Page 33 of Next Level
“We don’t have her yet, but we’re at the Port Angeles hotel. We’ve sent an undercover officer in to gather intelligence. We don’t want to spook the suspect if he does have her here.”
“Thank you. I’m on my way. Please keep me posted,” I plead.
“You’re welcome. You’ll be the first to know what we find,” the officer says.
Hanging up the phone, I turn and find Cherry already dressed. She’s pulling her hair back and gathering all our stuff.
“They found his car.” I grab my jeans.
“Let’s go,” Cherry says, handing me a shirt.
I grab her, give her a quick kiss, and say, “Thank you.”
She beams. “Let’s go get your girl.”
Christ. She is perfect.
The two-hour drive is mainly spent in silence. My mind is all over the place. An hour into the drive, the police called telling me they had my girl. Both Garrett and Jared were arrested and in custody. We’re headed to the police station, where they have Samantha. They told me she was unharmed and safe.
Unharmed, we’ll see, and until she is in my arms, she’s not safe. They say she doesn’t want to talk until I’m there. She’s upset and wants her dad. Since she’s a minor, they can’t really officially question her without me or her mom anyway.
I think I broke all the traffic speed limits getting here, but we’re finally in Port Angeles.
Cherry has been positive the whole way. She called her parents and let them know what was going on. They are in Arizona at their other house. They’ve been in contact with Cherry since the beginning. When they realized what was going on, they immediately reached out to the Arizona police, trying to get ahead of the situation so they wouldn’t come knocking on their door looking for him. They were going to wait to hear from Cherry before making a decision.
I called Brooke and Dawg as soon as I got off the phone with the officer, letting them know they’d found her and I’d reach out as soon as I had her.
My phone rings, and Tink’s name flashes on my cellphone. I press the answer button without thinking, and her voice booms through the truck’s speaker. “RayRay, is she okay? You got her yet?”
Not thinking about anything but my girl, I answer, “Not yet, but we just pulled into Port Angeles. I’ll call Dawg once I get her.”
“Okay. How are you? I’m worried about you.” Her voice is laced with concern.
By the look on Cherry’s face, I can tell she’s questioning this woman’s intent.
I smile at Cherry and answer, “I’m good. Once I get Sam in my arms, I’ll be better. But I gotta go.”
“Okay, just wanted to check in with you. Your ma and your bitch are here too.”
Fuck.Dawg must have called everyone with the news. Tamara and Tink are waiting at the same place, which is not good.
I shrug it off and answer, “Well, behave. No fighting in the club. I gotta go.”
Before hanging up, Tink says, “Sure thing, Ray. But I won’t make any promises.”
When the phone hangs up, the truck becomes quiet.
I want to explain who Tink and Tamara are, but I don’t know how. Does she care?
While I have all these things flying around my head, trying to figure out how to begin, Cherry decides to start the conversation.
“So, you do have someone back home.” Cherry’s voice is etched with mixed emotions.
I glance over at her and then back on the road. “Tink is a girl I grew up with and just recently hooked up with. Tamara is a girl I see occasionally. Neither of them is my girlfriend. I don’t have one person.”
“Should I be worried we’ve been bareback?” Apprehension is evident in her voice.
I snap my head, looking her in the eyes. “Fuck no. I haven’t been bareback since my baby mama. That’s the truth.”
