useful to pass the time, so I opened up my laptop and looked up garage top patios. There were way more than I expected to find. Even ones that had a walkway to the house like Trey had suggested. Not that I would build it myself, but it looked to me like a contractor could make it happen. I was saving pictures and reading articles about it when I noticed the time. Two hours had passed, and I hadn’t heard from Trey.
I dialed his phone and let it ring until it went to voicemail. He should’ve answered. That wasn't good. His phone wasn’t dead, or it would’ve gone straight to voicemail. When I turned on the locator on his phone, it was sitting still about a half a mile from the house. I zoomed in on the little red dot that showed it to be in the middle of the highway. I made myself breathe. There had to be an explanation. I scrolled through my contacts, hit dial on Fredrick’s number, and waited.
“Roman, I was just about to call you,” Fredrick said, answering the phone. He didn’t sound like there was anything wrong, so I relaxed a bit.
“Why is that? Is everything okay? I’m trying to reach Trey, and he isn’t picking up. I was getting worried.”
“Trey, I wasn’t calling about Trey. I was going to see if I could come in and talk to you about a job.”
“A job? Umm sure, we can talk about that next week if you want, but in the meantime, could you put Trey on so I can talk to him? I don’t know why he isn’t answering his phone.”
“Roman,” he said, starting to sound concerned. “I’m not with Trey. I quit working for the Cobens’ the day he left. Why would you think he was with me?”
“But Rebecca said you would be with them. I only let him go because you would be there,” I said, panic lacing my voice.
“Okay, slow down,” he said. I heard a door slam and a car start. “I’m on my way to you. Now tell me what happened.”
“Rebecca sent Trey a message to go for a drive. She said you’d be with her, so I let him go. Fuck!”
“Okay, you call your brothers. I’m going to try to get a hold of Rebecca and find out what’s going on. I’ll meet you at your place. We’ll figure this out, Roman.”
“I saw Gerald. He was with them, and Rebecca was in the car.”
“Gerald was with them?”
“Yeah, he got out and opened the door for Trey.”
“Which car was it? The black town car or the blue one?”
“It was the black town car,” I said.
“Did you actually see Rebecca or just a woman?”
“Just a woman, but she had her hair pulled up the way Rebecca always wears it.”
“Right before I quit, the Senator brought on a new guy named Gavin and shifted Gerald to protect Mrs. Coben. That black car is hers. If he was with her, I bet it wasn’t Rebecca in the car but her mother instead.”
“Okay, well, that isn’t good, but it’s better than some alternatives I can think of.”
“Right, she probably wanted to try to talk to Trey, convince him to see things her way. But we both know she isn’t going to get anywhere with that.”
“I think you’re probably right. I’ll let Ryan and Rand know what’s going on, but I’m not going to call them in until we have more answers. If he’s with his mother and not the stalker, he’s probably pissed but not in immediate danger.”
“Right. I agree. I’m still coming to your place, and I’ll help you find him. Maybe we can put my time working for the Senator to use and figure out where they are.”
Chapter 29
Trey
I looked out the window over the river. Being stuck in the car with my mother while we argued pointlessly about me being an adult and them having no control over me or my life had worn me out. Isolated-contemplation, my ass. I was not staying there in that house, and I especially wasn’t waiting around to hear what Reverend Adams had suggested they do to help me with my problem.
I suppose I should be grateful they were so worried about people finding out about me that they didn’t try to send me to one of his camps. Good lord, what is wrong with these people? I didn't know what was worse, that they would dare to take me here against my will, or