Completion - Chapter 234

The inside of my father’s home was a crime scene. We sat on the couch in the front room away from the forensic team that arrived a few minutes before. The media camped at the gates added to the growing chaos.

Even knowing Ty would eventually call, I jumped when my cell phone chirped. The display read “Unknown.” My fingers trembled as I picked it up and answered, “Hello, Ty, or should I call you Leo?”

His husky laugh sent goose bumps across my arms. “I told you not to call the police. You wouldn’t listen and you’ll pay for disobedience.”

My voice remained steady. “It wasn’t me. You killed your mother, so what exactly did you expect? She worked for my dad for over thirty years. One plus one equals two, Leo.” Fuller and Brack told me not to push him too hard. I had to make him believe I hadn’t gone to the police, though.

“My mother had cancer and it was eating away at her. I did her a favor. She didn’t walk in God’s light. By making her repent and then killing her God may show mercy.”

He was fucking crazy.

I took a steadying breath. “Please don’t hurt my father, Leo. He was always good to you and to your mother.”

“The senator is fine- for now. Who’s with you?”

I looked at the two men sitting beside me. “Detective Fuller and Brack Jacobs.”

“If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die.” Ty’s eerie voice sent another round of shivers across my skin.

I stupidly tried reasoning with him. “When I found out it was you, I remembered our marriage. I was what, five?”

He kept his same low creepy voice when he answered, “You said, ‘I do.’”

“I remember that, but how can you punish me for something that happened when I was a young child? I cared about you, Leo.”

“Lies. You never thought about me again. Every word you swore to was a lie.”

He was angry now and I was losing him. I had to change it somehow. I lowered my voice adding a soothing quality. “I was five years old. I’m twenty-five now. Help me repent. I’m worried for your soul.”

Heavy breathing sounded in my ear. I almost gave up on his answer, so it startled me when he finally spoke again. “Can they hear me?”

I stood and walked several feet away from Brack and Fuller. Brack’s eyes burned with irritation. “No, not now.”

“You remember the trip my mother took us on before I was sent away?”

A trip? My mind swirled back in time. The zoo. She took us to the zoo. “Yes, I remember,” I whispered. Brack stood from the couch and approached me. I placed my hand out. It didn’t stop him. I don’t think anything would stop him. I turned to the side with the phone away from him, though I knew he could probably hear.

His voice returned to demanding abruptness. “Meet me there in an hour. Bring the fornicator with you. Lose the police or I’ll take the choice of who lives away from you. Don’t forget my present.”

“Okay. An hour. I can do that.” Ty was gone before I finished speaking. Brack took the phone out of my hand.

He turned to Detective Fuller. “I’ll take it from here, detective.”

Fuller stood. “I’m assuming you’re meeting him and I’ll need to know where.”

Brack spoke before I could. “I have no idea. I do know that if you go anywhere near, he will kill the senator. I need you looking into his background and feeding my men any information you can find.”

“You aren’t making this easy.”

“That’s not my job. My responsibility is to Ms. Stradmore and her father.”

The detective stared at us for several long minutes. It made me antsy, but Brack held his gaze. “I’ll need a general area of the city. We’ll have SWAT on standby. Don’t screw this up, Jacobs.”

A few minutes later, I’d changed out of my practice clothes into jeans and a t-shirt. Brack and I left the house in the town car now driven by Herman. “I need to know where we’re going so I can get my team in place.”

I trusted him. I really did. This was hard, though, and my answer came down to Ty wanting Brack there, too. “The zoo. Not the large one but the small one to the south. I don’t even know if it’s still in business. He’ll see your men if they go there.”

Brack made more phone calls. The zoo remained open. He called Sander next. “Grab Molly and take her to the Pleasant Zoo. Look like tourists and wait for me.” He put his cell away and turned to me. “You ready?”

I breathed in slowly so my voice wouldn’t break. “Yes, I’m ready.”

“Herman, call Ray and have him pick you up a mile from the zoo. The two of you wait to hear from me, Sander, or Molly. Got it?”

“Yes, boss.”

Herman made his call as he drove. My mind drifted to thoughts of my trip to the zoo with Leo’s mom. I had a great time and remembered petting the goats and feeding the geese. One of them bit me and I cried. Marcy kissed it and made it all better. I wiped a tear from my cheek. Brack leaned over and kissed where I wiped. He threaded his large fingers through mine. His warm hand settled my nerves. Herman stopped the car and got out. I jumped in the front passenger seat and Brack drove.

We arrived a few minutes later. It was two in the afternoon and a few families were leaving. I noticed it all like I was looking through a tunnel. I remembered Brack teaching me about tunnel vision on the island. I tried gazing around and taking in more than what was in front of me. It did no good. All I could think about was my father in the hands of a murdering psychopath. One I’d known since childhood. It made no sense.

We purchased our tickets and I walked through the gates on autopilot. Brack kept a tight hold on my arm. A few feet inside, my cell rang. “Hello.”

“You’ve done well. Go to the monkey exhibit and I’ll call you when you get there.”

“He’s watching us,” I said when Ty ended the call.

“Where to?”

“Monkeys.”

“Appropriate.”

I fought a smile. Brack’s humor calmed me. We followed the signs to the monkeys.