Page 19 of Abigail
“Let me grab my wallet and keys,” Tank rumbles in his deep voice. He turns back into the room and grabs his things off the dresser. Putting his wallet in his back pocket, he then drops his keys into his right front pocket and meets Straw back at the door. The two men leave the room and head on down the hall. Straw stops and knocks on another door.
“You going to fill me in?” Tank enquires as they wait for Hack to answer his door. Straw chuckles as he thinks about the fact that Tank just blindly grabbed his stuff to follow Straw into whatever he is dragging them into without question, at least until curiosity got the better of him.
“I’d rather tell everyone at once,” Straw answers. “No need to tell this multiple times.” Tank nods his understanding and reaches for his cell. Straw looks over at his friend to enquire what he’s doing when Hack opens his door. Straw turns back to ask Hack to join them. He suppresses a chuckle when his eyes land on the man. Hack’s hair is sticking up at all angles and sleep still marring his face. He’s only partially dressed. No shirt, his jeans on and buttoned, but not zipped. The sight is highly comical, but Straw refrains from commenting. After all, it’s early on a Sunday morning. They are supposed to have the day off before they are slotted with meetings and trainings the next day.
“What the fuck?” Hack grumps when his eyes land on Straw and Tank. “You got any idea what time it is?” Hack glances down at his watch, and his face frowns even more. Straw notices that Hack seems to be guarding his room, the door barely open. Straw starts to push past his friend when Hack makes a hard stop on his progress.
“Respect, brother.” Hawk growls, shocking the shit out of Straw. “But you’re not coming in.” It dawns on Straw that perhaps his friend has a woman in his room, and he is sheltering her from them. Straw can respect that. Straw nods his understanding.
“Meet us down stairs in the lobby as soon as you can,” Straw tells him. Hack frowns and appears like he’s going to protest until they hear Tank’s phone conversation.
“Yeah, have everyone meet us in the lobby in ten. Straw has got some kind of shit going on,” Tanks says into the phone. “We need the whole team. Later.” Tank ends the call. Straw looks over at his absolute best friend and teammate. Straw doesn’t even need to tell him what the problem is about. Tank is all in no question. Straw is more than blessed. He will never take this for granted again. He looks back at Hack and some of Hack’s irritation eases. He glances back over his shoulder briefly before he replies, “Give me a bit to get things sorted,” Hack replies. “Then I’ll be there.” Straw gives him a nod and turns with Tank to head toward the bank of elevators just down the hall.
In less than ten minutes, most of the team has gathered in the lobby. Even the women have tagged along but have gathered on the other side of the lobby as if they instinctively understand that Straw might want some privacy, but he’d made a decision when he’d seen them getting off the elevators with their men. He needs all hands on deck, and that includes the women. They have a perspective that he nor his brothers have: a woman’s perspective. Abigail seems to have made friends with Charlotte, Lisa, Emma, Daisy, and Elise over the last week. Even though she has kept herself somewhat reserved, he has noticed she’s gotten more comfortable around the women.
He’s about to suggest the women join them so he only has to tell his story once, when he realizes not everyone is present. Straw looks around and notices that Hack has not yet arrived. He must still be trying to get his barfly out of his room, but the funny thing is, Straw hadn’t seen Hack anywhere near the bar last night. He again wonders who Hack has in his room, but he has more important things to worry about at the moment. The elevator dings drawing Straw’s attention. Hack exits the elevator with Charlotte’s long time best friend, Lisa. She looks royally pissed, again. She starts to walk toward the women when Hack reaches out taking her elbow in his hand gently. He says something to her as she glares at him. Hack looks uncomfortable but yet smug at the same time, if that is possible. Straw waits as Hack heads toward the men, and Lisa stiffly walks toward the women.
“Thanks everyone for getting up this early on a Sunday morning,” Straw begins. He pauses as he tries to think about how to begin. He needs the women with them first, so he turns to Hawk. “I want the women to hear this, too.” Hawk stares at him a beat before he turns, beating feet to his woman and her crew. While Hawk is talking to the women, Straw crosses the lobby to see if Brent has a conference room where they can have their talk. It doesn’t take much persuasion for Brent to hand him a key to a conference room, which will accommodate the large group. Straw crosses back to the group and leads them down the hall to the room. Once everyone is settled, he turns to face his friends.
“Like I told the guys, thank you all for getting up early for me,” Straw tells the women. He gets several smiles and nods. He should never doubt his friends have his back. He begins to wonder why he hasn’t already talked to them about this, but that’s in the past. Time to move forward. He has no time for regrets.
“I need to apologize and provide some explanation for my recent behavior.” Straw is cut off by Charlotte.
“Robert.” Her tone a reprimand. “You’ve already apologized, and we have forgiven you, so let that part go, but an explanation is welcome.” Straw gives her a nod. He sighs heavily to fortify himself for the secrets he’s about to divulge.
“I hope you can all wait to pass judgment until I can get all of this out,” Straw begins, “Some of what I’m going to say will sound crazy, and that’s a big reason I haven’t shared before now. Tank and I had a conversation the other night, and he reminded me that we are more than a team; we are family. Family will have your back no matter what, so I’m going to lay it all out on the line.”
Straw proceeds to tell his friends about his childhood, meeting the little brown headed girl, and then later seeing the news reports and that Abigail is the woman he saw on the news. He also discloses that he believes she is the little girl from his past. When he’s talked himself out, he waits with baited breath to see the response from his friends.
“What can we do to help?” Daisy asks. Straw looks up. Everyone is nodding their approval of the question. They are all in too. No questions asked. They aren’t accusing him of being crazy or obsessed over a girl he met nearly thirty years ago. Nope, not his family. They are rallying around him to provide whatever he needs to get to the bottom of the mystery of Abigail.
“Honestly, I’m not certain,” Straw answers truthfully. “She didn’t come to work today, and that has me concerned. Brent says she never calls off work, and even he is a little concerned that she hasn’t come in this morning. There’s more, but I may just be imaging it. I don’t know…” Straw trails off to contemplate the strange vibes he’d gotten last night at dinner when the Admiral had been at their table. Couple that with the knowledge that the Admiral had followed Abigail to her car and had a conversation with her before she drove away added to his concern. He quickly brings everyone up to speed and waits for their thoughts on the matter.
“Straw…” Hawk’s tone sent a chill down Straw’s spine. “I’ve known the Admiral many years and I think I have some information that will clear this up some for you. Now I don’t know all the details, but I do know the Admiral’s son was seriously injured around the time frame you are talking about. Additionally, his son’s girlfriend was believed to be the attacker. However, evidence they found at the scene indicated it was self-defense. She even called 911 before fleeing the scene with their infant daughter. She essentially saved the man’s life. He would’ve died if she hadn’t made that call.” Hawk’s story hit Straw like a ton of bricks. She’d been protecting herself and her child. Straw has always believed that Abigail is innocent of whatever happened all those years ago, but getting confirmation sends relief flooding through his system.
“There’s more,” Hawk continues, “Like I said I don’t know the details, but the Admiral’s son is doing time in a military prison over the evidence they found at the scene. The Admiral and his wife have been searching for their granddaughter all these years. While the Admiral didn’t give me the details, he did disclose that he was worried he’d never be able to find her, because what his son had done was unforgivable. His son was given a dishonorable discharge from the Navy.”
Silence hung heavy in the room. A dishonorable discharge is the ultimate slap in the face to a member of the military. They don’t hand those out lightly. The man had obviously done something heinous. Straw is floored by that revelation. Now he has to know what that sack of shit had done to his Abigail. Then he will find the asshole and beat the shit out of him. Straw doesn’t care if the man is in a military prison. He’ll break in if needed. He’ll make sure the fucker pays dearly for hurting his woman.
“Oh, poor Abigail,” Emma says sadly. “She must have been terrified. Being on the run all these years with her daughter. What do you need us to do, Straw?” Several other comments are vocalized in support. Just like that, his brothers and their women are ready to go to battle to help him. Straw is more than overwhelmed by the out pouring of support. Now he just needs to figure out what to do. He is racking his brain when Hawk speaks up again.
“Let me approach the Admiral,” Hawk says suddenly. “I don’t know if he will be receptive to talking to me about this, but if he’s spoken to Abigail, he might be thankful to have some backup when he speaks with her again.” Everyone is in agreement as they break up. Many of the group are heading off to get breakfast, but Straw and Tank join Hawk as he calls the Admiral.
“Lynnville,” Hawk begins when the call is answered. “I was hoping we could meet up this morning. There’s something important I need to discuss with you.” Straw is practically bouncing on his toes while he is waiting to hear the admiral’s response. Thankfully, Hawk has put his phone on speaker.
“I’m sorry Hawk. Now’s not a good time,” the Admiral replies. Straw feels his hope wane briefly, but he’s determined not to give up.
“Lynnville, I’ve got you on speaker,” Hawk informs him. “Straw and Tank are with me. We may have some information about your granddaughter.” The sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line could not be missed. The room is charged with electricity as they wait for the man to say something.
“Hawk,” the admiral begins. “I have utmost respect for you, but my granddaughter or her mother are not something I’m willing to discuss with you or anyone. I know that Straw seems to have some interest in Abigail, but he needs to back off. Let me take care of them. Please understand, this is my family.”
“Lynnville, I have a lot of respect for you, too,” Hawk answers. “But I know that whatever happened all those years ago was bad and it led to Abigail leaving South Carolina and apparently settling on the other side of the country. I know you haven’t seen or spoken to her since, until last night. You and I have talked about this several times. I’m not trying to get in your business, but you need to know that you have the full support of me and my men. Whatever you need to get your family back together.” The following silence was palpable. Straw can’t take it any longer.
“Sir,” Straw’s voice cracks as he begins, but he pushes forward. “Abigail isn’t at work, this morning. That has us concerned. I know you spoke with her last night in the parking lot. What did you say to her? Did you threaten her? Is she running again?” Straw’s voice breaks as he voices his worst fear: that she’ll run again, and he’ll be unable to find her. Hawk’s growl of disapproval at Straw questioning the admiral only temporarily made Straw feel bad for accusing the admiral, but he has to find Abigail before she runs again. He doesn’t care about the repercussions of his outburst.
“Son, I would never threaten that sweet woman,” the admiral’s tone has softened, surprising Straw immensely. “It’s a messy, complicated situation, but I assure you I don’t think she is running again. She agreed to meet with me this morning so we can talk about everything.” The man sighs as if the weight of the world is pressing down on him.
“We’d appreciate it if you’d let us know when you hear from her,” Hawk says. “Maybe that will calm Straw down a bit.”
