After the Storm(100)
Sean immediately came to attention, but so did Donovan. He turned to Rusty, his expression brooking no argument. “Tell me,” he ordered.
Rusty sighed. “Some guy came into the hardware store this morning. Real smooth. Casual. Drives an expensive car. I got the license plate numbers so you can run them,” she said to Sean.
Sean nodded his approval, grudging respect in his eyes as he stared back at Rusty.
“What did he say?” Donovan demanded. “What did you tell him?”
“I’m getting to that,” Rusty said. “He looked completely out of place. Dressed in designer digs, you know? Expensive shades. Not a hair out of place. Looked styled, salon styled, I mean. And he had enough product to take a few layers off the ozone.”
Donovan simmered with impatience as he waited for her to get to the point.
“He asked real casual if I’d seen a woman and two kids, one a teenager and one a four-year-old. Called her by name. Called Travis and Cammie by name. Said that he was their father and that he was deeply concerned. That Eve was unstable and a danger not only to herself but to others, and that he feared what would happen if she wasn’t institutionalized and put back on her medication soon. Said he’d gotten a report that Travis had been spotted in the hardware store.”
Donovan frowned. Fuck. Not what he wanted to hear. He ran a hand through his hair and grimaced.
“I couldn’t very well deny that I’d seen Travis or he’d know I was lying,” Rusty said. “So I told him that yeah, a kid matching Travis’s description had come through several days before. Wanted to pick up a little extra cash so I hired him for a couple of days, paid him and then he split. I told him he didn’t show up for work and that I hadn’t seen him in days so I assumed he’d moved on. I even told the guy that he’d mentioned sisters because again, I didn’t want this guy suspicious that I was hiding anything. I figured if I was honest, I wouldn’t give him any reason to suspect that we were helping Eve, Travis and Cammie and that maybe he’d buy the story that they’d already left the area.”
“You played it smart, Rusty,” Donovan said.
Sean nodded. “You did the right thing. But I doubt I need to run the plates to figure out who he is. After what I dug up, it’s pretty obvious who he is.”
“What did you find?” Rusty asked, an anxious note to her voice.
Sean hesitated. “I’d rather not involve you, Rusty. I hate that you even had a run-in with this guy. You should have called me the minute he showed up. What if he’d hurt you? Or what if he hadn’t bought your story? You being alone with him in the store is bullshit. You ever pull a stunt like that again and I’ll tan your ass.”
Rusty snorted her displeasure. “I’m not a kid, Sean. I can handle it. And I want to know what kind of trouble they’re in. I like Travis a lot.”
Sean glanced at Donovan, and Donovan nodded that he should spill what he’d found out in front of Rusty. She needed to know what they were dealing with, especially if this asshole had already been to the hardware store. He would speak to his dad today and make damn sure that one of his brothers was there at the store and that Sean made regular drive-bys, and under no circumstances was Rusty to work the store alone anymore.
“It’s not good, Van,” Sean said. “She’s wanted for kidnapping. She’s reported as highly unstable. A history of mental illness and she’s believed to be a danger to herself and to Travis and Cammie. The father has gone public and it appears he has a lot of pull. He plays the grieving father very well. He lost his wife tragically and now he’s lost his children to a deranged woman.”
“What a load of bullshit,” Donovan said furiously.