of reality in the face to bring me back to the real world.
The phone on the kitchen wall rings, and Gwen stomps off angrily to answer it, leaving me alone to stew in my misery.
“What? What the fuck are you talking about?” Gwen screeches into the phone. I step over the toppled chair and quickly walk into the kitchen, more than a little surprised at her outburst. Gwen rarely swears and when she does, it’s never with a doozey like this one.
“That’s impossible, check again. He’s there. He has to be there,” Gwen argues.
I stand there staring at her and when she gasps, puts her hand over her mouth, and looks up at me with wide eyes brimming with tears. I snatch the phone out of her hand.
“Who is this? What the hell is going on?” I ask angrily.
“Brady, hey, it’s Adam. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset your sister. I was calling to tell you guys that we finally found that guy who’s been stalking Layla, and Gwen kind of freaked out.”
Gwen has her back to me now so I can’t gauge by her face if she’s okay or what the hell just happened.
“Yeah, we already know, Adam, thanks for calling though. Is the guy cooperating at least?” I ask with a sigh.
“We don’t have him yet. That’s what I was calling to tell you,” Adam says.
My blood runs cold and Gwen finally turns around to face me, and I’m sure the look of horror on her face mirrors my own.
“What the hell do you mean you don’t have him yet? Finn said you guys caught him and put him in custody, and he just picked up Layla to ID the guy.”
Adam hesitates and that little pause through the phone lines speaks volumes.
“Brady, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve been on duty since two in the morning, and I’m telling you he was never brought in. We literally JUST got the DNA results thirty seconds before I called you, man.”
I can barely hold the phone to my ear my hands are shaking so badly. Gwen is full on crying now, and I have to look away from her or I’m going to lose my shit.
“Can you fax me a copy of the DNA results, Adam?” I ask him, trying to keep my composure while I’m on the phone with him. There’s no point letting him know I feel like I’ve lost my fucking mind. “And also, I need you to put out a BOLO for a 2012 black Chevy Tahoe, license plate number seven, five, four, Delta, Charlie, Victor.”
I maniacally pace back and forth in front of the fax machine, willing it to come to life and spit out the information I need.
“You’re making me nervous, Brady,” Gwen complains as she walks up behind me.
“I can’t fucking help it. Why the hell isn’t anyone answering their God dammed phones?” I reply angrily as I hit end on my phone and toss it onto the table. I tried calling Layla, Finn, and Eve about a hundred times each, and no one was answering. I want to get in my car and chase after Layla, but Adam told me to stay put for now and they would call me when they found Finn’s vehicle.
Why the hell would he lie to us about Ray being in custody? To get Layla alone? But that makes no sense. She would have easily gone anywhere with him. He didn’t need to lie to her. She trusts him.
The fax machine suddenly starts whirring and spitting out pages. I pull them out before the ink is even dry and scan them. Before Adam hung up the phone, he said there was something weird on the test results they got. He didn’t give me any more of an explanation, just that I’d know what he meant when I saw them.
“The first sample got a hit in CODIS matching a man by the name of Billy Marsh. A.K.A. Eric Dobbs, A.K.A. John Smith, A.K.A. Ray Bergin,” I read out loud to Gwen. “Billy Marsh has been in and out of prison since he was eighteen years old for domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon, sexual harassment, rape, robbery, and drug possession.”
Gwen slumps down in a chair closest to her and folds her hands on the table in front of her.
“Oh my God,” she whispers as I keep going, trying to ignore the voice screaming in my head telling me that Layla should never, ever