Until Lilly (30 page)

“Cash
, son, I need you to calm down and think about this.”

“She has done it again. She has fucked with my life again.” I close my eyes
, images of Lilly when I first met her flashing in my mind—how the love we had for each other back then could have grown, and how lucky I am to have it now. Images of Ashlyn come next, everything I missed with her, all the moments I will never get back. Then Jax, and how my son has suffered having her as a mother. How until Lilly, he never knew what it was like to have a mother who loved him completely. Yes, I’m going to kill the bitch. “Where the fuck is she?” I ask, looking at Nico. Now he has Sophie, he should know the anguish I’m feeling.

“Jules doesn’t know I have this tape
,” Nico says. “I say we call the lawyer and have him get this tape admitted into evidence, then Lilly can finally get her chance in front of the judge. Hopefully, he will look at this and realize he has the wrong person and let her go.

“Yeah
, but that’s not a lot of evidence proving her innocence,” I realize and speak out loud.

“They took writing samples from Lilly that say that she is not the one who wrote those checks
. The evidence against her is not solid, so maybe with the tape and the other evidence we can get her home. All the rest can be worked out after that.”

“Jules needs to go down for this shit.”

“And she will, but first, let’s get Lilly home.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Look, you go with Dad to pick up her parents, and I will get this to the lawyer.”

“Thanks
, man,” I say to Nico.

“You would do the same for me
,” he says before leaving. I sit back down, scrubbing my hands over my face.

“You want me to go get her parents?”
my dad asks.

“Na
h, I need to get out of the house.” I stand, and after we say goodbye to the kids, we head out to my dad’s truck.

After we pick up Lilly’s parents from the airport
, the lawyer calls and tells me Lilly has seen the judge, and he is releasing her on bail. The tension that had been weighing heavily in the car since we picked up her parents disappears with that one call. I have never felt such a sense of relief in my life. Now I just pray Nico finds a way to clear her name completely. I also want Jules to go down for what she did.

I drop Lilly’s
parents off at the house. Yes, I know they want to see their daughter, and the kids want to see her too, but I don’t give a fuck. I need her to myself for at least a little while.

Chapter 14

Lilly

I look down at the sudsy water I’m washing dishes in, enjoying doing something so normal. I missed being home the last week. Jail is scary and lonely, and I never want to go back to that place. The second I was free, I ran to Cash and cried into his chest. I missed his smell and the way I felt when he held me. I missed our kids too, and couldn’t wait to be home with them. On the way home, Cash explained to me about Jules and what happened with her. No one has been able to find her yet, but I hope they catch her soon. I need to know why she did it. I look up from the soapy water and out the window. The kids had been playing in the tree house, but have now disappeared. I don’t think much about it until twenty minutes later when I realize I haven’t heard anything from them for a while. Since I got home, they have been coming in to check if I’m still here every ten minutes or so. I step out the backdoor into the yard. It’s completely quiet out here, not even the sound of leaves moving with the wind.

I walk around the side of the house to see if maybe the kids are there playing
…but nothing. I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, and that’s when I take off running. I look everywhere and I can’t find them. I run back towards the house, trying to catch my breath. “Where are the kids?” I run into the house screaming. “I can’t find the kids anywhere! They were out back playing in the tree house. I had been watching them through the window above the kitchen sink. Then they disappeared. I thought that they had decided to play along the side of the house, but I wanted to check on them to make sure they were okay when I didn’t hear anything for a few minutes.” I know I’m rambling, but I feel sick, and I know I’m going to have a break down.

“The
y’re outside honey,” my mom says, and I start shaking my head, clutching at my throat, trying to rip the words out but I can’t speak.

“Breath
e, baby,” Cash says, concerned. His arms are around me, but I push him away; he needs to go look for the kids.

“T
h-they’re not there!” I take a huge gulp of air. “I can’t find them anywhere!” My dad is the first to move. He is up off the couch and heading out the backdoor. Cash looks me over before handing me off to my mom, and then he follows my dad.

“It’s going to be okay
. They’re kids, honey. I used to lose you all the time,” Mom tells me, trying to lighten the mood. Any other time I would have laughed, but not now. I get up and head towards the bedrooms, checking each one, but they are nowhere to be found. A few minutes later, I hear police sirens and my stomach drops. My worst nightmare is becoming a reality. When I get outside, Cash and my dad are talking to James. A few minutes pass and the whole yard is full of people. My mom holds me next to her as we listen to the guys plan out a search party. No one knows where they are, so they all split up.

*~*~*

Jax

I always wanted a little brother, but got stuck with a little sister. We are playing hide-and-seek, and when I’m getting ready to find her like I always do, I see someone pulling her into a truck. I’m scared, but my dad always says that it’s my job to keep her safe because I’m her big brother. So I climb into the back of it and lay down, hiding under a tarp.

*~*~*

Cash

This cannot be fucking happening. Someone is going to die. I’m not saying that as a threat—I mean it all the way to my soul. As soon as I find out who has done this, I’m going to kill them.

“Al
l right, man, I want you to hear me out, okay?” Nico says. I lift my chin in response. I’m too angry to answer him right now. We have searched everywhere for the kids, and come up with nothing. They wouldn’t have wondered off. Someone has to have taken them, I just don’t know who.

“Who do you think would do this?”
he asks.

“I don’t know.” I rack my brain
, trying to come up with someone who would do this. I can’t think over the pain in my chest. My kids are missing; someone has them and I have no idea who it is.

“I want you to think for a second
. Who would do this?” I pause, coming up with nothing, then for some reason a name comes out of my mouth without thinking.

“Jules.”

“Jules,” he nods, “you know she has been missing. Kenton is running her cards to see if he can latch onto her.”

“She’s not
that
crazy,” I say, knowing it’s a lie.

“She
is
that crazy.” He pauses, looking like he is weighing his words. “Look, I know you feel bad for her, and I understand that she is Jax’s mother, but the bitch is fucking crazy and needs some major help—and not the kind that she can receive from a therapist.”

“You
’re right.”

“Al
l right, now I need you to tell me anything you know about her and her family,” he says, and for the next thirty minutes, I tell him everything that I know. When I’m done, I realize how very little there was. “We’re gonna find the kids; don’t worry.” He pats my back, walking away and putting the phone to his ear. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I answer right away.

“Yo
?”

“
We’re still looking,” Trevor says; he and Asher took off not long after my dad did. “Any idea of which way we should head?”

“Look for Jules
,” I tell him.

“What?”

“I talked to Nico and I think he may be right; we need to be looking for Jules.”

“You’re fucking shitting me.”

“Dude, I don’t know what the fuck to think right now, but something in my gut is saying Nico is right and that Jules is behind this.”

“Al
l right, we will look for her. Keep us up-to-date if you find out anything,” Trevor says, and I can hear the anger in his words.

“Will do
,” I say and then hang up. I head back into the house. Lilly and her mom are inside waiting to see if the kids will show back up. As soon as I walk inside, Lilly is in my arms, her eyes red from crying.

“Did they find them?”

“No, baby.” She starts to cry again, and my heart is breaking. “I will find them and bring them home. You stay here with your mom in case they show back up.”

“Okay
, but maybe I should be out looking too.”

“No
, I want you to stay here in case they come back.”

“But
—”

“No buts. Stay here with your mom. Keep your phone on you and I will call you.”

“Okay, just bring them home.” I can hear the strain in her words as she wraps her arms around my waist, burying her face in my chest. I want to comfort her, but I need to be out looking. I pull her away from me, kissing her once before turning and heading out the door. I see Nico still on his phone, so I motion him towards the truck and climb inside. Once he’s in, I take off. I have no destination in mind, but I do know Jules had been sleeping with a guy in town, so that’s my first stop. When we arrive at his place, there is an old truck in the driveway. The yard is littered with garbage. We get out and head up to the front porch; the dogs behind the door go crazy when I knock. I hear rustling, then the door opens and a guy my age is standing there rubbing his face, the smell of alcohol wafting off him.

“What do you want?”

“Have you seen Jules?” I ask, and his eyes narrow. He looks between Nico and me then smirks.

“I know you
,” he says when his eyes come back to me.

“Yeah?” I ask him
, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Yeah
, you’re Jules’s ex. She’s always talking about you.”

“Is that so
?”

“Yeah,”
he slurs, and until that point, I didn’t even notice that he is drunk. “She was always carrying on about you and how she was never important to you, and that you only wanted her because of the kid.”

“She told you that?”

“She told me everything. The bitch never shut the fuck up.” He runs a hand through his hair. “You know, she is hot as fuck, and not bad in bed, but she is nuts—and I mean
really
fucking nuts.”

“Why do you say that?” Nico ask
s, leaning on the side of the house. His stance is casual, but I can tell that he is up to something.

“The last time she was here I thought I was going to get some
, but she carried on about your daughter and wife—who, by the way, is a hot piece.” I want to punch him in the face, but don’t let it show.

“She is hot
, right?” Nico asks, and I swing my head to him.
What the fuck?

“Fuck yeah
, she is. I mean, Jules is good looking, but that bitch is smoking.”

“I agree
,” Nico says, and the guy smiles at him. “So what else did Jules want?”

“I don’t know
. I wasn’t really listening; I was trying to get laid, you know?” Nico nods and he shifts, his head going back like he’s thinking. “All I remember is her saying that the girl was a mistake on her part, and that she should have been smarter—whatever the fuck that means.” He digs his hand into his front pocket, pulling out a pack of smokes, offering one to Nico, then to me. We both shake our heads no. He puts one in his mouth, lighting it and taking a drag. “I really don’t remember anything else.” He shrugs, taking another drag before tossing the still-lit cigarette into the yard. My brain is in overdrive; she told him Ashlyn was a mistake on her part. I know deep down she is the reason Lilly got pregnant, but there is no way to prove it. I know that if confronted, she would deny it.

“Do you know where she might be?” Nico ask
s him.

“Jules?”
he asks, and Nico nods. “I don’t know, at her house? Or with her fucked up aunt maybe?”

“Why are you here?”
he finally asks the question he should have asked a long time ago.

“My son and daughter are missing
,” I tell him honestly. He looks between Nico and me, then backs up.

“Hey
, I have nothing to do with that.”