The Mule

Chapter 32

After calling the police, Gael called his veterinarian. Sam said he'd be out right away to look at Charlie. Next, he called the house and told them to have supper without him. Anne had answered, and he asked her to put Irene on, not wanting to tell his foster daughter about Marissa being gone. "What is it Gael?" Irene asked as she took the phone.

"Rissa's missing, Reenie." "Reenie" was his pet name for his wife - it was a derivative of Irene.

"What do you mean 'missing'?" Irene felt a sense of dread.

"I can't find her. Her crutches are by Charlie's pasture and the steer is off, he's staggering. Sam's on his way and so are the police."

"Oh, God, Gael. If she's been taken by the Cartel...."

"Let's pray that she hasn't and that she is okay."

Sam arrived and took a blood sample from Charlie. The steer was better but still a little unsteady on his feet. "It looks like he might have been drugged", the vet said. "Maybe to stop him from trying to protect Marissa. The last time they tried something, Charlie sent one of them flying. I'll send this to the lab and put a rush on the results. Keep him in the barn tonight so that he doesn't hurt himself stumbling around."

The police looked around and took a bunch of pictures. They found tire tracks leading from the pasture area down the old laneway that was no longer used. One of them said the forensics unit would be out in the morning to take plaster casts of the tracks. There was no rain in the forecast, so it could wait, he didn't have to call the unit in. Being a small detachment, there was only one shift of forensics people.

Later that night when they had gone to bed, Irene cried into Gael's chest. "I can't go through this again! What will they do to her? She left the Cartel, they kill for that."

"We will get through it, Reenie. We'll say a prayer every day that Rissa comes back to us alive and well."

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Braxton walked to the university Tuesday morning, as he usually did when it wasn't too hot. He hadn't slept well the last few nights. His instincts were telling him that Marissa was in trouble. He and Amber had gotten in late the night before so he hadn't had a chance to call Gael Brennan.

When he dropped her off at her place, he had told Amber that he didn't think things were going to work out with them. "It's nothing personal", he'd said to her. "But you just aren't my normal type." She had thrown a fit, and he'd tried to calm her down but he realized it was futile and eventually he left. She called his cell and he asked her not to call him again, then blocked her number when she did. So far, she hadn't called his house phone.

Arriving in his office, he hung up his jacket and put his bagged lunch in his desk before reaching for his office phone to check his voice mail. His heart skipped a beat when he listened to the message from the woman at the APA telling him to call a Chris Holden regarding a Marissa Brennan. Braxton didn't even listen to the rest of his messages, he hung up and googled the area code from the number that was given and found out it was from Alberta, Canada. With a trembling hand, he dialed the number. It was answered on the third ring.

"Hello, is this Chris Holden?", he asked.

"It is."

"This is Braxton Jagger. I got a message to call you regarding Marissa Brennan."

"Braxton! I'm so glad you called. I wasn't sure if you would."

"Is Marissa there? Is she all right? I've wanted to find her so bad, but I didn't know where to look." Braxton was so excited at possibly finding out where Marissa was that he forgot his manners.