Leaving things the way I did with Cedric tonight was wrong. I know that it was selfish of me to kiss him back and then be with him, knowing how much he cares about me. But I also knew it may be the last time I see him, so I gave in. It was an amazing night, one I’ll never forget, and probably one that I’ll look back on every time I’m with Lowell for the rest of my miserable life.
Cedric
“We need to call the sheriff!” I tell my parents after the assholes leave with Evelyn.
“What’s the point, son?” my dad grits out. “Those men held us at gunpoint. They know where we live, but we don’t even know their names!”
“They took Evelyn!” I shout in outrage.
“She’s the reason they were here!” my mother remarks. “And I didn’t hear her protest when she left with them. In fact, she climbed on the back of his bike on her own free will.”
“No,” I say with an adamant shake of my head. “She’s been brainwashed. He’s blackmailing her, promising to give her money and shit to help her mother!”
“She’s bad news,” my dad mutters. “And I personally don’t want her to come around anymore if she’s going to bring friends like that to our front door!”
“It’s not her fault,” I say while rubbing my sore jaw, even though I’m not entirely sure that’s true. I feel like I’ve been blindsided, and the world has turned upside down in a matter of minutes. Everything was great and then…this?
“Are you okay?” my mom asks, placing her hand on my shoulder.
“I’m fine,” I say, shrugging her off. I hate the reminder of how weak I was in front of that asshole. I just stood there and let him kick my ass before he took Evelyn from me. Fuck, I can’t even imagine what she thought of me lying there on the floor like a pussy, unable to fight back or stand up to the dickhead with a gun.
“Then go to bed,” my mother tells me. “That’s all we can do now.”
“No, it’s not,” I argue before I storm back into my room to change into a pair of jeans and then put on my shoes and socks.
“Where are you going?” my dad asks from my doorway.
“The sheriff’s department.”
“Son, let it go. Let her go!”
“I can’t do that,” I tell him while shaking my head. “I won’t do that.”
Grabbing my phone and my keys, I start for the door, but he continues to block my path.
“Move!” I order him.
“You’re making a mistake and asking for trouble!” my dad says. “Do you want those men to come back here and hurt us or kill you?”
“I don’t have a choice,” I grit out.
“Sure you do. Sometimes you have to think with your head and not your heart.”
“That’s the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard,” I mutter before I shove him back out of the way so I can leave.
Evelyn is everything to me, and she’s in danger. Somehow, someway I will figure out how to save her.
It turns out that the sheriff doesn’t come into the station until around seven a.m. I found out the hard way after I sat my ass down in one of the plastic chairs in the lobby around two a.m. and waited for her, refusing to leave a message for her or to talk to any deputies. I’m going straight to the top of the chain of command for this rather than waste days or weeks getting the runaround from her staff.
I’ve called Evelyn over and over, but her phone kept going straight to voicemail until I had left so many messages for her to call me back that the mailbox is now full. Texting to get a response from her hasn’t worked either as they’ve all gone unanswered. I even called her mom, hating myself for bothering her in the middle of the night when she’s already got enough on her plate, but she didn’t answer the house phone any of the fifteen or so times I tried.
“I’m guessing you’re the one who has been waiting for me all night,” a commanding feminine voice says, startling me since I had nodded off.
“About time,” I mutter as I blink my eyes open and get to my feet in front of Jade Engle, our county’s pretty, yet hard-ass sheriff. Her auburn hair is pulled back, and she’s wearing an immaculate brown uniform while holding a cup of steaming coffee in her right hand.
“Look, kid, this isn’t the 7-Eleven,” she retorts sternly with her left hand propped on her hip, right next to the gun in her holster. “I can’t stay awake twenty-four seven to meet with any and everyone who walks in off the street. Even if I could, I have a husband and daughter at home.”
“Right. Sorry,” I mutter, tired and grouchy, snapping at her when I’m actually pissed at myself and need her help.
“Come on into my office and tell me what’s so important you had to sleep in my lobby,” she says as she leads the way, shutting the door behind me once we’re both inside. I take one of the two visitor chairs in front of her desk as she sits down in the high-back executive chair and takes a sip of her coffee. I assume she’s waiting for me to speak, so I do.
“I need to file a missing person report for Evelyn Young,” I start off.
“Okay, first, let’s start with your name.” She sits her coffee cup down to flip to a new page on the yellow legal pad in front of her before grabbing a pen to take notes.
“Cedric Crawford.”
“All right, Cedric. How old is Evelyn, and how is she related to you?”
“She’s eighteen, and we’re…friends.”
“How long has she been missing?” the sheriff asks while looking down at her note pad.
“Since last night. She’s with some deranged asshole, and I’m sure she’s in danger! I keep calling her, but she won’t answer her phone and I have no idea where he’s taken her!”
“Well,” she starts with a sigh when she puts the pen down to take another sip of her coffee. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but she’s an adult. And unless you have some sort of proof of foul play, our office doesn’t use our limited resources to track down girlfriends who don’t answer their phones.”
“It’s not like that!” I assure her. “She’s my best friend. We’ve been friends since we were ten, and this guy she’s with, he’s bad news! You need to find Evelyn and save her from those evil bastards!”
“And you don’t think she went with him of her own will?” the sheriff asks. I don’t immediately respond because I don’t want to lie to her, but at the same time, I think he’s fucked up her head. “That’s what I thought,” the sheriff says in response to my silence.
“Okay, so she didn’t exactly protest, but he did pick her up and carry her out of my house after they broke in! I know Evelyn, and she doesn’t really want to be with him. His name is Lowell, and he runs with some motorcycle gang.”
That information apparently has the sheriff perking up. “What motorcycle gang?” she demands.
“I don’t know.”
“Was he wearing a leather jacket with the sleeves cut off?”
“No, I didn’t see a leather jacket, but he was wearing a denim shirt with the sleeves cut off,” I tell her. I definitely remember that. A dude wearing double denim, jeans and jacket, always stands out.