“Don’t cry, Erin. This is a big break for you here. We can only hope she can help us find him. Now come on, where is that strong woman from last night?”
She nods her head wordlessly and as soon as she heads towards the bathroom, my phone rings again. I look down at the screen and see it’s from Antonio.
“Hey,” I answer.
“Man, this is some good news,” he says.
“It sure is. I take it Luke called you, too?” I ask as I grab my ball cap and put it on my head.
“Yeah, he wanted me to come over to your house and stay while you guys were at the station so I told him no problem since I am already here.”
“What the fuck man? You’re downstairs?”
“We fell asleep on the couch, dude. Just wanted you to know I was here, man, so get the hell out of here and find that motherfucker.”
I pray like fuck she has some answers for us.
“By the way, Erin is going with me. I have no idea when we will be back so can you two take care of Sierra?”
“Shit you don’t even have to ask. Just keep me informed on what the hell is going on.”
“You know we will.”
“Thanks.”
My curiosity is a little piqued at the fact that Antonio is here, but I shuffle all those thoughts out of my mind as Erin exits the bathroom.
“I’ll be right back, just let me go tell Shelby real quick.” She starts for the door.
“Just to let you know, I talked to Antonio a minute ago. Luke called him and asked him to come over, but guess what? He stayed here last night.”
She spins around instantaneously at my words. “What? He stayed here? Holy shit!” A grin spreads across her face.
“He said they fell asleep on the couch, so I really don’t think anything happened.”
“I’m sure it didn’t, that’s not why I’m smiling. I’m smiling because my sister, as far as I know, has never spent the night with a guy before and despite what lies ahead of us today, that thrills the shit out of me.” Her eyes are sparkling as the early morning dawn starts to break. I just hope this hellhole we are about to walk into doesn’t take away her sparkle because man, she is sexy as fuck when her eyes light up like that.
Silence falls upon both of us as we pull into the police station. After parking next to Luke’s Range Rover, I help Erin out of the truck and we polish off the rest of the coffee we picked up at a drive through on the way over. Tossing our empty cups into the trash, I hold the door open and follow her inside. Luke is standing at the counter talking to the two cops who came to visit Erin at the hospital.
“Good morning, officers,” Erin says cheerfully.
“Morning, Ms. McIntyre. How are you?”
“I’m great, thank you.”
“She’ll be even better if you tell us you know where her ex is.” I cringe at the thought of that fucker even being called her ex.
“I wish we did. But now that Luke is here, maybe we can get some answers out of Ms. Welch. She hasn’t said a word to us since she got here,” says Officer Monroe.
“Are you saying she came here on her own?” I ask incredulously.
“That’s exactly what we’re saying. Now if you’ll excuse us, were on our way to question her right now.”
“Wait.” Erin reaches out and takes hold of Officer Monroe’s hand. “Can you at least tell me if she was hurt in any way, please?”
Officer Monroe’s expression turns from anxious to what looks like understanding.
“She hasn’t been hurt in away way physically that we can see, Ms. McIntyre.”
Erin’s shoulders slump and she lets out a breath I know she has been holding in for days because it feels like the same breath I have been holding in, too. We stand there and watch the three of them walk down the hall and enter a room. I guide Erin over to the chairs and as she lays her head on my shoulder and we sit there in silence, there is no doubt in my mind both of us are feeling the same relief over the fact that Tonya is here and she is unharmed.
Three fucking hours later Luke and the cops finally walk out of the room and approach us. It’s about damn time. Erin had to call and check up on Sierra and also call and cancel her lunch with Jen. I swear she has paced this floor more times than I can count. Erin grasps firmly onto my hand.
“She wants to talk to the two of you,” Luke says with caution.
“That’s fine,” says Erin, “But before we do, can you please tell me if she knows where he is? We having been sitting out here for three hours with no word from anyone and the lack of knowing is driving me crazy.”
I don’t like hearing the trepidation dripping from her voice. She has every right to know what the hell is going on.