Page 90 of Wrecked By You
The police interviewlasted thirty minutes. I guessed Nolen had exerted the enormous influence he had in this town to make them go easy on me, or maybe the evidence of self-defense was so overwhelming as to make it an open-and-shut case. Either way, I wasn’t complaining. All my focus needed to be on finding Ella, and that started with locating her husband.
Wincing as I shifted my weight—fuck, everything hurt—I reached for my phone on the nightstand and dialed the private detective who’d uncovered Ella’s real name. I’d asked him to dig a little deeper, and while I hadn’t heard from him, in my experience, applying pressure often garnered faster results.
Once again, my theory proved accurate. He had an address in Oklahoma and more information on the husband. Turned out he was the worst kind of human. A drug dealer, a murderer, and now a kidnapper. And he didn’t bother hiding it either, which led me to believe that he thought he was untouchable. He probably had the local and state police in his pocket and they left him alone to go about his business in return for huge wads of cash.
I hung up and navigated to Google Earth. Seconds later, an aerial view of a huge, walled-in compound appeared on the screen. Black dots surrounded the perimeter. Guards, I suspected. Getting Ella out of there with that amount of security would be virtually impossible. I couldn’t exactly hire a bunch of mercenaries to storm the place, all guns blazing. For one, that was illegal, and unlike her piece-of-shit husband, I stayed on the right side of the law. And for another, Ella or Chloe might get hurt.
Fuck. There has to be a way.
I refused to admit defeat. I’d never give up trying to get her back.
A tap came at my door, and Ginny’s face appeared, steeped in worry. I motioned to her.
“Come on in.”
A sound broke from her throat as she crossed to my bed. A sob. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Chloe was in my care and I… I…”
Comforting anyone, let alone an elderly lady I didn’t know all that well wasn’t a skill. But this woman mattered to Ella. Therefore, she mattered to me.
I patted her hand. “You couldn’t have stopped them. It’s not your fault.”
She gestured to my face. “Are you okay?”
I dismissed her concern with a shake of my head. “I’ll live. It’s nothing.”
“How will we find them?” Her chin wobbled.
“Oh I know where they are. Oklahoma.” I was certain enough in my assumption to state it as a fact. “Did you know she was married?”
Ginny gasped. “No. Although from the day I met her, I knew she was running from something. But she was so closed-off about it that I never pressed. I figured when she was ready, she’d tell me.”
“Same. Except I should have pushed harder. If I had, maybe her husband wouldn’t have been able to get to her.”
“So he took her against her will.” A statement, not a question.
“Yes.”
“Poor Ella,” she whispered.
“Do you need anything? Nolen said the doctor had checked you over.”
“I’m fine. A little shook up, that’s all. What I need is for you to bring them home, where they belong.”
“I will.” Although I hadn’t a clue how. “She ran from him for a reason. She wanted to be free.”
“Can’t the police do something? He can’t just kidnap her. That’s against the law.”
Yeah, but men like Mateo Fernandez didn’t abide by the law. I kept that thought to myself. There wasn’t any point in scaring Ginny.
“Try not to worry.” Easier said than done. I’d kept my voice calm while talking to Ginny, but my insides were fracturing, fear crawling into my veins and causing my heart to stutter. What if he hurt her? What if he hurt Chloe? What if I failed them even more than I’d failed them already?
“Do you want to go home?”
She nibbled her lip. “I should stay.”
“There’s nothing you can do here. Better to be surrounded by familiarity than holed up in a hotel room. I’ll keep you informed on what’s happening. I promise.”
She nodded and squeezed my arm. “It would be nice to go home.”