Exposed: Book 2 MAC Security Series (22 page)

“Yes,” he said, taking a seat next to his wife opposite us. “So what is all of this about?” he directed at me.

“We want to get a fuller picture about your daughter, her friends, that sort of thing. Anything you can think of that may help.”

They looked at each other, locking hands.

“She’s a good girl, top of her class.” John started. “She never gets into trouble and is always looked out for. We can’t understand why she was taken, or how. Who would do this?”

I gulped, not knowing what to say from here. How much was I even meant to say, was I allowed to say we had a suspect in mind?

“That’s what we’re trying to find out, John,” Ty said from behind me, his hand resting on my shoulder. It amazed me at how well he could read me.

They started to tell us more about Lindsey and showed us a photograph that was a couple of years old, explaining that they hadn’t had the money to buy them recently as John had lost his job. They told us that Lindsey only had two friends at school and provided us with their names.

“She wants to go to a good college,” Cynthia said. “That’s why she works so hard.”

Her sob brought a lump to my throat and no matter how many times I tried to clear it, nothing would work.

“Excuse me,” I croaked out and stood. I shook my head as Ty tried to follow me out. He needed to stay here and get as much information as he could. Not try and console me because I’d got emotional on the job.

Stepping out onto the little porch area, I leaned against the side of the house, trying to stop the tears that wanted to flow.

I couldn’t imagine what they were going through. The thought of Eli being taken from me tied me up in knots, and knowing what could potentially be happening to this girl didn’t make it any easier.

“Hey!” Flicking my eyes to the gate, I stared wide eyed at the group of guys that were stood there, the same group that were on the corner when we arrived. “Hey! Lady!” one of them shouted again. Gulping, I moved to the top of the steps.

“Can I help you?” I asked in a confident voice, surprising myself because on the inside I didn’t feel any of that confidence.

“You here to help find Lindsey?”

“Err…” Looking back at the house, I debated whether to run back inside, or answer him. “Yeah.”

“You any closer to finding my girl?” the tallest one who stood at the front said.

“Your girl?” I frowned.

“Did they not tell you?” He chuckled. “Of course they didn’t.” Rolling his eyes, he looked to his friends as they all started to talk at the same time.

“Wait,” I said stepping forward, not one of them hearing me. “Hey!” I said walking down the path.

The tallest one stopped talking and turned to me, his eyes wide.

“You and Lindsey are together?”

“Hell yeah we are.” His jaw clenched as he balled his fist up. “You ain’t gonna find anything out by speaking to them.” He pointed his tattooed hand at the house. I stared, trying to get a read on him. Since listening to my gut more, I was finding that I could actually read people better than I had thought I could.

He wore a big black jacket with jeans and a sweater underneath. All of the skin I could see was covered in tattoos, flowing up to his neck. His face was the only part that I could see that didn’t have them.

“Really? Why is that?” I asked, intrigued.

“’Cus she never fuckin’ stayed there. She lived with me.” He pointed at his chest with his thumb and raised a brow.

Frowning, I looked back at the house. It looked like the epitome of a perfect home for a child to grow up in. Perfect parents. Maybe too perfect.

“Listen,” he said, getting my attention. “I know that they’re telling you all this ‘we have a perfect life’ bullshit but that’s far from the case.”

Hearing the screen door slam against the house, I jumped and turned around. “Kay? Come over here.” Ty growled.

“Ty-”

“Kay,” he warned.

I turned back around to the group of guys and said, “What’s your name?”

“Josh.” He held his hand out and I placed mine inside of his. I hadn’t expected him to do that and it just showed that we judged people way too much.

“Ty?” I turned back around. “You’re going to want to hear this.”

He looked at all of the guys in turn and stepped forward, coming to stand beside me. His face masked with an expression that said ‘don’t mess with me.’ I almost giggled at how protective he was being.

“This is Josh.” I said, raising a brow. “Lindsey’s boyfriend.”

“Her boyfriend?”

“Yep.” I lifted up onto my toes and whispered in his ear. “I think we need to talk to him. There’s something not right here.”

“Yeah.” He looked down at me, a soft smile on his face. “They don’t seem right, too….”

“Perfect?”

“Yeah.” He nodded and turned to Josh. “Would you meet us in the park at the end of the street in ten?”

“Yeah, man, sure.”

Nodding at us, he walked off, all of the guys following him.

“Jesus, Kay. They could have been anyone,” I said as we walked back up the path to the house.

“They weren’t,” she said with a raised brow. “I’m telling you Ty, something isn’t right here. She doesn’t even live here, she lives with Josh.”

“Is that what he told you?” I asked, pulling the screen door open for her.

She nodded then said, “Watch this.”

She walked back into the main room and looked at John and Cynthia. “Mind if I go and have a look in Lindsey’s room?”

I kept my eyes on John and Cynthia as their faces paled, John stood up, his hands balling into fists. “No.”

Flicking my eyes to Charlie, I tried to tell him silently that something was up and from the way his brows rose, it looked like he saw it too.

“W…w…what he ...means is…” Cynthia looked at Kay and then to John, standing up and touching his arm. “She wouldn’t want her stuff to be touched.”

I raised my brows at them and turned to face Kay, she gave me a look that said, ‘told you so’.

“Right, okay,” I said and tilted my head at Kitty to come over to us. “Thanks for your time.”

Waving my hand to the door, I waited until Kitty and Kay were out and then followed them.

None of us said anything until we were in the car and I’d turned the engine on.

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked, leaning forward and popping his head in between me and Kay.

“Lindsey has a boyfriend,” Kay told him.

“We never knew of any boyfriend,” Charlie replied.

“Yeah, because they didn’t want you to know,” I said, looking at him in the mirror.

“What the fuck is going on here?” He leaned back, throwing his hands up in the air.

“We’re about to find out,” I said, pulling up to the park and spotting the group of guys sat on a couple of picnic benches.

“What are we doing here?”

“Bro, chill the fuck out and let us do our job,” I said, pulling my door open and tilting my head to Kay.

Charlie pulled his door open and I shook my head. “You’re staying here; they see a cop? They won’t talk.”

Huffing, he pulled the door closed and sat back, his face turned toward the window. I was sick and tired of all of his moods lately. He was getting worse than usual and was a complete nightmare to be around.

“Come on,” I said to Kay and jumped out of the truck, holding my hand out for her when she made her way around to my side.

“You do the talking,” I said. “He’s already opened up to you.”

“Okay.” She nodded in agreement.

I rubbed my thumb across the palm of her hand as we walked closer. Coming to a stop in front of them.

I stared at Josh and all the guys that he had scattered around the park. He waved his hand at the seat opposite him on the bench so Kay threw her leg over and sat down, while I stood behind her with my eyes scanning the whole park.

“Josh,” Kay said. “How about you start from the beginning?”

“Sure.” He shrugged with indifference.

I put my hand on my belt and pressed the button on my device. Over the years, I’d tried different things, especially with Evan always making up some new invention. This one was the best that I’d ever had, one press of a simple, concealed button and you could record any conversation. It was times like this, when you knew people didn’t want to have things noted down, that it came in useful.

“Lindsey has lived there since she was a little girl. Always looked out for her you know?” He looked around at all the guys. “We all have.”

“Okay.”

“I knew that something wasn’t right in that house since she was a kid. They were weird and always making her do shit that she didn’t want to do.”

“Do you know what kind of stuff?” Kay asked softly.

I looked down at Josh, his eyes told me that he knew. He knew what had gone on in that house but there was no way that he would tell us. Loyal to his girl. I respected him for that.

“Look, I know that it looks bad. Me and the good girl together. But I fuckin’ love her and some scumbag has taken her.”

I stepped closer the louder his voice got, it wasn’t that I thought he’d hurt Kay, I just didn’t want a situation on my hands.

“Her dad is a fuckin’ weirdo and in bed with some seriously fucked up people. The only reason he called the cops in the first place is because I went around and demanded he tell me where she was.”

“You said that she lives with you?” I asked.

“Yeah, man, she has since she was fifteen.”

“And where is it that you live?”

“What do you wanna know that for?” Josh stood up, the guys he was with flanking him on either side.

I raised my brows at him. It didn’t matter how many of them that were here, they still wouldn’t be able to hurt me. “You wanna know when we find Lindsey?” I said, stepping forwards.

“Fuck, yeah,” he growled.

“Then we need to know how to get in touch with you.” I tapped Kay on the shoulder, silently telling her to stand up.

“Oh.” He frowned. “Does this mean that you believe me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I smirked.

“Shit, I dunno. ‘Cus I’m me?”

I took another step closer, only the table separating us as I looked him straight in the eyes.

“Know what I think?” I said, waiting for him to acknowledge me. “I think that you’re doing your best to protect the girl you love.” I shrugged. “There’s no shame in that.”

“Yeah, man. I just want her back home.”

I nodded, fully understanding him and listened as he told us how we could get in touch with him.

I smiled at Kay, pleased that she had suggested coming to see the parents. If we hadn’t have come here, then we wouldn’t have found out what we have. One thing was for sure, we had some more digging to do.