Page 77 of Rough Stock
Shyanna let her mouth drop open and gasped, feigning surprise. “Hey, I know! I’m going to email the pics I took of this room to that detective who talked to me! And then I’m going toemail them to Zesser Pharmaceuticals. I’m sure they have some kind of connection with the DEA and the FBI.”
“I swear to god, if I knew where this Strader guy was, I’d tell you,” Bergman whined. “Barlow,TELL THEM!” he screamed.
“You really should listen to your nerdy friend over there. Two pills or a shot to the knee, Barlow. Here we go,” Shyanna said, then stepped back and pointed to Amos. He reached for Max’s nose.
Shyanna watched Max look around the room, at her, at Amos and Amber and SammyJo with her Glock, at Bergman, and at the boxes, boxes, and more boxes of illegal narcotics. To her delight, he seemed to deflate. “Okay, okay. Stop. I’ll tell you.”
“Let’s hear it!” Shyanna barked.
He let out a long sigh, and she could tell whatever he was about to say, it would be the truth. “You know where the cops found his trailer and his truck?” She nodded. “About halfway between there. There’s a place where the side of the road drops off, kinda like a little bluff, and?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Shyanna said and shoved the shotgun’s barrel under his chin again. “I should kill you just for the hell of it, but let me tell you right now?if I go out there and I can’t find him, or he’s dead, what happens to you next will be written about in every college criminology textbook for the next hundred years.”
“I’m not lying!” Max screamed. “He’s out there… somewhere!”
Shyanna marched to the door and motioned for the other three to come close. “Amos, I need you to go with me. I need your car, Amber.” Without hesitation, the little brunette handed Shyanna her keys. “Here’s the plan,” she whispered as their heads met. “Amos and I will go get him. If we find him, and we’dbetterfind him,” she hissed, “I’ll call one of you. When you get that call, get the hell out of here because my next call will be tothe cops.” Shyanna glanced around the room, then reached to the little desk by the door, grabbed a notepad and a pencil, and began to write furiously with the pad braced on the wall. Pleased with her work, she pulled the pages off, folded them in half, and handed them to Amber. “If I call and tell you to leave, leave this note behind. And tape up Bergman before you go.”
“Got it,” Amber whispered.
“Good. And thanks to both of you. When you leave, head east. I saw a sign that said ‘hospital’ down there. That’s where we’ll be going.” Looking back at the two assholes across the room, Shyanna sighed. “We’ll call as soon as we can. Amos, let’s get a move-on.” As she stormed toward the door, she heard the sound of a kiss behind her and knew Amos and Amber had said a quick goodbye. Settled in Amber’s car, she put down the window and the red haired girl in SammyJo’s car did the same. “Sit tight,” she barked, and the girl nodded. “They’ll be out in a bit.”
“Good luck, MissOwens,” the girl called back.
Shyanna couldn’t help but give her a tiny smile. “That’s Shy to you. Gretchen, right?” The girl nodded. “Thanks, Gretchen.” Amos waved as they drove away, but all Shyanna had on her mind was getting on the road.
Amber’s little car flew down the highway, motor humming as Shyanna pushed it harder. Jensen’s trailer was still sitting on the side of the road, and that gave her some idea where they should start looking. Slowing to a crawl, she told Amos, “Notice everything. Anything that looks out of place. Anywhere there’s a gap in trash along the side of the road, or it looks like grass has been pressed down.” Barely over idle speed, Shyanna held the car back as they stared and she prayed they’d find something?anything?that would give them a clue to where Jensen was. “There’s an area up here where there’s a drop-off,” Amos announced, pointing ahead.
“See anything?” she asked.
“Not a thing.” She kept driving and in just a few minutes, she came upon a place in the road where the fluorescent marker paint was still bright. “Shit. We’ve gone too far. We’ve gotta double back.”
“Let me out,” Amos said.
“What?”
“Let me out. I’m gonna walk it. You follow me,” he said, throwing the door open before the car even rolled to a stop. She watched as he ran to the other side of the road and walked along the edge of the pavement, staring over the side. The distance back to the trailer seemed like a million miles, and Shyanna held her breath. If they didn’t find him there, they had nowhere else to look.
They’d made it about halfway back to the trailer when they reached the area of the drop-off. Amos slowed and so did Shyanna. After a couple of minutes, she parked the car on the shoulder of the other side of the road and got out. “See anything?” she asked Amos as she approached him.
“Not a thing. Nothing. I think Max was?”
“What was that?” Shyanna whispered. “Listen.”
They stilled. “I don’t hear anything,” Amos whispered back.
“JENSEN!” Shyanna bellowed. “Jensen, it’s Shy! Are you out here somewhere? Say something, baby!” There was silence.
“I don’t?” Amos started.
“There it is again!JENSEN!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Where are you?”
As they stood, Amos’s mouth fell open. “I hear it! Jensen!” he called loudly.
That time, the moan that drifted upward toward them was unmistakable. “Oh my god! He’s down there!”
“Come on!” Amos yelled and headed down the road at a dead run. Ten yards away, a little break in the brush led to a concrete drainage channel about two feet wide, and they followed it asit meandered down the side of the drop in a westerly direction. Shyanna tripped on a rock and broke her fall with a hand on the ground. That was the moment she caught sight of him.
Battered and bleeding, still bound in the duct tape around his wrists, ankles, and across his mouth, Jensen squirmed just a little and Shyanna couldn’t hold back the tears. Barely able to see through them, she and Amos picked their way across the rest of the distance, climbed up a few rocks, and found themselves on a tiny ledge where he lay, eyes closed. “Baby? It’s me. It’s Shy.” The edge of the tape over his mouth had come loose and she grabbed it and peeled it off carefully. “Jensen? Talk to me, babe. Please?”
