Page 54 of Bear Strength

Hearing me say that, Adrian recognizes the urgency of the situation. He gets up, and puts the popcorn bowl down on the table.

“I’m ready,” he says.

“I wanna come, too!” Dominick shouts after us.

“It’s too dangerous, kid,” I tell him.

“She’s my mom!”

“And that’s why you need to let us handle this, so no one gets hurt, alright?” I’m not good at explaining things to kids, especially when the situation calls for urgency.

“If he says you need to stay, then stay. I would trust Mason with my life,” Adrian interferes, just in time.

Dominick sits back on the couch, feeling stupefied. I remember that feeling. That horrible feeling of knowingsomeone you love is in danger, but there is jack shit you can do about it.

“I promise we’ll bring her back, OK?” I add. He doesn’t reply.

On the way out, we stumble onto Rock. I instruct him to keep an eye on Dominick until we get back. In the meantime, Adrian and I jump on our motorbikes and rush over to Danica’s place. When we approach the house, I notice the door is ajar.

“They were here,” Adrian tells me.

He has his nose up in the air, like a hound dog. If anyone can find a lost person, it’s Adrian. Especially if it’s someone he spent time with. I shouldn’t be worried. But, I am. The open door confuses me. Why would they leave it like that? Unless they left in a hurry? And, if they left in a hurry, why weren’t they back at the house?

Adrian goes in first. I watch his back. He looks around, as if he’s here for the first time. Anything might be a clue for him.

“Anything?” I ask, impatient. He just shakes his head. Can’t rush a genius. I know that. But, the clock is ticking.

He starts climbing the stairs, and I follow. We try to switch on the lights. But, nothing works. He takes me to what seems to be Dominick’s room. A bra is left on the floor. A sweatshirt on the bed. The window is open. We both try to listen, to hear something, but there is only silence. Oppressive silence. Silence which mocks your inability to do something.

“She was here,” Adrian finally tells me.

“OK, we know that, but where is she now? And, where’s W?”

Adrian lifts his index finger in the air. I know it takes him time to do his magic, but this is taking too fucking long.

“He left,” he whispers.

“Who? W?”

“Yes,” Adrian nods.

“She was taken by someone else.”

“What!?” His words sear my brain in two. “Are you sure?? Are you fucking sure of what you’re saying??”

“Of course,” he nods again, calmly.

“So, where the Hell are they!?”

“He…” he pauses again, his nose making loud noises, breathing in deeply then exhaling, “smells like gas. Evap canister is defective.” He quickly turns back to the door. “He’s locked in a car trunk!”

I don’t say anything to that. The fact that one of my closest friends, someone I consider a brother, is in danger and I have no idea where he is, is killing me. My fists clench in anger. I feel like punching the fucking wall, but that’ll do no good. I’ll leave the punching for the bastard that caused all this. I’ll clean the fucking floor with him.

“Follow me,” Adrian tells me.

I do it, without a single doubt in my mind that he knows where he’s going, that he knows where Wagner is. If anyone can find him, it’s Adrian. Ever since the three of us got together, I’ve felt like we’re more than friends. We’re brothers in other ways than just what is considered by the term brother. I would lay my life down for either of them, and I know they would do the same. No holding back.

Adrian rushes out of the house, and I follow. His body is slim, moving through the darkness easily. You’d think you’d beat him easily in a fight, but you’d be wrong. He might not look strong, but he’s feisty and wiry, even though he doesn’t look it. He can take a punch better than many men out there, and still keep on his feet. You just can’t keep him down. To have that outlook on life, after everything he’s been through… I can’t even imagine. But, I consider myself goddamn lucky to have him on my side.

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