Page 70 of Coming Home to You
I grab for it, turning the knob on the top, but I find the battery is dead.Once again defeated, yet I recall Beck rambled on and on about the capabilities of these stupid things.Telling me about some internal high-tech GPS tracking device that allows the walkie-talkie to be tracked up to fifty miles and something about being able to triangulate it with the other walkie-talkies to get an approximate location.I tuned him out, but now I have never been more grateful for his obsessive need to keep me safe or his attention to detail.
This might be the only thing that saves my life.I pray with everything in me that the battery on the walkie-talkie just went dead and Beck was able to track me using it.
Now, I just need to wait and hope I can fend off Jason’s advances for a little while longer.And if not, I’m going to need to fight.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Beck
The drive to Gloucester feels like it takes a lifetime, but we eventually pull into the police station in the center of town.I’m out of the car before Finn has even switched off the ignition.
“Beck,” he warns coming to join me.“Just take it easy, dude.We don’t wanna go in there and start bossing everyone around; this is their town.”
“Yeah,” I say, my voice harsh.“And that’s my girl he’s got.”
Finn exhales hard.“I know it is, okay?You think I don’t know that?This whole thing is driving me crazy too, Beck,” he says, running a rough hand through his hair.“It’s been going on for fucking months, getting progressively worse and worse and I just…” he trails off.“I just wish I’d fucking done something more, you know, that I’d locked this fucking asshole up or something.”
As I watch my brother unleash his frustrations, it occurs to me that all of this was going on before I even got to Rockport.The only reason I came up here at all is because this Jason guy decided to step things up a notch to the point that Finn decided to call me.I knew Finn and his team were already stretched thin trying to track this guy down, but he continued to outsmart all of us.And I also knew that Finn would blame himself for something like this.Rockport is his town and Kelsey is one of his people, even more so because of her connection to our family.
“Finn,” I say, turning to face him.“You know I don’t blame you for what’s happened here, don’t you?”Finn shrugs, but doesn’t say anything.“I don’t, bro.Really,” I say, walking towards him.“I’m the one who fucked up here.”
“Beck, you had to go back for that trial,” Finn says, cutting me off.
I run a hand through my hair, shaking my head at him.“That’s not what I meant, Finn,” I say.“If I’d never left Rockport in the first place, then none of this would have fucking happened.It’s my fault Kelsey’s in this situation, Finn.Not yours and not anyone else’s.Mine.”
Finn shakes his head as he steps closer and puts a hand on my arm.“Beck, you can’t beat yourself up about leaving,” he says, meeting my stare.“We all know why you had to go.She gets it, Beck, she really does.”
“I don’t know, Finn,” I say, letting out a hard breath.“None of this would be happening if I hadn’t.”
Finn stares at me for a few seconds.“Well, whether you want to blame yourself or not, nothing’s going to change the fact that ithashappened, okay?”he says.“And right now, the only thing we should be focusing on, is finding Kels and getting her back.Nothing else,” he adds, leveling me with a hard stare.
I nod and we turn and walk into the station.
The Gloucester Chief of Police is waiting for us and I watch as he and Finn smile and shake hands.The two of them are old friends.
“Tony, this is my brother, Beck,” Finn says, introducing us.“That’s his girl this fucker’s got.”
Tony nods at me as he shakes my hand.“And you’re a cop in Boston?”he asks, but there’s nothing in his question.No,this is my pool you’re pissing in now, so watch it, tone to it.
“That’s right,” I say.“This guy lives in Boston, although he has any number of identities on the go.She knew him as Jason Henderson, but apparently to you guys, he’s Tyson Carter?”
“Jesus, who the fuck is this guy?”Tony asks, shaking his head.
“An ex-cop,” I say, staring at him.“My partner found some dirt on him.He’s from Florida originally, moved up here when shit went bad.”
“Fuck,” Tony breathes out.“Well, let’s sit down and work out what we’ve got on him.Get a plan in place.”
We spend the next hour going over everything we have on this guy.It’s slow and frustrating and by the time I look up and realize the sun is coming up, I’m about ready to fucking punch something.
“You guys got any coffee?”I ask, standing and stretching my back.
“Yeah, help yourself,” Tony says.“Mike, get a fresh pot brewing,” he adds on, yelling to one of his officers.
I wave Mike off, needing something else to do while I go over the information we have, although so far, we basically have squat on this guy.The boat might be registered in Gloucester, but no one’s seen it since Rachel went missing nearly a year ago.Her family says the last time they saw her, was when she and Tyson went out for the day on it.Apparently she’d thought he was about to propose to her, some last ditch effort to get her back.
Rachel hadn’t wanted to go, but her mom had encouraged her.Said Tyson had always seemed like a nice man and maybe it was worth a shot.Unfortunately for Rachel, it doesn’t appear that was the case.She hasn’t been seen since, and her mom has been living with the guilt of sending her only daughter straight into the arms of a fucking psycho.
I knew exactly how she felt.
