Page 216 of Forever Never
“This was my fault, Dad. I shouldn’t have left. I should have known it was a fucking trap.”
“Brick!” Chief Ford’s voice cut like a razor blade. “This is nobody’s fault but that motherfucking monster. Now both of you get your goddamn heads out of your sorry asses and figure out how to get my daughter back.”
Orders delivered, Darlene whipped out her phone. “Yeah, I’m gonna need that ambulance down here ASAP.”
Brick picked up the bloody towel he saw next to his father and pressed it to his father’s chest.
But his head and heart were already gone. He couldn’t stay here. He needed to tear this island apart. He needed to find Remi.
“Uncle Brick?”
“Hadley, don’t come out here,” Darlene snapped.
“Oh my God,” Kimber gasped, coming up behind her daughter and viewing the carnage. “Is he... Is that...”
Kyle grabbed her before she could step into the room.
“Hadley’s the one who was holding the towel on me,” William said with a note of pride. “Girl’s got one hell of a head on her shoulders. Told her I’d hire her as an investigator. After college of course.”
“Uncle Brick,” Hadley said, stomping her foot. “Aunt Remi knew I was here. She knew I was watching. I think she was giving me a message.”
“What did she say, Hadley?” Darlene asked, her voice calm. But her hands were shaking.
“First she said Uncle Brick was going to kick the man’s ass.”
“That’s true,” Brick promised her.
“He told her if she didn’t come quietly, he’d go through every bedroom upstairs and murder us one by one.”
“We’re all going to need therapy,” Kimber murmured into her husband’s chest.
“I’ll foot the bill,” Darlene volunteered.
“Then she asked him where he was going to take them,” Hadley continued.
“Where did he take them, Had?”
“We’ll tear this island from top to bottom to find them,” Darlene promised.
“They’re not on the island. He said he was going to take them to the mainland.”
“Jesus,” Darlene, looking pale, yanked her phone out of its holster again. “I’ll call St. Ignace and Mackinaw City.”
“Aunt Remi told him she had a friend with a boat she could borrow,” Hadley said.
Brick’s attention zeroed in on the little girl. “What friend, Hadley?” he asked.
“Eleanora Reedbottom,” she recited.
“I know where they’re going,” he said, standing up as he heard the wail of the siren. “I need the Marine Rescue.”
“Take it,” Darlene snapped. “I’ll make the calls. They’ll be ready for you.”
Brick paused and pointed at his father. “Don’t die on me, old man. I want you at the wedding.”
William’s pale face lit up. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Without another word, Brick sprinted for the door.
