I could also have one of the guys in the club use there skills to track it, but last thing I want to do is involve any of them in this. So I drove to see Barb, to see if she has any idea where Kami would go, and also because I have something to tell her.
I finally see her and a line of other inmates come in the room. She scans the tables, I’m sure expecting her daughter, but finding me instead. She quick walks to me, and I can tell immediately something’s wrong.
“Where’s Kami?” she asks, her voice frantic.
“I don’t know. We had an argument and she took off. I need to find her. I came to ask if you knew where she might have gone.”
“Oh my God.”
“Barb, what’s wrong?”
“My attorney was here this morning. She told me Drake escaped.”
“What?”
“Was it in the news? Did Kami see?”
“I don’t think so. Neither of us have watched the news lately.”
“Kami won’t answer her phone. I have to call collect from in here and without her to take the call, I can’t leave a message.”
“Where would she go?”
“I don’t know.” She goes to reach for me, but remembers we can’t touch, and pulls her hand back. “You have to find her. She’s in danger. Drake swore he’d get his revenge on me for cutting that deal and testifying against him. He’ll use Kami to do that. I know it.”
“Shit. Where does that friend of hers live? Mary Elizabeth.”
Barb shakes her head. “She hasn’t talked to Mary Elizabeth in years. She wouldn’t go there.”
“Actually, Kami has been spending time with her. They reconciled.”
“Really? That’s a good thing. Yes, maybe she would go there. Her family lives in the modern place at the end of our street.”
“Callaway Lane?”
“Yes.”
“Anywhere else? Your old place?”
She shakes her head. “They’ve probably padlocked the place, and there’s an alarm system.”
“IRS is probably not paying the service on that.”
“I don’t know. Maybe she’d try to get in our old house. I’m sure its sitting empty.” Her eyes are glassy with tears. “Please, Santos, you have to find her.”
“I will. I promise you.”
“What did you fight about?”
“Look, there’s another reason I came here. There are some things I need to tell you—some things I need to come clean with you about.”
She pulls back. “What?”
“I’m in love with Kami.”
“You are? But that’s wonderful. I had hopes, but—”
“There’s more. I’ve been prospecting with an MC—The Kings of Carnage, and I’m about to be patched in. Kami knows all that, and she wanted me anyway. I tried to tell her I was no good for her, that we come from two different worlds, but none of that mattered to her. She made me believe I am good enough. I love her. I need her, so I’m goin’ after her, and I’m gonna do everything I can to get her to give me another chance, because I can’t comprehend a life without her. I want you to know I’ll take care of her, and I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy. And believe it or not, she’s been happy with me. I know this all must sound crazy to you…”
“No. Not at all. I told Kami to find a man who’d stand with her through the bad times, not just the good. Who’d be there to face it all with her.” She nods her head. “You’re that man, Santos. Just you being here now proves that. Now, go find her. I’m terrified Drake will go looking for her.”
“I’ll find her. I swear to you.”
Five hours later, I pull onto Skidaway Island. Night has fallen, and it’s after 9 p.m. I can’t get in the gated community through the gate, so I park a distance away and go around it on foot in a remote wooded area. I come through a yard to the street and find the modern home at the end of Callaway Lane.
I go up and ring the bell.
Mary Elizabeth’s brother answers. He’s surprised to see me, but grins big, and shakes my hand. “Saint. How are you, man? What brings you here?”
“Hey, Joe. I’m looking for Kami. We had an argument, and she took off yesterday. I was hoping maybe she came here, or maybe Mary Elizabeth has heard from her.”
“Come on in. I’ll get my sister.”
I wait in a study, pacing, while he goes to fetch her. I check my phone for the millionth time, but there’s no message from Kami, and her phone is still off.
Mary Elizabeth and Joe return. She breezes in, looking concerned.
I whirl on her. “Have you heard from Kami?”
“No, I haven’t. Joe told me you two had a fight?”
“Yeah.” I run a hand over the back of my neck and pace some more. “She thought I didn’t want her, but that’s bullshit. I have to talk to her. I have to make her see it was all a misunderstanding.”
“Do you love her?”
“Yes. I know I’m no good for her, but I love her, and I need her. Did she call you?”
“No, I swear. I haven’t heard from her.”
“I went by the prison and saw her mom. I told her I love her daughter. She told me Drake escaped.”
“What? Oh, my God.”
“So, you haven’t seen it on the news?”
“I haven’t watched, I guess.” She bites her lip. “Shit. This is bad. If he finds her…”
“What? What do you think he’ll do? What is he capable of? I need to know what I’m dealing with here?”
“I just know I heard he was pulled from the courtroom, yelling he’d get Barb for what she did. And he knows Kami is everything to her.”
“Have you seen anybody at her old house? Do you think she’d go down there?”
“Maybe. If she is there, there’s a window in the basement. The alarm is jimmied so it’d never trip. It’s how she used to sneak out at night.”
“I’ve got to go check it out.”
“I’ll go with you,” Joe offers.
“Me, too,” Mary Elizabeth says.
“I’ll get some flashlights.” Joe disappears, and I’m left alone with Mary Elizabeth.
“You really love her, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“I’m glad. I think you two are great together.”
“Now I just need to remind her of that fact.”
“What’d you do to make her leave?”
“It’s complicated, but she saw this girl hanging on me and thought… Hell, don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t and I’m not interested in this girl. She’s nothing to me. I haven’t touched another girl since I married Kami. I swear it to you.”
“Okay. Let’s go find her.”
Joe returns and we head out, jogging down the road toward Kami’s old home.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Kami—
I’m up in my old room, only now it seems like a lifetime ago that I slept here. The house is completely empty now. I stand on the thick cream carpet, and stare around the built-in bookcases, bare of all books and the window seat. At least the cushion on it is still attached.