Chapter 44: Chapter 44
Misty
A few days later
The school bus was a daylight of chatter. Most of the chaperones were glued to their phones, when Veronica winked at me as she walked by and squeezed my shoulder as she passed with her manicured nails. I had hacked for her to incriminate her husband for cheating. Looks like she has been doing well since her divorce. Most women that I helped would never know who I was. I just wandered across them on forums. Veronica however had been at a school function and abruptly left the auditorium as I was coming in running late. I overheard her arguing with her ex and talking about a “her” so when she ended the call and started sobbing, I offered my services as long as she kept who I was on the down low. Cricket was drawing next to me as the bus lumbered out of the school drive. My eyes strayed to our surroundings, I didn’t see Beck but I heard his bike rumble in the distance and immediately relaxed. The old bike had a one of a kind sound and at this point I would know it anywhere. I picked up the tattered romance I had brought to reread to pass the time and immediately sighed. I didn’t need the reminder of how raging my libido had become lately. Instead I elbowed Cricket, who popped her chrome unicorn headphones off one ear and peered up at me.
“You got some extra pencil and paper kiddo?” I asked.
She eyed me but passed me a spare unused sketchbook and a pencil from her backpack. I took it before popping in my earbuds and taking the graphite to the paper. I didn’t even know what I was going to draw but thirty minutes later I had several sketches. Some boho bouquets and renderings of dark scrawling tattoos that belonged to our resident bear. It would be another thirty minutes before we got through traffic and made it to the other side of the clogged city so I started another. Our beloved bodyguard staring down at a single rose growing from the crack in the pavement as the sun set behind him. Seems Beck was on my mind. I pushed the thought aside and thought about Adelaide, she had gotten a tattoo recently of a dandelion and it seemed fitting so I began sketching out a field of them as I wondered what her wolf would look like if she ever emerged, and began sketching what I imagined into existence on the page. By the time the bus stopped I was staring at Adelaide's expressive eyes adorned on the wolf who had her hands on her paws surrounded by dandelions whose seedlings were floating in the air. Cricket who had been quiet and lost in her own art looked over.
“Mom! She's so pretty, she reminds me of someone,” Cricket said. I looked over at her drawing. A bear with really big teeth.
“Well, I can guess who that is,” I laughed as I passed her the notebook and she packed it away as everyone began to stand.
Three hours later, as I was staring into a case filled with geodes, completely mesmerized as Cricket ran off with the other kids to gawk over the skeleton of a massive whale when Veronica approached me.
“Hey, Misty?”
I was startled and looked up, glancing from her to Cricket amongst the throng of other kids staring up at the suspended sea mammal’s remains before I looked back.
“Hey, what's up?” I asked giving me my attention.
“For one, I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me,”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s just what I do,” I tried to play it off.
“No really, and I know you said I couldn’t share your identity or information, and I haven’t, but I have to ask if I give you a contact, could you possibly do the same for a friend of mine?”
“I don’t know, I’ve got a full plate right now,” I tried to brush her off, I really didn’t need another scheme at the moment.
“She’s loaded, she can pay you,”
“Thats not why I do it,” I rebutted.
“I know that, but Charlotte could really use the help. Her husband is going to divorce her. She has three kids and he will leave her with nothing, she knows he’s been stepping out of the marriage but can’t prove it. Per their prenup the only clause that can save her financially is if she can prove he is cheating.
“I really wish I could but I have a case I can’t drop for any amount of money, she should hire a professional with that money,” I insisted
“She doesn't want to trust just anyone, she doesn't even know I’m asking you. She’d trust a woman over a man anyday. Please just take her contact,” she said, pushing a napkin over to me. “Whatever you do with the information is up to you. At least I can say I tried,” she pushed. I sighed and folded the bit of napkin up and tucked it into my jacket pocket.
“I’ll think about it,” I said, turning back to the kids. My eyes scanned looking for the rainbow bright backpack and the mass of curly hair. My heart dropped and my feet were moving before I could even register it.
I caught up to the mass of children, my eyes darting everywhere. Panic seized me. ”Cricket!” I called out as I moved deeper into the room. “Cricket!” I called more frantically, my heart racing. Her teacher caught up with me as I saw Beck appear out of a nearby hallway.
The teacher's eyes were scanning the room as my eyes met Beck’s. His nostrils flared and his eyes told me everything as my worst nightmare ensured.
“I’ll check the bathroom,” the teacher murmured. Beck closed the distance to me as the teacher rushed off. She wasn’t in the bathroom she went to ten minutes ago. Beck didn’t bother stopping as his hand hooked on my waist, a low menacing growl rumbling from him as he steered me through the crowd, his animal instinct taking over as he followed her scent. We rushed through the rooms to a side door that we pushed out off, only to find black marks on the pavement. Three sets of bike tires. They had my baby! My knees gave out, but Beck pulled me firmly against him as he hurried us to his bike on the road. The world closed in as I wrapped my arms around his middle out of instinct and sheer need for him to make everything okay. It had only been a moment my eyes were off her, but that was all it took for my world to end.