no touch.
'You and I are both cops, they are already involved' Georgia said, staring at Charlie. Charlie dodged her eye contact.
'Just leave it, please?' Charlie asked
'Whatever' Georgia muttered 'but don't make me out to be the bad one, I want Brax back as much as you do, I don't want to see my best friend go to jail either' she walked off.
.
Brax walked up the steps to Grants house. The neighborhood was very classy. There were rendered mansions everywhere, perfectly green gardens. Brax had expected that Grant would live in some kind of seedy underworld style house near drug-bust and strip-clubs.
Brax knocked on the front door; he stuck his hands in his pockets and waited for someone to open the door.
Brax suddenly heard light footsteps running towards the front door from inside, the door swung open and a young girl, around the age of 7 or 8 stood there. 'Hello' she smiled shyly. Brax was shocked, had Grant taken up a new life. Did he have a wife and children who respected him? He bet that they had no idea about his disgusting past.
'Hi' he smiled at the girl 'My name is Brax' he said
'I'm Callie' she grinned
'I like your tights' Brax complemented the little girl, trying to make her feel more comfortable.
'Thanks' she giggled, tangling her fingers through her small blonde plaits. 'I like your tattoo' she smiled, pointing to the "Blood and Sand" that peeked out of his open shirt.
'Thanks' Brax laughed.
Suddenly Grant walked up to the girl 'Callie, what did I say about talking to strangers' he snapped at her.
'Sorry dad, this is Brax' she apologized, pointing to Brax.
Grant looked up at Brax and recognized him from the day before when he had visited.
'Hi Brax' Grant said bluntly, pretending that he had never seen Brax before. 'Call, go to your room' he told his daughter
Callie nodded 'Bye Brax' she said chirpily, walking to her room
Brax gave a small wave to Callie but he kept his eyes on Grant.
'What do you want?' Grant snapped
'To talk' Brax said smoothly, his fists clenched
'I have nothing to talk about' Grant looked at the ground, edging the front door shut.
'I think you do, Charlie Buckton. Do you remember her?' Brax snapped
'Nup' Grant lied
'You were at her house yesterday' Brax reminded, waiting for Grant to crack.
'I don't want to talk about Charlie!' He cried, Brax watched Grant's face grow red and sweaty.
'Well would you rather me talk to your family about it? Callie is a nice girl, did you rape her mum as well?' Brax shouted
Grant lunged towards Brax. Brax was much stronger than Grant; he was able to push him off. 'You wouldn't want to cause a scene in front of you family, would you?' Brax reminded.
Grant nodded, still glaring at Brax.
'Lets go for a drive' Brax instructed
'No thanks' Grant snapped
'I wasn't asking, get in the bloody car' Brax laughed cruelly.
.
Georgia sat on her bed nervously; she didn't know what to do. Her phone suddenly started buzzing to indicate a message. Georgia grabbed it and immediately clicked on it. Brax had sent it.
Georgie girl, don't do anything stupid.
-BRAX
Georgia rolled her eyes. Charlie must have messaged him about their earlier conversation. She found it to be quite a stupid text message, Brax was telling her not to do anything stupid like get the polices help when he was the one on a crazy-ass man hunt hoping to hurt even kill a man and get away scotch free. She felt like replying, Brax, don't do anything stupid. Knowing Brax, he wouldn't give a crap about the text and just continue doing his own thing; she would need to get through to him in person. Georgia grabbed her phone and headed down to the police station.
'Detective Callahan, I didn't know you were coming in today' Constable Watson greeted her
'Hey, yeah I'm not on schedule but I need to follow something up' She muttered, walking towards her office.
'Do you need any help? Is it something that needs to be reported?' Constable Watson asked curiously.
'No, nothing to be reported.' Georgia gave a small smile and shut her office door.
She sat behind the computer and began to type in Brax's mobile number. Her eyes were glued to the screen as a new file popped up. The mobile GPS scan had worked on Brax's mobile, it had traced where his mobile signal was coming from and Georgia knew exactly where Brax was.
.
.
.
COMING UP:
What will Georgia do with the newly found info?
Will it be too late to stop Brax?
.
.
.
Please review, I love what you say you like about my writing. You are all amazing! xxx