The Little Life

Chapter Thirty Six

Two weeks after Tashas disappearance, the police got a lead. Her phone pinged a tower in New York after it had turned on for ten minutes, but turned off and hasn't been seen since. The first missing girl, a twenty-four year old named Annabelle Bailey, hadn't been seen or heard from in weeks. There was no trace of her since she was taken from the club, but the ping from Tasha's phone gave them a bit of hope. They had a couple suspects that matched the video from the club but didn't have any solid evidence on any of them.

One suspect was a regular at the club that had a cabin in New England that was secluded from the outside world. He was almost thrown out when Tashas phone pinged in New York, but the police were grasping at straws trying to find both missing girls.

Another suspect was a man that was fired from the club that had been stealing from the cash register. He became a suspect after taking a weekend trip to New York right after Tasha's phone hit on a tower and hadn't been ruled out yet, even though he had somewhat of an alibi for both nights the girls were taken.

The third and last suspect they had was an ex of both Annabelle and Tasha. Both girls had dated the same man a few years back before Annabelle got married. He was supposedly the only connection the girls had to each other that was also connected to the club, as the man was a former member a year prior. 

Jack decided to go to the police station and check on the leads and see what they had found from the clubs camera footage. On his way to the police station, he got a phone call from an anonymous number.

"Hello?"

"Not looking so great now, are you? Having not one but two kidnappings happen at your club? Bad for business I'd reckon" the muffled voice on the end said.

"Who is this?" Jack demanded as he gripped the steering wheel.

"I'm sure you would love to know. As long as your club is open, I'll keep taking. I might even take your precious little Calysta. She's small enough to fit in a suitcase. I settled for the bigger one first. She's a tough one, made it harder for me. She paid for it though" the voice laughed menacingly.

"Don't you fucking dare. Who the fuck is this? What do you want? Where are the girls?" Jack said as he pressed harder on his gas pedal, racing to the police station.

"What I want is to watch you fail. You fail, the girls go free and nobody else has to get hurt"

"What do you mean fail? What-" Jack said before the call disconnected. He angrily threw his phone against the seat beside him as he pulled into the police station.

After he explained the phone call and what the caller said, Jack handed his phone over to police so they could link it to their phone tracing system. They wired it and tried tracing the call to no avail, but told Jack police would be at his house for the next few days in case the person called back. He thanked them before leaving and heading back home.

They concluded that the caller had to be someone he knew since they had his personal phone number and said he was the reason they were doing this. They also knew personal details like who I was and who Tasha was to me and Jack. He racked his brain trying to figure out who it could be, but could not think of anyone who would want what the caller wanted. As far as he knew, he had no enemies.

"Hello?" Jack answered his ringing phone and asked as he took a bite from the club sandwich he had just made himself.

"Honey. Have you heard from Leo recently?"  His mother asked on the other line.

"No, not really. Why? Is everything okay?"

"I got a call from NYPD. He's a suspect in that kidnapping case from your club. They wouldn't tell me what they had on him but I haven't heard from him in days and they can't find him. Please tell me you've heard something"

Jack sat his sandwich down before looking at me sleeping on the couch. "I'll find something out and call you back. Don't tell anyone about this. I love you mom. It'll be okay"

They said their goodbyes and hung up before Jack began investigating the accusation against his brother. He walked to the couch and kissed me on the forehead before grabbing his things and leaving the house.

He drove to the club and went into his office, shutting and locking the door behind him. He pulled out the usb drive that contained the video footage from the days both girls were taken and examined them for himself, trying to find any little piece of information that could tie the crimes to his brother.

He sat staring at the footage for hours. He wrote down every little detail from each video and tried to connect the two in any way possible. Before he knew it, it was 4:30. He picked up his notebook and put the USB back into his drawer before locking it and heading out of his office.

"What are you doing here, boss?" Tristan asked as he wiped down the bar counter.

"Just working on a few things. I won't be in the next few days. I'm going out of town. I'm leaving this to you for the next few days. Think you can handle it?"

"Yeah man. Of course. Is this related to those kidnappings?"

Jack sighed before answering, "I hope not". He said his goodbyes to Tristan and the other staff before getting into his car and driving home.

He jingled his keys searching for his house key. Before he could put the key into the lock, the door opened to reveal me burritoed in a blanket standing in the doorway with a paci in my mouth.

"Hi Babygirl. Daddy had to go do some work things. Are you hungry?" He asked as he grabbed my hand before shutting the front door.

I shook my head and pulled him over to the couch where I had been sleeping the past few days.

"Sweetheart will you please eat something?" He pleaded as I laid my head in his lap. Again I shook my head and turned my attention back to the Little Mermaid on the tv.