Page 150 of Always Be an Us

"It's Rick." He finally admits in a breath. "He's the one behind it."

I suspected as much but it's still crazy to hear it.

“Is Poppy involved?”He shakes his head. “No. She knows nothing about this. Those were my gloves, but I took them off because I cut myself pretty bad with garden scissors while pruning her hedges. I put them in my pocket before I went to the Pink Hotel, but they must have fallen out when I got there.”

That explains the blood on them.

"Where is Rick?"

"I don't know. But I don’t think he’ll hurt your daughter. This isn’t how any of this was supposed to go. We just wanted the Pearls back and we wanted you to just leave the Pink Hotel alone."

"Why? Why was the hotel so important?"

"It was the only site with Pearls left. In the lake, or sometimes deep underground we could find a good number of them. And it was also a great hiding spot because people rarely ever went there."

So they were fetching those pearls at the Pink Lake. I should have known. The ones Nate dropped were probably freshly fetched, which is why the sack was damp. All those times I thought I heard sounds in the bushes, the times I felt a presence around.

It wasn't ghosts. Just thieves.

"You should have just asked for the damn pearls back."

"Rick was afraid you would ask too many questions," he says. "And he thought you may not give it back to us if you found out how valuable they are."

"So I was right about everything I said concerning their value?"

He nods misery in every line of his face. "Yeah, pretty much. Except we're not the ones putting the pearls on the black market. There are these guys Rick meets with...they're kinda dangerous but he does business with them. They’re obsessed with the pearls, especially the Pink Pearl. They think the missing Pink Pearl from all those years ago is still somewhere in town, and that Rick knows something about it.

"They've been trying to make Rick tell them more about it, and also to make him give up the source of the Pearls themselves so they can cut him out entirely, but Rick caught on and has been keeping them at bay. But without these pearls, it put him in a tough spot. That's why Rick asked that other guy to come back, to help get the pearls from Emma."

"That guy...Xavier?"

He nods again then turns to Emma. "You were supposed to fall in love with him again and he would use that to figure out where you kept Rick's pearls."

"That's ridiculous," Emma sounds downright offended at the possibility. "I would never fall in love with him again."

"Never mind that," I say. "Where has Rick taken my daughter?"

"I don’t know. My guess is probably at his cabin up in the woods. It's where we would meet up. It's also where he stashes the pearls sometimes and that's where he meets the buyers too."

That makes sense, given how Emma and I found two Rainbow Pearls while we were up there.

"Rick won't hurt the girl," Nate says. "He just wants the pearls back."

I want to believe that, but I don’t trust this Rick bastard any more than I can throw him, especially given his involvement with the so-called dangerous business partners. Someone willing to go this far for money isn't going to give a damn about protecting my family.

But Nate seems to have told me all he can, which leaves me to plan what to do next.I turn to Officer Jensen, who instantly nods and goes to his desk. "I’ll get my gun and go check it out.""No." Even though I appreciate the Officer’s help, the older man will only slow me down. He’ll likely insist on following proper procedure and waiting for backup, which I may not have time for.

Besides, I need someone here with Emma in the meantime.

"Just be on standby for now," I tell Jensen. "I need to observe what the situation is like, check if Rick did take my daughter to his cabin. I’ll call you when I know for sure."

"Son, this is a job for cops not civilians.""She’s my daughter," I bite out. "And one wrong move could mean the end of her life. I won’t risk it."Jensen looks like he wants to argue, but then finally sighs. "Fine. I’ll do it your way for now. In the meantime, I’ll try to get some people from Bellamy down here. We need all the help we can get.""Thanks," I say. "I’ll call you the instant I get a read of the situation."

"Still," Emma points out with fear in her eyes. "You should take someone with you."I nod. "You’re right." I instantly call Cross.

"Still tailing him?" I ask.

"Yeah. He hasn’t done anything yet. He’s just been making a bunch of phone calls."

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