“Then I’ll go on my own. I’m ready to go to hell for that woman,” Archie said.
“Don’t claim you care more than me. You don’t.”
****
“Pass me a bottle of water,” said Gabe.
He’d been driving for hours, and the GPS said they were only ten minutes away from the Davenport towers. There had never been a reason to drive this far south. The noise, traffic, and concrete jungle surrounding their old pick-up truck were unnerving.
“Stop there,” Vinny said, pointing to a coffee shop at the corner.
Since Annalise had no clue they’d driven all the way here to rescue her, and they weren’t sure exactly where she was, they needed to regroup.
“Good evening, cowboys.” The waitress giggled after they entered the shop. It was past dinner hour, so the place wasn’t too busy.
“Can we get a table for the three of us?” Gabe asked.
“Sure thing. Follow me.”
Their waitress was busy flirting while everyone else in the place focused on staring. Were they that out of place in the city? It didn’t make sense. He was only wearing blue jeans, a navy t-shirt, and a plaid padded coat. Was it the boots? The hat?
“Something wrong with the way we’re dressed?” he asked the waitress once they were seated.
She smiled and twirled a lock of her hair around a finger. “You’re just very big boys.” She winked. “We usually get suits in here, not cowboys.”
They ordered coffee and began to talk about their next move.
“You should call her again,” Gabe said. “Get an update from her.”
“What if she wants to stay? What if his offer was too good to refuse?” Archie asked.
“Are you fucking dumb?” Vinny asked. “She was crying her heart out. No way does she want to be here.”
“We’ll lose the ranch.”
Archie and Vinny quieted once he spoke.
It was a fact, a sobering one, but they’d all agreed Annalise was worth it. Even if they had to live in a rented shack, as long as they had each other, they’d get by.
“Well, who could help us? I mean, there must be places that help the small guys. What if we go to the local news station with the truth?”
“Archie, I doubt a news station would want to go against Davenport,” Gabe said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if his company was a sponsor.”
“What if he had a tragic accident in the parking lot after work?” Vinny asked.
“Just stop,” Gabe said. “Call Annalise. We’re getting nowhere fast.”
He sipped on his coffee as Vinny made the call. His stomach was in knots with so many unknowns. He thrived on routine and security. This whole adventure was completely out of his comfort zone.
“How’s everything going?” Vinny asked after Annalise answered. He listened for a long stretch. “Tell me where you’re staying exactly. We’re coming to get you.” Another quiet spell.
Gabe had no clue what Annalise was saying yet. The suspense was killing him.
“We right around the corner, so there’s no backing out now, baby girl,” Vinny said. “Yeah. Okay. We can do that.”
After telling her how much he loved her, Vinny hung up the phone.
“Well?” Archie said.
“She’s real surprised we’re here. No one’s ever done anything like this for her.”
“And?”
“Tomorrow morning at nine thirty, she wants us to come and meet with her stepfather, give him our best case and see what he says.”
Gabe frowned. “That doesn’t seem right. She knows he won’t bend.”
“Well, maybe she’s desperate and hoping for a miracle. All I know is we can’t say no to her request.”
“We’ll be there. It’ll take every bit of willpower not to punch that stepfucker right in the face,” Gabe said.
“If the level-headed one is resorting to violence, we’re all doomed.” Vinny laughed.
Their situation was so fucked up it really was laughable. He’d never begged for anything in his life, and now he had to bow down to that piece-of-shit Davenport so he wouldn’t force Annalise to be his sex slave. How had this happened?
“We’ll have to get a room for the night,” Gabe said. “It’s getting late. Call the ranch hands and tell them we won’t be there in the morning.”
God willing, all four of them would be home enjoying one of Annalise’s dinners tomorrow. They’d laugh about all this bullshit and move on with the rest of their lives. But deep down, he wasn’t so certain of anything anymore.
Chapter Eleven
Archie didn’t like this. Everything in his body screamed for him to get as far away from all of this shit as possible, but he couldn’t leave without Annalise.
None of them had talked that morning. Each of them going through the motions as if their lives weren’t in the hands of an evil fucker.
Vinny looked ready to murder, while Gabe had been quieter than usual, which was really strange, seeing as he already wasn’t much of a talker. As for himself, he’d spent most of the night tossing and turning, waiting for the right answers to come and take him.
Nothing helped.
He didn’t know how to go up against a man with money and everyone in his pocket.
They arrived at a café in the city near their hotel. This one was so busy, and none of them stood out as they ordered some breakfast.
Archie sat at their table, sipping his hot coffee but not really tasting it. There was nothing to enjoy right now.
Everything rested in the hands of an obsessive man.
“You know, I was thinking,” Vinny said.
He turned toward his friend.
“Annalise has been on her own ever since she got out. She doesn’t strike me as a woman who would try to face this shit on her own. That means she told her mother, and the old bat didn’t do anything,” Vinny said.
“That’s a pretty big leap,” Gabe said.
“Do you see her calling her mother?” Archie asked. He’d already figured out that Annalise had tried to tell her mother what was happening and wasn’t heard. No one would just go straight to running away from their problems unless no one was willing to help. “She has no one.”
Gabe shook his head. “What kind of woman doesn’t believe their daughter? We’re jumping to conclusions.”
Archie shook his head and took another sip of the rancid coffee. Considering the price, he expected it to be like liquid gold or something. It was disgusting. He’d much rather be waking up with Annalise in his bed and waiting for her coffee to finish brewing.
He missed her so damn much.
“You know he’s not going to agree to us taking her,” Gabe said.
“I know.” This came from Vinny.
“It’s not going to stop us from trying,” Archie said.
Gabe sighed. “You know, I thought all women were the fucking same. They were only interested in causing trouble. I was happy to live alone, to not give any thought to what I was missing out on. Until you guys brought a new housekeeper home and nothing was ever the same.”
“Annalise has helped us all see what we were missing,” Archie said.