Page 21 of Four Times Saved

Tyler didn't answer. He looked at us in silence and that was even worse. I preferred him when he was speaking.

"I think what my friends are asking is..." Ethan cleared his throat and squirmed a little bit. "...What will you be expecting in return?"

"Yeah." I nodded, hoping he'd be encouraged to speak. It was a rephrasing of the same question and he hadn't answered either of the prior ones. My belly was twisted up in knots, but I wasn't going to talk myself out of accepting his offer. His help was the only thing available to us at the moment.

"Your type doesn't do anything for free." I added for good measure.

He chuckled. "I think you're forgetting the 'former' here."

Of course, I hadn't. But as I said, tomato, to-mah-to. You don't just stop being vicious once you leave that life behind. I think his laughing was meant to put us at ease, but it was failing. My hair was standing on edge, alert at the sound of it. It was the same laugh he'd had since I met him, but I didn't know anything about him then. When someone tells you that they're a murderer, it changes the way you look at them.

He stopped laughing when he noticed that none of us were laughing with him.

"Okay." He exhaled. "I guess you have no reason to trust me. And I can walk out of that door and pretend this conversation never happened. But just like I imagine all of you love Lily, I love my wife more than anything in this world. Even if you refuse to work with me, I'd still go and look for Lily. For her. Because I'd do anything for her. Now, all I'm offering is my help in finding Lily. Violence doesn't have to be a part of the deal.

But I know that if that was my wife who was missing, there would be no holding me back. Anyway, let me answer your question again. The only thing that's in it for me is my wife's happiness. Yes, it can be that simple. I don't want anything from you in return because I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for her. You understand me? I'm only here as a gesture and because I figured you'd want to be a part of finding your woman."

He looked at all of us, one by one and shook his head.

"What?" Matt crooked his brow at him.

He released a breath and chuckled once more. "It's just...I can't understand the whole four men and one woman thing. If another man even looked at my woman, I'd kill them. You must not love her that much which explains why you're second-guessing working with me." He got up to leave.

That's when I saw red. "Yeah, well, we're different." I faced him. As in, you're a murderer. We're not. You're probably possessive, we're not. Teaming up with you would be like making a deal with the devil. We tend to stay away from the devil.

"Yeah, we are." Eric backed me up. "But there's one thing we have in common. We all know what it's like to love one woman, to move the ends of the earth for her. So..." He took a deep breath. "We're in."

Me, Matt and Ethan flashed Eric an initial look. We are? Tyler looked at us with the same question on his face. Did we really want to team up with someone with dangerous ties who could end up endangering all of our lives, including Lily's in the long run? But with all things considered, and our options limited, we exchanged a nod of commitment.

"So, what now?" I asked.

Eric

"What are we doing, Eric?" Ryan groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Whatever we can to get Lily back," I responded. But even on my way over to Terry Thornbread's house, I was doubting whether or not working with Tyler was a good idea. I mean, I was glad we could locate both Terry and Marco. By sunrise, he'd shown up with her father's addresses. The man was able to find anyone. It was hella creepy. I was left thinking that it'd be a good idea to have some protection after all.

So I stopped to purchase a phone, had Ryan send me a picture of Lily and texted my parents, letting them know that I lost the information. I hated to get them directly involved and I hated myself for asking them to send that picture of Lily to their contacts, but I was out of my depth here. Working with Tyler could blow up in our faces. Besides, the more eyes out there searching for Lily, the better. To think I almost lost my life fighting with Matt on this and here I was, asking my parents for more help. How selfish was I?

I expected a frantic call from my parents with them freaking out, and me being filled with regret, but instead I got a short, reassuring text back. 'Don't worry. We'll handle it.'

There was no time to ponder what they meant as Ryan parked outside Terry Thornbread's house, or at least his girlfriend's. The wrinkle of worry that marred Ryan's forehead dissipated as his jaw set. He was getting out of the car and I was right behind him. His fury lit up my own.

"What are we gonna do? We have to think about this," I said as his fists banged on the front door as if he was going to break it down.

He didn't answer me and the longer he knocked without anyone coming to the door, the more hot air rose inside me. Ryan was fidgeting so much, he was like a rocket vibrating just before take-off. Any more delay and he'd be breaking the door off its hinges. At this point, I'd let him. Fuck the police. But we were saved from a breaking and entering charge when the door flew open.

"Yes?" An overweight woman with straight blond stringy hair frowned at us from the door.

"Where's Terry?" Ryan spat. I pulled him back as he stepped toward her.

She folded her arms across her braless bosoms resting on her stomach. "You the cops?" she asked.

"Why?" I narrowed my eyes at her, straightening myself up. The adrenaline and painkillers did the job of taking the pain away from my bruised ribs. "Are you expecting the cops?"

"Who the hell are you?" She scowled, deciding that we didn't pass for cops after her once over.

"We're friends of Lily," I said.

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