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It was like the universe was working against him. First his life fell apart, and then his own wife turned on him, shacking up with another man and forcing him to take extreme measures to get her back. It was like one big carnival ride that he wanted off of immediately.
His phone rang, pulling him from his thoughts, and Randy hurried to pick it up. Whoever was on the other end would determine which it would be, catch or kill. “Yeah,” he barked into the phone.
The voice he heard was music to his ears. “I found her.”
The corners of Randy’s lips stretched into a grin. “Tell me everything you found out.”
A heavy sigh came down the line, as if the man hired to do the tracking was preparing to share something big. Randy braced himself. “She’s staying in a home about twenty miles out on Route 23. It’s set off the road and covered by trees, so it isn’t easy to find unless you know what to look for.”
“Who’s she staying with?” Randy demanded, already knowing the answer, but needing to hear it anyway.
“She’s staying with a man. He owns the home and the surrounding property—”
“I don’t want his stats,” Randy snapped. “Just tell me who he is.”
“Abridged version it is,” the tracker said, not the least bit affected by Randy’s tone. “Luke Reed, age thirty-two, no kids, never been married, and, you’re gonna love this,” he said with a smile in his voice, “he’s the owner of that club you said your wife worked at.”
Randy’s fist balled at his side while the other crushed the phone. “Good work. I’ll need you to give me everything you have, addresses, layout, everything.”
“Absolutely, man.” Randy found a paper and pen and started writing everything down, even constructing a rough map from the specific directions he gave. When he was finished and about to hang up, the man asked, “So when do I get paid?”
“Take it up with Jerry,” he said, and with a simple press of a button, ended the call.
Armed with such enlightening information, Randy set about putting his plan in motion. As he went into the bedroom to retrieve the tote he’d packed with everything he would need, he couldn’t help feeling exhilarated.
He ran a quick check of his supplies, noting that everything was there. He still needed to shower and shave so he could look his best. It was a reunion, after all! One year had passed since they were last together, and Randy was feeling the effects of such a long separation. He wanted his wife back, and he was willing to do anything to see to it that she came home with him.
He was furious that she was staying in the home of another man, of course, and her boss no less, but he knew he needed to set his anger aside, at least for a short while, so he could remind her how much they needed each other. Another man wasn’t what she needed. What she needed was Randy, who had always been there for her since she was a freshman in college.
He could still remember the day they first met. He was a beat cop, fresh out of training, when the call came down the wire that there was a loud party with underage drinking going on in an off-campus house. His unit and one other responded. When he burst through the door, eager to knock heads, he laid eyes on a wide-eyed girl no older than twenty. She held a plastic cup in her hand, her lips parted in preparation to take a drink, but her eyes were on him. In that moment, they were both lost, and he couldn’t help himself. He let her off with a warning. After that, he moved heaven and earth to find out everything he could about her, and his efforts paid off. He got the girl, the job, and the house with the white picket fence. They were living the American dream. Then she went and ruined everything by getting pregnant.
He went blind with rage, something he always had difficulty with, and they ended up in an altercation. She lost the baby a few days later, but there was no telling what caused it. Most women had several miscarriages during their lifetime without the mother ever knowing it, said her doctor, and he chose to believe her. He bought her flowers and tried to comfort her, and they made up, marking the pattern of their marriage from that day forward.
The fact was Terri knew he loved her just as he knew she loved him. They were soul mates, and nothing trumped a soul mate. So this guy, Luke Reed, had nothing to hold her with. Randy gritted his teeth as he tugged open the shower curtain and stepped under the warm spray. Luke Reed was going to pay for trying to drive a wedge between him and Terri. If there was one thing Randy didn’t tolerate, it was another man laying hands on his wife. Before the night was through, that man was going to wish he had never laid eyes or hands on Terri Cunningham.
With dark thoughts swimming around in his head, Randy toweled off and got dressed. He took time to make sure everything was in its place. When he was finished, he left out the front door as any property owner would, and got into his truck. Backing down the drive, one thought was foremost in his mind: He couldn’t wait to see the look on Terri’s face when she finally saw him.
