When I emerged from the bathroom hours later, wearing dry underwear, dirty jeans that were cut off below the knee on one side, and a slightly damp, albeit clean, shirt, I was utterly shocked to find several bags of clothing on my bed. On top of one of the bags was a note:
Hope these fit.
Sorry, we’re men.
Clean clothes didn’t occur to us.
It wasn’t signed, but I knew it had to be from Splint. Copper hadn’t said more than two words, if that, to me since he left the room after our heated discussion.
I looked through the bags and pulled out a pair of yoga pants, a t-shirt, a pair of panties, and a tank top with a built-in shelf bra to wear. The shelf bra would do little to nothing to contain the monsters residing on my chest, but it was better than leaving the girls free to wobble to and fro while I washed and dried the only bra I owned.
As I continued going through the bags, I was beyond delighted to discover one bag containing toiletries—girly toiletries. I was half-tempted to take another shower. Instead, I brushed my teeth, swiped on some deodorant, and drenched my face in moisturizer. When all was said and done, I felt like a new woman. I was also exhausted and decided a nap was in order.
5
Splint left to go back to Devil Springs shortly after he returned with numerous bags of clothes and toiletries for Locks. It hadn’t occurred to either one of us that she might need clean clothes or other necessities such as a toothbrush. I handed him a wad of cash and told him to go get whatever she needed. When he returned, he went over the instructions for her dressing change with me and informed me she could leave, as far as he was concerned, once she demonstrated changing it properly.
Instead of going to her room and having her change the dressing for me, I was waiting for her to come find me. I knew she would because it was obvious she was anxious to leave. Little did she know, she wasn’t going anywhere until she answered all of my questions.
I was outside on the deck drinking a beer when Badger called. “What’s up, brother?” I answered.
“Madge, from the diner, called this morning to check in. Said there’d been a lot of activity on my side of the mountain. Everything okay up there?”
I snorted. “Depends on your definition of okay,” I said and filled him in on what happened with Kayla since I’d last talked to him.
“What’s this girl look like?” he asked.
“She’s got long blonde hair that’s kinda wavy, blue eyes, average height, tight ass, nice tits, probably around twenty-five years old. Why?”
He cleared his throat, and I suddenly had an uneasy feeling. “Madge said a woman matching that description was reported missing a few weeks ago by the woman who lives on the other side of the mountain, Evelyn Carmichael. Evelyn refused to give the woman’s name and only gave a vague description. It all sounded fishy, and the Sheriff didn’t know what to make of it. Evelyn was in the hospital when she made the report. Claimed she’d fallen down her front stairs and hit her head, but Sheriff Simmons said there was evidence of a struggle when he went to make sure her place was locked up. But no one ever saw hide nor hair of the woman.”
“So, why don’t we call Evelyn and ask her if Kayla is the missing woman?”
“I don’t know how to get in touch with her right now. Madge said she’d also broken her hip when she fell and was at some rehab place in the city until she healed,” he explained.
“Fuck, you think Kayla did that to Evelyn?” I asked in surprise.
“Not a clue, brother. Did you ask Spazz to check her out?”
“Yeah, after I found out her name. He called yesterday and asked for a picture of her. I was able to get one after she fell asleep last night. Haven’t heard back from him yet.”
“I’ll see if Madge knows how to get in touch with Evelyn. In the meantime, I’d keep an eye on that girl, and don’t let her go anywhere until we find out what in the hell is going on.”
“Will do. Thanks, Badger.”
I leaned back in the chair and sighed. The reason I came up to the cabin in the first place was to have a few days of peace and quiet to clear my head. Instead, those few days had been filled with chaos and drama. I was hoping to be able to send Locks on her way after one more night at the cabin so I could finally enjoy some time alone, but it seemed that was no longer in the cards for me.
My phone rang again, and I answered without looking at the screen, assuming it was Badger. “Prez,” Spazz said, “Couldn’t find anything solid with the name, but I got a hit on the picture you sent, and I’m not comfortable with where the search is taking me.”
After spending some time with Byte from the Croftridge chapter, Spazz rarely had issues hacking into anything. “Explain,” I ordered.
“The facial recognition software hit on a federal site, the FBI to be exact. I don’t know if I could even get into their site, but just trying could bring a world of trouble to our doorstep.”
“Okay, don’t go any further with the search. I’ll make some calls and see if I can get some answers through other channels. Thanks, Spazz.”
“No prob, Prez.”
Why in the hell would a picture of Locks hit on a site belonging to the FBI? I knew she was hiding something, but I never would have guessed it was anything worthy of federal attention.