35- Taking action

As soon as everything goes back to normal. Or as close to normal as possible.

They said goodbye and hung up, leaving Terri feeling even more anxious for action than she had before the phone call. Realizing that she hadn’t even told Charlie what time she would be back in Chicago, she called him next.

“Hey,” he said, answering after one ring.

“Hey. I’m getting into the city limits now. Where are you?” “In my office.” He sighed, which made Terri’s heart constrict.

“What’s wrong?” she croaked.

“Don’t worry… it’s just… it’s okay.”

“You can’t say something like that and tell me not to worry. What’s going on?”

“Digging up dirt on Shillings is proving to be a little harder than I expected. He’s good at covering his tracks.”

“Oh.” Even though Charlie couldn’t see her, she shrugged. “Does that even matter? We have me as a witness, and I know he co-owns the trafficking ring.”

Even as she said the words, she realized how dumb she’d been. There was no evidence connecting Bryce to the ring. She’d only heard about it through word of mouth, and it wasn’t like they could trust Logan anymore.

“Shit,” Terri hissed.

“It’s okay. We’ve only just begun.”

“With no evidence, Charlie, we have nothing.” Hot tears filled her eyes.

“We don’t have evidence now. We will find it. Big difference.”

She blinked back the tears. Everything was falling apart. Unless she found some way to fix it all.

“Where are you headed now?” he asked.

“Uh, home. I guess. But I can come to your office.”

“Go to my apartment. Don’t go to your place at all. It’s not safe.”

Terri sighed. This was the same deal as the one with Logan. Except her brother actually cared for her.

“If someone wanted to kill me, they could do it at your apartment as easily as mine,” she pointed out.

“No they couldn’t. My apartment has a doorman, and he verifies identities before he lets anyone in.” “Ugh. True.”

“No arguing. Go there.”

“Okay. I will.”

Spotting a gas station up ahead, she put on her blinker. The tank was on a quarter, and she might as well fill up while the opportunity was there.

“When will you be home?” she asked.

For an answer, he sucked in a sharp breath.

“I want to help.” She maneuvered the car next to a pump but didn’t kill the engine. “I can’t sit around the rest of the day doing nothing.”

“You are helping by staying safe. Hey… You and Logan.”

She closed her eyes. “You were right. Anyway, I haven’t talked to him since… since last night.”

“I’m sorry, Ter.”

“He could be in cohorts with Bryce.” She opened her eyes and winced. “I mean, I don’t know.”

“Anything is possible. We don’t need to jump to any conclusions.”

“Right. Well.” She squirmed in her seat. “Still.”

“Text me when you get to my place. You know the code, right?”

“Yep. Talk soon.”

They hung up, and she started to put her phone in the passenger seat, but stopped at spotting a text notification.

The sight of Logan’s name made her weak. The worst part, far worse than seeing he’d texted, was feeling desperate to know what he’d said.

Holding her breath, she read the message.

I hated how we left things. I’m sorry. Please consider staying in Girard longer. You will be safer there.

Terri’s thumbs hovered over the screen. How should she even respond to that? Was he even being genuine in his concern for her safety? Or was this part of some larger, secret plan?

In the end, she said nothing, only put the phone down and went to fill up the gas tank.

Charlie’s apartment building was downtown, only a few blocks from his office. Perfect for a man who most days only went home to sleep. The elderly doorman who’d worked there for years knew Terri, and so she went right up into the sparse and quiet apartment.

Predictably, Charlie’s fridge was empty, save for an onion, some ketchup, and eggs—which could have been there for months.

“Might as well be productive,” she mumbled. Grabbing the pen and notepad magnetized to the fridge’s door, she sat at the table and started making a grocery list.

It was hard to focus, though. Even the simplest thing like figuring out what could be made for dinner seemed impossible. Everything that had happened replayed in her head.

The kidnapping. Logan buying her. Falling for him. Coming to feel she could trust him. Realizing she really couldn’t. It ran like a mental movie, like her subconscious mind figured if she only saw it enough, she would be able to make sense of it all.

Giving up after ‘pasta,’ ‘wine,’ and ‘more wine,’ she opened her phone and did a search on Bryce Shillings. It was highly improbable that she’d find something new on him, but flipping through the web articles helped distract her. Right then, distraction was imperative.

One site led to another, and she was about to give up and head to the grocery store when a job posting caught her eye. Shillings Realty was hiring for several interns, and the interviews were the next morning.

Terri sat up straighter, adrenaline already racing through her. Charlie couldn’t get any dirt on Bryce because he was looking in the wrong places. He needed to get on the inside.

If Terri went to those interviews, maybe she’d find something. A lead or a bit of info that could open more doors and eventually help bust the trafficking scheme.

Nothing was for sure, but the plan was certainly worth a try.

Of course, not only might Bryce know about her, he could know what she looked like. So she’d need to finagle him there.

Excitement buoying her spirits, she stood and grabbed her purse. A grocery run was still in order, but she’d stop by a costume store on the way there.

Grab a wig and maybe some glasses.

With a new spring in her step, she left the apartment. Nothing big had changed yet, but things were getting there. She wasn’t standing by watching while Logan broke her heart and Bryce Shillings took over the world.

She was taking action.