Chapter Thirty-Six
Jackson
Unable to get the thought that the person who took Brooklyn being Brady out of my head, I put Linc and Raleigh’s daughter down to go play with her brother and cousins, before standing up and making my way into the main room where everyone else is gathered.
I’m honestly surprised that they all left me alone with the kids, which gave me some space to think.
Probably too much if I’m honest.
“Hey,” I say, interrupting the conversation going on before me. “Could someone give me a ride back to the precinct? I’ve got something that I want to check out,” I say, not really wanting to go into details just yet, especially not in front of the girls.
All three of my brothers get to their feet, Bos and Linc giving their wives brief kisses while following me out of the front door.
A few moments later, the other two meet us at Bos’s SUV, all of us climbing into the same seats that we were in on the way here, none of us saying a word.
We’re about halfway there when Linc speaks up, “So, you wanna tell us what this thing you want to look into is?” He asks, surprising me that any of them were able to hold out for as long as they did without asking.
With a sigh and a shake of my head, I turn in my seat so I can see all three of them and say, “I can’t stop thinking about the possibility of it being Brady that took her. I know my team is looking into other leads, but I just, I don’t know, have this feeling I guess that I need to look into him some more.”
“You really think it was him?” Linc asks, his brows knit together and his entire demeanor makes it clear that he’s unsure of whether he really wants to know the answer to his own question.
“I don’t know, honestly,” I say, feeling frustrated. I glance away, my focus momentarily on the passing landscape. But when I turn my attention back to Linc and Dal in the backseat, their eyes are both on me, waiting for me to continue. “But I can’t just sit around and do nothing and he’s just as good a place to start as any.”
“True,” Linc mutters with a nod of his head. He waits a few beats, as if trying to come up with something to say, before settling on, “Where all have you guys looked? I doubt he’s holed up at the same place as before but I’m sure his family has other places, maybe even friends of the family?”
“Yeah,” I agree, then continue. “I’m going to look into any place he could have her if it is him. It may take a few days to check them all out but…”
“I’ll help,” Bos says, glancing from the road to me then back to the road again.
“Me, too,” Dal adds.
“Obviously, I’m in too,” Linc says, his face filled with determination.
“I can’t ask you guys to do that. You have families. What if something were to happen to one of you?”
“First off, you didn’t ask.” Dal says, before Lincoln finishes with, “And secondly, you’re our family, too.”
“I know that, but I’d never forgive myself if something happened to one of the three of you.”
“Too bad. You’re stuck with us,” Linc says, holding up his phone. “I already filled in the girls. I didn’t give Raleigh details, just told her we’re going to help you track down leads and to keep the house locked up.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter under my breath, feeling both grateful and worried in equal measure.
The cabin falls into silence once more, an uncomfortable heaviness pressing down on me as I find myself lost in thought once more, the fear of losing anyone else that is important to me filling me with a sense of dread.
Eventually, I speak the thoughts whirling about in my head out loud, “Whoever this guy is, he’s a fucking psychopath that isn’t going to stop until he’s either put down like the animal that he is or he’s locked behind bars.”
“Honestly, if it is Brady, my vote is for the former,” Linc says honestly. “Then, there’s no chance of him having a second chance at life due to parole or whatever. Plus, if it’s by your hand, poetic justice,” he says with a shrug, as if it’s really that simple.
He has clearly never had to kill someone before, and honestly, I’m glad for that, I wouldn’t want even my worst enemy to have to live with that kind of guilt, being plagued by nightmares, that shit isn’t for the faint of heart.
“He will get what’s coming to him,” I say, looking directly at Linc before turning my attention to Dal and saying, “regardless of which way it ends up playing out.”
As soon as we’re pulled into a spot in front of the building, I’ve got my door open and I’m jumping out and rushing up the steps, my brothers hot on my heels as we step inside the building.
A hush comes over the place as everyone turns to look at us, or maybe they’re just looking at me if their sympathetic looks are anything to go by.
Always the mother hen, Jodie makes her way from behind the divider with her arms open, already ready to pull me in for a hug.
When I lean down and let her fold me into her arms, she murmurs, “I’m so sorry to hear about what happened to your lady friend, she’s the same one who was here one day, isn’t she?”
Pulling back to look at her, I’m taken aback that she remembered her from that day, but I shouldn’t be.
Jody is a sharp one who never forgets a name or a face.
“Y—yeah,” I admit, with a nod of my head, my voice coming out choked up. “I’m going to find her, Jodie,” I state, desperation and guilt equally fueling my words and actions.
“What do you need?” She asks without hesitation.
“Can you have a team on standby?” I ask, and when she gives me a look that says that I need to elaborate, I do. “I’ve got a hunch that I’m going to look into, and if I’m right, I’m going to need a team with me for backup.”
“You go do what you need to do,” she says placing her palm against my cheek in a motherly gesture before continuing, “ And when the time comes, you’ll have your team, with me front and center helping to lead the charge.”
“Thank you,” I tell her, trying not to get emotional.
I know this place is like family and has always had my back, I just don’t realize to what extent until now.
“You go, go!” She says, shooing me away. As I move to head upstairs, I hear her saying to my brothers, “I obviously don’t have to ask who you are, just know that I’ll be catching up with you three next time.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” They all three respond at the same time, making her chuckle as she tells them, “Y’all better get on up there.”
I hear their footsteps sounding like a herd of elephants as they jog up the stairs behind me,” She seems nice and motherly,” Bos surmises as Linc asks, using his thumb to point over his shoulder to where they just left Jody, “She always like that?”
”That’s one hundred percent Jody. She mothers every one of us and is the glue that holds this place together,” I explain as I make my way to my desk to boot up my computer.
”So, where are you planning to start?” Dal asks, getting back to business.
I grab a notepad and a pen, handing them to him as my screen comes up, ready for me to put in my password, “I want you to write down each address I give you. Then, I’ll need to go back through Raleigh’s old case file and figure out which is the address to the place he was holding her.” I begin explaining as I type in my password and then pull up Brady’s file, along with all family members and any known associates. “Then, one by one, we begin checking them off the list.”
”Are you going to bring your team in on this? Or only have us and Jody and whoever she gets?” Linc asks as he pulls up two chairs, one for himself and the other for Dal.
“Just Jody and whoever she gets. My team is hunting down other leads pertaining to the case.”
”But you still need to clue them in, don’t you? Since you’re not even supposed to be working the case?” Bos asks, leaning against Nash’s desk, with his arms folded across his chest.
”I’ll fill them in if we find anything worth filling them in on,” I grumble, appreciating their help and that they’re here for me but not appreciating the third degree. “Like I said, they’re already working their own leads.”
After relaying all the addresses to Dal, I realize just how many places we need to check out bed being able to mark them off the list, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.
“Alright,” I say with a sigh, “Guess we'd better get to it then.”
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