One of Six (Den Hollows #1)

36. Beatrice

36

BEATRICE

I feel the silence in Essex and slowly turn to face him. An asshole is holding a gun to his head. My eyes slide to the man I love, and they swim with tears as fear rips through me. What the hell am I supposed to do to help him?

A hand grabs my hair, jerking my head back. "Get the phone. Call me when you have it and I will tell you where to bring it," Richard snarls.

I spit in his face and get a hard slap in the face. I'm scared and angry. I stomp on his foot, turn around and knee him in the balls before being grabbed from behind and lifted off my feet. "You killed my mom, you son of a bitch!" I continue to scream and claw at him until he smacks me across the face.

"Get the fuck off her," Essex shouts.

"Stop!" Richard pants. "You, get the fucking phone," he fumes, cradling his face where I managed to sink my nails. To Essex he says, "You're coming with us."

My mind spins, trying to come up with a plan to get us out of this mess. Nothing comes to mind.

"Bea, you know what to do. Go to Ed," Essex hisses as he's led past me.

I watch him go and feel helpless. What am I supposed to do? I need Ed and my... dad.

I run after them, just in time to see them pull away, their tires kicking up gravel.

With trembling fingers, I pull my phone from my back pocket and manage to call David. He answers sharply.

"Dad," I mumble, my voice shaking, "I need you."

I hear a rustling in the background. "Where are you?"

"North of Den Hollows. Along the coast. I'll send you a location pin. Richard and some thugs have taken Essex."

"I'm leaving town. I won't be long." Just before he ends the call, I hear sirens.

David stops near Essex's bike. I watch as a truck comes to a stop next to David's cruiser, kicking up dust. I don't see who else has arrived because I'm wrapped in David's arms. He holds me tight. "I lost ten years of my life when you said you needed me."

I pull away and kiss his cheek. "Promise me you won't be alone with those bastards. I know they're family and you want to trust them, but you can't. Richard has lost it. He's running."

"What the hell happened?" Ridge asks, standing next to Ed and two of his brothers, Atilio, and Boone.

I take a deep breath and say, "Richard showed up with three men. Essex said one of them was at the place you went to, Ed." Pause. "They want my mother's phone in exchange for Essex. I have to go get it."

"We need to copy it, so we have the original data," David says.

"As long as we make a dump of the phone first, Bea can give it to Richard." Ed says to me, "Elisabeth left you everything she had, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you can authorize the copy. Might be tricky in court without a warrant, but it's all we have at the moment."

"I'll do anything to end this and get Essex back," I say. "I have to go to the Redd house to get the phone." To Atilio, "Can you put Essex’s bike in the back of the truck? I don't want to leave it here."

"I'll ride it back. Don't worry," Boone says.

David is walking me to his car when Atilio stops me. "Firecracker, we'll get him back. Essex is a tough asshole."

I let out a laugh and nod. Once in the patrol car, I'm filled with a sense of relief that this is all going to work out. No other option is acceptable.

David says, “I’ll be okay, Bea. I promise."

"Do you trust your officers?"

He pauses.

“You need to stay with us. Ed has reinforcements here and some on speed-dial."

Nodding, he says, "I need to get the gun, then I'll come back."

"Can't you leave it where it is and get it when it's safe?"

"Things are moving too fast for me to keep up, Bea. I'm afraid I'll fuck it all up for you."

"You're not going to mess anything up because you have a daughter who wants to spend a lot of time with her father."

He looks away, but audibly swallows before patting my knee.

Pulling into the Redd yard, I climb out of the cruiser and run up to the WoodArt building. Galen is inside when I enter. He looks up with a frown, pulls off his goggles and face mask, and says, "I heard what happened. Are you okay?" He holds his arms out to me, and I accept the hug.

"I'll be fine once I get Essex back. I have to get my mom's phone. Essex hid it for me."

He gives me a puzzled look as I run over to the counter. Behind me, Galen mutters, "Ah!" as if it all makes sense now.

Using my phone as a guide, I open the drawers and doors and finally pull out the phone. "Are Ed and the others at the Beachcomber?"

"They're sleeping there, but still using Mom's office."

"Okay, thanks Galen." I hurry to the house, Galen coming up beside me.

As soon as I hand the phone to Ed, Harding gets to work making a copy. The laptop he is using looks fancy with all the code rushing across the screen.

He sees me watching and winks. "I'm adding spyware and a tracker they'll never find."

Ed says, "David told me you wanted him to stay put." He runs his hands through his hair. "He has some things to do first. I've got eyes on him, so don't worry."

"You do?"

"I promise my man has David's back."

I drop onto the sofa Ed leads me to and sink into the cushions, feeling bone tired. Guilt attacks me as my racing heart finally slows and I can think clearly. Essex is in this mess because of me.