Chapter Twelve
~Zach Goode~
~January 21, Earlier that Day~
"Agent Solomon."
I had just got MC in her warm jammies by the fire after letting her sleep for hours into the late afternoon. She conked out so fast once we were home. I was worried at first that she might have hypothermia or pneumonia or somethin'. But she wasn't running a fever and she wasn't wheezing so I decided to wait and see, and if she got sick I would take her to the hospital.
Yeah, I know the drill. I read all of those baby and parenting books that you gave me, Cookie.
"Did you find her?" I seethed through the phone. Damn, I hate the government. My wife was an agent, just like Solomon, but they gave up on her. Tried to pronounce her as dead but…no. She's not dead….not until I see the proof.
Not even then.
"Hey Spock!" Cammie held up her hand, index and middle finger pressed together like her ring finger and pinky, "Tell Scotty to beam us outta here!"
"Gotcha Captain Kirk!" I turned about face to face Grant. "beam me up Scotty!"
"I'm never letting you and Cammie choose the Halloween costumes again…" Grant rolled his eyes, "Were TEN for chrissakes, not fifty! We weren't born in the 1940's!"
"Star Trek was in the 1960's dumbass!" I chuckle at my best friend.
"Hey! No cussin' Zach!" Jonas says and turns to Grant, "At least you knew that fifty year olds these days were born in the 40's man, that's progress!"
Grant punches Jonas in the arm, "Nerd. Come on, Mr. Sulu, I can take ya down!"
Cammie comes back with a bag full of Halloween cookies-little pumpkins and ghosts with glitter sprinkled all over. She wore her yellow Star Trek shirt and a black skirt since her mom said that she was a girl, not a boy.
Whatever, Cammie would look pretty either way. Cammie's always pretty.
"Come on Zach! Let's go to that next house!" she grabs my hand and we run from the other guys. Grant and Jonas and Bex, Liz, and Macey are all apart of our close circle of best friends, sure.
But, no one knows me like Cammie does. No one comes close to being as close as Cammie is to me. My dad died when I was really young and Cammie's dad died three years ago. We were there for each other. She understands. I was scared to move to Boston from our small town in Colorado, but now looking back, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
"Come on slow poke!" she squeezes my hand harder and I try not to spill my bag of candy, "Do I have to drag you the whole way?"
"Where're we goin' Cookie?" I ask and she blushes. She always blushes when I call her that. I don't know why.
Girls.
"This haunted house that some high schoolers made at that house down the street from Mrs. Copes!" Cammie says into my ear cause were about the same height now.
I wish I were taller. I will be taller.
"I thought you hated Haunted Houses…you always get scared and cry, right?" I ask her with a cocked brow. I know my best friend.
"Yeah," she says warily and stops for a minute to look at me, never dropping our hands, "But you'll come inside with me, right?"
"Course, Camz," I say and ruffle her hair with my free hand.
She gives me that look that's supposed to look angry but she just looks like a little kitten. Kitten Cammie. Albeit an angry kitten. Nah, I'll stick to Cookie.
But then she smiles again and pulls me along, "C'mon Spock, we got a Haunted House to get to!"
I laugh at her enthusiasm and follow along, letting her drag me.
We get to that abandoned house that got sorta wrecked when we had that really big storm a year ago.
There was a line and a bunch of fake bodies and gravestones in the yard and fake blood on sheets that hung from a dry wire. It all looked pretty corny but I could feel Cammie trembling beside me.
"How old ae' ya kids?" this guy that looked about sixteen asked us in a very thick Bostonian accent.
"Ten," me and Cookie said in unison and the guy clicked his tongue.
"A'light, I'll let ya in, just don't go cryin' to yer mommies that it was to scary," the pimply sixteen year old looked scarier than the cheap Halloween decorations.
I told that to Cammie as we entered the house and she laughed, relaxing a bit.
We went to the living room where they had a little maze where these high schoolers dressed like zombies and rattled these cans as they jumped out at us. Cammie would jump ten feet in the air and squeeze the hell outta my neck. But I didn't care much, I just kinda rubbed her back or squeezed her hand.
We were led to the kitchen next, one of the guys dressed like a mad scientist or somethin', doing an operation with fake rubber rats and UV lights flashing, and Halloween music. It was all very corny.
There would be different monsters popping out of closets and corner trying to scare Cookie and me, but I just laughed at em which made Cookie relax more. She only screamed a couple times, so far, but clung to my neck the whole time.
The last part of the maze was to go down to the basement. It was so dark that you couldn't see a damned thing. Nothin' at all. Fake flashes of lightning would light up the room every few seconds, and I gotta say it looked pretty realistic. A whole group of kids in every grade from the neighborhood was packed in the basement. We were all so quiet that we could hear the door to the basement creaking…then click in place.
"Z-Zach?" Cammie asked beside me.
"I'm right here, Cookie," I told her, outing an arm around her now so she would know I was there.
"I'm scared," she said and I felt so bad cause she sounded like she was about to cry, "What're they gonna do-"
THUMP!
All of a sudden this guy with a bloody ax and a mask jump outta the small window just when the fake lightning flashed. Everyone started screaming and running around. Everybody was knocking into us. And all of a sudden Cammie wasn't in my arms anymore, her hand wasn't in mine.
She never did let go.
"CAMMIE?" I yell, but I couldn't see a damned thing! "CAM!"
then this guy opened this secret door or something behind a tool shelf that led us all outside so that they could bring in the next group. I went out, looking for Cammie in the moonlit darkness.
"Cammie?" I ask, looking through the crowd.
I couldn't see her though.
I looked and looked and searched everywhere outside but she wasn't there.
I went back to the side and saw the pimply teen standing next to the window, laughing as the next group saw the ax murderer and started to scream.
"Hey!" I yelled and turned him around. "I need to get in there!"
He looked at me like I was crazy or something.
"Sorry kid, can't go in more than once-"
"My best friend is still in there, and she's probably scared to death!" I yell and point to that secret door, "Ya better let me get in there and get her or else."
He laughs and says, "Jeez, hold your horses man, wait until I havta open the door, a'light?"
"No," I say and his damn smirk falls, "Let me in. now, ya bastard."
"What're ya, ten? What's you're momma gonna say when she knows ya been cussin? Ya Daddy gonna spank ya kid, that's what my dad did."
"My Dad is dead, son of a bitch, so I'll cuss whenever I want, ya hear? Now open that damn door!" he looks momentarily stunned before opening that secret door.
Once he opened it, and the faintest of moonlight filtered through, I told him, "Leave that door open so I can look for her."
He nodded and I walked through, looking all over the room.
"Cammie? Cookie?" I yelled, looking all over that huge basement.
I started to become panicked when I heard a sniffle, "Zach!"
And there was Cookie, sitting in a fetal position with tears streaming down her face and oil grease all over her yellow Star Trek shirt. Her candy and Halloween cookies scattered across the floor.
I ran over and gathered her in my arms and held her just like I did when her dad died.
"I'm here, Cookie. It's alright now, yeah," I soothed and started to pick up her candy and put them all in her bag while I still held her. She cried into my neck until she started to calm down.
"I was so scared cause I couldn't find you," she sobbed and I ruffled her hair a bit.
"It's okay now, Cookie. I'm here. I found you," I say and kiss her forehead cause it always calms her down.
"Thank you, Zach…" she smiles warily up at me and it makes me smile too cause I love seeing her happy.
"Anytime, Cookie," I say and it's a promise because I will always be there for her. Like she's always been there for me.
And when the pimply teenager came and told us to scram, we walked back home, and she held my hand.
She never really let go.
"No, Mr. Goode, but we have a lead on Luther's whereabouts," Agent Solomon said in answer to my question and hope was evident in his tone.
When I was too lost in thought to answer, he continued, "It seems that Luther has been spotted by locals in the past decade in Minnesota, Arizona, Boston, New York, and LA with a group of gang members that the FBI have been trying to nail. There have been suspicions of them drug dealing…"
"Yeah, what does this have to do with Luther? So he's and addict?" I shrug, waiting for the catch.
But then the thought occurs to me that he's injected Cammie with drugs. And once he drugged her he would….
Oh, god. No. Please…No…
"Not only is he an addict, Zach, but we believe he sells all kinds of illegal substances. I guess you could call him…the leader…a drug dealer," Agent Solomon says with a sigh, clearly thinking the same things I am.
"We've tracked some of the people from his best dealers and there is talk of a meeting being held in Boston where the group originated."
I leaned forward in my desk, hand gripping my cell.
"They could be coming here? They could be here in Boston?" I ask in anticipation.
"Assuming that he brings her wherever he goes, then yes, it's very likely…" he says.
I felt like there was more on his mind, he was just trying to see how I would take it. And I had a pretty good idea of what that was.
"Yes, Cameron has as restraining order on Luther Finnigan. Ever since 1995, she's had a restraining order against him for…assault…"
I hear the Agent 'hmm' in thought before he said, "The files don't really specify what happened those sixteen years ago…"
"He..tried to make advances on her," I said, my chest tightening with the memory. It just hurt so much to know that he had her now but he could have gotten her so much sooner…it's just…so painful to know…God, please tell me you're okay, Love.
"Advances meaning…?" what was he trying to do? Make me come out and say exactly what that bastard try to do to my wife?
"He…tried to take advantage…"
"Take advantage…?"
It kills me, Cookie.
"He tried to fucking rape my wife!" I yell into the phone and silent sobs rack through me, cutting and twisting until I'm drowning. And I'm glad that he can't see me through the phone because I've let too many people see my weakness. My instability.
Maybe my mother-in-law was right…
"There is one more thing, Mr. Goode…" Agent Solomon says and I hear a shuffling of papers in the background. "Do you know what a bug is? I mean, in the surveillance world?"
"My wife trained and studied to be a trained surveillance field agent, sir, I think I would know."
I rolled my eyes, not really feeling bad for snapping at him out of frustration.
"Yes, well, we were able to bug one of his dealers, a Sebastian Clove. He met with Luther at a pub in Downtown Boston earlier this evening…they referred to an 'Annie' and how he knew she had been unfaithful since he's been away…for sixteen years…that she often talks in her sleep about, and I quote him: "Another lover named Zach."
My heart lurched in my chest and the tears pooled around my eyes. Damn, I was getting so worked up. I grabbed the cigarettes out of my desk drawer and lit up.
Taking a long drag, I replied, "That's…That's Cammie."
My eyes burned and I remembered why I never smoked inside.
But I needed to calm the Hell down.
We'll figure this out, Cookie.
"Luther talks to him, saying he's going to find…" I hear more rustling of papers and I want to yell at him to get on with it, "…Zach, and make him pay…for seducing his wife."
Black, pure, irrepressible rage surged through me, consuming me.
"His wife?" I gritted my teeth and slammed my desk with hard fists until multiple cracks scarred the glazed wood, "HIS WIFE?"
"He knows that it's you, Zach, he talked about his childhood and how you imprisoned his lover from him. I suspect the reason he's holding the meeting in Boston is to…get rid of you once and for all."
I stumbled back into my chair. I didn't even realize I was standing.
All I could think about was MC…she's in danger here. If he's coming after me…Mc is at risk…it doesn't matter that part of her is from Cammie, he'd kill her because she was a part of me.
"When is this meeting…what are they selling?" I ask and my breath falters. I can hardly breathe.
"When the meeting is, we don't know…What they're selling…Zach…" he breathes a heavy sigh and my breathing picks up.
Oh, God…
"You have to understand that he's had her for seven years…he's probably no longer…satisfied," my anger rises again at his words but the fear is more dominant…
No, I'm wrong…it can't be…he wouldn't…
"He's planning to auction her, Zach. And this man says he loves her. There's no telling what someone who doesn't would do to her."
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
And now I'm sobbing again. I'm crying audibly now because I can't hold it in any longer. Because I was given hope for the first time in almost seven years and now everyone I love is in danger. Everyone I need…
"We're sending security over to you and your daughter right now, Zach. Our surveillance teams will be monitoring everyone in your area to watch for him, because remember that wherever he is, you wife is very likely to be there as well."
And I agreed so then I could hang up and grieve alone and in silence. I was sure I had waken MC up. But then the agent replies with something like a 'Good Luck!' and I swear to God, if he wasn't my last hope, I'd kill him.
~X~X~X~
I remember the first time we made love…yes, it was before marriage. We were seventeen, and were camping out in the woods beyond the lake. We were talking about our futures, when we realized that we both included each other in our futures. Whether it was to get an apartment once we graduate high school, both of us applying to one school: Boston University, or planning trips to where we wanted to go most in the world, places we both wanted to see.
It was then that we both realized that there would be no other. Well, I knew that before, but any doubt I had before dissipated.
And then we were joined. We had many firsts together and being able to share our very last first together, the first of many, was a miracle. A blessing. And way beyond the most incredible experience I've ever had.
And it was all because of her. My love, my life, my soul mate. All her.
She said I was pretty hunky, too.
And to think that another man was taking advantage of her like that…a druggy, of all things! It killed me. I was the only one that could worship her everything. Only I could love her the way I do…
I was shaken out of my thoughts when I noticed MC was no longer sleeping on the couch.
"MC? Baby?" I call out to her. Damn, why can't anyone stay still for five freaking seconds.
I checked in her room, the whole house. No MC.
And a strange sense of de javu crept up into my mind and I was suddenly running outside. I could see her little footprints in the snow and let out a frustrated growl that turned into fear.
There was a murderer roaming about. Looking to kill me…and if he saw MC….Oh, God…
"Grant! Grant!" I pounded on my neighbors door until he stumbled outside.
"What, man, Bex is having cravings and-"
"MC's gone! Luther is out to kill me and she's gone!" I yell and my voice cracks but I don't give a damn.
"Call that Agent guy and I'll come out and help you look!" he says and grabs a coat off of a hanger.
"Grab Betty on your way out!" I remind him and his eyes widen in shock.
"Betty? Ya sure?" he asks and his eyes darken in rage that wasn't directed towards me.
"Yeah, Betty." I say and run back over to my house. I'm dialing Agent Solomon as I reach into the back of the closet and open up a small black case.
"Hello?"
"MC is missing…and I have a feeling Luther is close by."
I say to him and load up my gun, the safety clicking off.
"And if I see him, I'm killing the bastard that kidnapped my wife."
A.N. So, I was kinda surprised when I got all those reviews! So thank you! You deserved this chapter but now I left y'all on an even bigger cliff hanger, I think.
Same system as the last chapter applies! I will update sooner with more reviews!
~Akira