Chapter Twenty-One

JD should have been here half an hour ago, her phone keeps going to voicemail every time we try to ring her. We called Chloe to see if she stopped by to see her but she hasn’t heard from her either. Chloe is with Echo, he has offered to go see what’s happening and call us back but her house is half an hour from his.

Maximus is spiralling and Levi is trying to keep him calm as Rocky paces the room in circles.

“Maybe she was caught up at home and hasn’t left yet?” Mercer asks, offering a possible solution.

“She was supposed to be leaving almost four hours ago now. She wouldn’t not update us if she was running late. We are missing something.” Levi says and I realize he is right.

Mac walks through the front door of my house and comes to join us. “Any news yet?”

“Nope, nothing.” I murmur as my shoulders slump. We had to call him to get Chloe’s number.

“Let’s just go to her house and find her, damn it!” Mercer demands, slamming his hands on the coffee table.

“What good will that do if she’s on her way? Chloe and Echo should be at her house any minute now. We need to be patient and wait,” I say calmly, there is no point in overreacting. There will be a perfectly good reason for why she is late, there has to be.

Levi’s phone rings, the tone echoing in the room. He answers and puts it on speaker phone.

“What’s going on, is she there?” he asks.

“I...it’s.”

“Just tell us,” Mercer snaps as Chloe starts to cry; she sounds completely heartbroken.

“You best pull up bro, Chloe is doing you a favour. B has been sent back to the hospital.”

“She what?” I demand, not meaning to use that kind of tone.

“Her brother said she had another episode and that there are things you don’t know about B. Apparently she has multiple personality disorder and they found her wandering around confused about where she was.”

“That’s bullshit,” Rocky states.

“I know, her uncle would have told me. Something isn’t right. I’m going to message him and get some answers. Give me an hour.” Echo says, worry evident in his voice. They’re friends and I can see he cares for her, even if none of us get it.

“Thank you, let us know when you hear something.” Levi says ending the call.

He throws his phone on the couch and Maximus starts rocking, his breathing is erratic. Rocky races into the kitchen; we keep paper bags in the medicine cabinet. He comes back and hands it to Levi. We all stand back and let them do their thing.

I got her out of there once and I’ll find a way to do it again if I have to. Just right now I don’t know how I can make that happen.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Mercer whispers, placing his hand on my shoulder. “We will get this straightened out. We just need to get in contact with her father...My dad, he spoke with him on the phone.”

Mercer pulls out his phone and walks away to call his dad. Lets just hope that Carson can reach him.

Levi manages to get Maximus calmed down, but he can’t stop crying.

I storm out of the room, my anger boiling and he doesn’t need me to send him into another melt down.

I throw a punch at the wall, the drywall shattering under the pressure. This is all my damn fault, I shouldn’t have left her to have dinner with the guys one last time. She would have been fine. We would have been weeks away from returning, but now she is gone, all because I couldn’t leave without seeing them before we left. We had something special planned for Maximus’s birthday tomorrow and now this has happened.

Mercer comes into the kitchen. “Any luck?” I ask and he shakes his head no.

“He said his phone goes straight to voicemail but he’ll keep trying and let us know if he gets a hold of him.”

“This is all my fault,” I say, running my hands through my hair.

“Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way this is your fault. We’re missing something and need to figure it out. Her father seemed fine with our plans.”

“Maybe you’re right but if we had just left, she would’ve been safe.”

“You don’t know that Rory. Someone was clearly out to hurt her and she was no closer to figuring that out. They could have followed you and hurt you both. Let’s just keep a level head until we know what’s going on.”

I nod and we head back into the lounge room, where we all anxiously wait for news.

Hours pass and we have heard nothing. No one answers their phones. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway has us all racing towards the front door. My heart beats frantically, hoping that it’s her and everything will be okay. Rocky pulls the door open and my heart sinks, it’s Echo and a sleek black SUV behind him.

Echo, Chloe and Mossy jump out of his car while JD’s uncle Jarva and two huge men with guns get out of his.

We let them inside and all gather back in the living room.

“Boys I have tried to get hold of my brother but his phone is still off, his flight hasn’t landed yet. My sister-in-law is a bitch and isn’t forthcoming with information and until I speak with my brother I can’t do anything rash. Bristol is back in the hospital but I have no power there. Bristol, being a minor, means I have no say in what happens. I have my solicitor looking into ways we can fix this but it takes time.”

“And what do we owe you for this information?” I snap, even if it means my ass gets shot.

“Believe it or not boy, Bristol means the world to me. I might work on favours but this is different, my niece is not mentally ill. She may have no memories but there is something going on. First Milo and now her. Someone is keeping something from me and I don’t like secrets within my family.”

“There has to be something we can do. Can we get a message to her, to let her know we are coming for her?” Rocky asks as an idea forms in my mind.

“What about my mum? She is still a patient there.”

Mercer scoffs. “She hates JD and is unlikely to do a favour for the son who kicked her out of her own house.”

“No, but she does like Cindy.” I say, arching my brow.

“Another bitch who hates JD and used her help against us from the last time.” Levi adds.

“I have to at least try.” I say.

“Go and find her, keep your phone on you and don’t do anything reckless.” Chloe says as if she knows me. I’m sure JD has spoken to her about us. I nod, turning and strolling through the door to my car. I dial Cindy as I walk.

“Hello stranger, long time no talk. What can I do for you?”

“Are you home? I need to talk to you Cin.”

She knows me, as much of a bitch as she is, she knows what my life is like, hers isn’t any better.

“Yes, come straight up when you get here.”

I end the call, jump into my car and peel out of the driveway towards her house. She doesn't live far from me and I’m pulling into her long driveway before I know it. I don’t bother parking, I leave my car on the grass by the stairs. If her parents are home they will probably shit kittens but I don’t care.

I take the stairs to Cindy’s wing, two at a time. Her door is open and she sits on her bed painting her nails.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“No, and I need your help.”

“Rory, the last time you needed my help....”

“I know and that is what friends do for each other. I have been that person for you for years Cin and you know it, drop the bitch act. You know as well as I do that we’re only friends,” I explain, using air quotes to add extra emphasis on the word friends. “That we have no spark. You never wanted to be with me, you have your sights on bigger and better things. I hate this world where you love it. I would give my money to charity before I turned into my father.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just hard thinking that it was going to be us and then everything changed. What do you need me to do?”

I run her through what happened and that I really need her to call and book in to see my mother as soon as they will let her. She agrees to help but warns that my mother still isn’t happy about us not being together and engaged by now. She agrees to lie if she has to, to get the message across.

I sit and wait while Cindy makes the call, it’s too late to visit today but I hope that she can get an appointment for the morning. I twiddle my thumbs as she talks to someone that she clearly knows.

“Thank you so much Mallory, I know it’s late notice but she sounded so upset when we spoke earlier that I wanted to surprise her.”

She hangs up the phone and smiles. “I can visit as soon as they open in the morning, but you owe me Rory, that means I have to wake up super early.” She groans dramatically as I roll my eyes.

“Well now that you mention it, I need an invite to an event that even our wealth can’t buy but people in her circle would get. Find me a date.”

“To where?” I ask.

“There’s a small list, I’ll send them to you.” she says with a super sweet smile.

I agree to her demands and tell her I will send her what we want her to pass on to my mother and she better be convincing if she wants me to hold up my end of the bargain.

By the time I get back to my house everyone is waiting. I fill them in and Jarva promises to get her family invited to all the events she wants and that he will even pull strings with the most wealthy families to get the right dates on her arms.

Me and the guys gather in the kitchen and come up with a simple message to get to JD. It can’t be too long or complicated. So we settle on something simple.

Sit tight, we’re coming for you.

JD’s uncle is the first to leave, he promises to continue to do what he can on his end.

Echo, Mossy and Chloe hang around for a while but when there is nothing for them to do they all head out. It’s a long drive back and we just need some time to ourselves, to process what the hell is going on.

I order some food, not that anyone is likely to eat anything but at least there will be something here if they do decide to.

Mercer switches on the tv and we all sit around mindlessly, no one saying anything. All of us numb being in the dark, not knowing if she really is ill or if it’s all tied to her lost memories.

All we want is answers and I’m hoping her uncle can find out something by the morning.