“Get out!” I screamed at our unwanted visitor, my voice cracking.
The woman put her hands up in the air, and her knobby fingers shook. “Jake, Bess. I know where Aly is.” Her words came out fast and rushed before we could slam the door in her face.
“Shut the fuck up, Shirley.” I stormed to the doorway and stood next to Bess, looming over the older woman I hated more than anyone, her red hair a reminder of who I was really missing. “Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me.”
Bess looked from Shirley to me, and her eyes widened. She laid a warning hand on my arm. “Calm down, Jake. Let’s hear what she has to say.”
Shirley braced herself against the doorjamb, her hand visibly trembling. Her chest heaved and her eyes filled with tears as she turned her weathered face up to me.
“You’re not going to be happy,” she said in a wobbly voice. “I was back to keeping an eye on you and Lane. A few days ago, I was watching Bess because I knew Lane was out of town. Then I saw you come out and give her the dog. The last few weeks, I’d been so happy to see you’d moved on with the redhead, buying her a dog and everything.”
Frustrated, I slammed my fist against the doorframe. “Shirley, none of this is telling me where my Aly is. Fucking get to it!”
Startled, she reared back and nearly lost her footing, but Bess braced her fall, holding her upright.
“S-she’s in the hospital,” Shirley stuttered, her eyes wide with fear. Of me. “Alive, but she’s there because I found her.”
Bess and I exchanged alarmed looks, then I glared back at Shirley. “What the hell?”
“Someone took her. Didn’t you hear me? I was keeping an eye on Bess because Lane’s away. When she met you at the rest stop, I followed her there. When I saw you two together, I was confused as to what was going on, so I tailed Bess.”
“The compact car was you?”
She nodded. “I saw you give the dog up, and was devastated. I thought you’d broken up with the red-haired girl, and I cried all the way to work. When I was covering the late-night shift at the diner, this woman came in all disheveled and used the bathroom to change. She came back out all dolled up in leather, makeup, and heels. I couldn’t help but take a look at her when she went outside, and I saw your girl—Aly—slumped in the passenger seat, her eyes closed.”
“Shirley,” I growled. “Spit it the fuck out.”
“I told my boss I was sick and left work to follow the woman. Once we stopped in front of this abandoned barn that sits way off a state road, I called my husband, Wayne, and gave him detailed directions, so he came to help. If I didn’t follow them, no one would’ve found the barn. It’s been abandoned since I’ve lived in the area, and that’s close to a decade. I don’t even think the teens use it to party anymore, it’s so hard to find.”
She paused for a second, and Bess twirled her hand in a hurry-up gesture.
“Anyway, poor Wayne had been so mad at me for sneaking around after you boys and watching you, but your girl was lucky I did in this case. Of course, Wayne wanted me to call the police, but I said no. I was going to be your hero, and I am! I stayed outside the barn, peeking in through cracks in those old wood walls. I could see Aly was hurt but alive, and I waited until the right time.”
Her face brightened with hope and her eyes sparkled with pride until I glared at her. She shrank back and continued in a rushed voice. “As soon as that other woman was taken away by a strange man—a big bald guy with a gun in his hand—I went right in. It was early morning, and there was Aly. I took her to the hospital and made sure she was okay. For you, Jake. I didn’t give them much to go on until I left to come here. This time, I was going to make everything right.”
I snatched my keys off the foyer table, ready to hightail it to my girl. “The local hospital?” I yelled. “Why didn’t you call the police? An ambulance? You’re not a fucking saint, Shirley, and you’re not God. You’re a sick bitch. You don’t get to decide when the police get involved and when they don’t. Like you did in the past.” My heart galloped in my chest, spit gathered in the corners of my mouth, and my head pounded with anger.
Shirley’s face crumpled. “There wasn’t time, Jake. I saved her. For you!”
“Stop with all the self-righteous crap. Where’s Aly? Are the police with her now? For Christ’s sake, Shirley, do you have to fuck with everyone’s lives?” My fists balled at my side and I could feel the veins bulging in my neck, my heart pushing blood through my body so hard, I could hear it whooshing in my ears.
Her hands twisted together as she stepped aside from the doorway. “She’s back in Pittsburgh. They Life-Flighted her there for surgery. She’s in a room now, and I’ve been sitting with her the whole time.”
Bess finally lost it. “Aly’s been gone for three whole days from what we can gather, and you’ve known where’s she’s been for a day and a half and didn’t think to tell anyone? We’ve been pulling our hair out, Jake is ready to tear my house down, and the police have turned up nothing,” she whispered through clenched teeth, shaking her head, her hands trembling. “I can’t believe it, Jake’s been crawling out of his skin, and you held the key to stop him.”
“I needed to make sure she was going to be all right,” Shirley said with a pathetic shrug.
Bess pulled up to her full height, nearly vibrating with fury. Her fists were bunched in front of her as if she was prepared to fight to the death. “Shirley, you are so messed up! You’re acting like this is nothing. You knew we were going frantic looking for Aly, and then you sit back and wait to come here? How dare you! And then you stand there shrugging as if it’s no big deal.”
“Please,” Shirley begged as tears spilled over her cheeks. “You have to understand. I didn’t want to cause Jake any more pain if Aly . . . died.”
“Died?” I roared. “Get the fuck out of here, Shirley! Thanks for finding Aly and deciding when I should know she’s alive. You’re pretty damn good at deciding what I should and shouldn’t say. Seems to me, it’s history repeating itself.” I shoved past her as I ran out the door.
“Jake, I just thought we could put that all behind us now!” Shirley called out after me.
“You’ve got to be fucking joking. No fucking way,” I snarled as I jumped into my truck, then looked back at Bess. “Come on, Bess,” I said as I started the truck.
Bess waved me off. “You go. I’ll follow after I call May and get her to help.”
Shirley looked between the two of us with a pathetic expression. “What about me?”
“Fuck off.” I slammed my truck door and peeled out of there.
Aly
Tears dripped off my chin onto my puke-green hospital gown as I lay in my hospital bed, my head spinning, confused. The doctor’s words still hadn’t settled.
“You’ve lost the lower half of your leg. Nothing we could do . . . tried everything, but too much damage . . . nerves, bones . . . clean amputation above the knee.”
A jumble of random words sifted through my mind. The words clean amputation were on repeat, but not fully registering.
Footsteps sounded in the hall, coming closer as the machine monitoring my pulse beeped. I blinked up at the man and woman in uniform who entered my room and stopped by my bed.
“Hi, ma’am, we’re . . .”
They were apparently with the police department. Their names could have been Cat and Dog or Tom and Jerry; it didn’t matter. Nothing was sinking in.
Clean amputation, clean amputation, clean amputation.
“Sorry to disturb you,” the female officer said, and I tried to focus on her next words, but failed. “The hospital reported you were here . . . a woman brought you in . . . and you’re finally awake after they saved your life. We’re here to help you.”
Nodding was all I could manage, so I bobbed my head once or twice.