A Wolf's Purpose

•Chapter 67• Looking

Louis sat on the couch behind Jerry and looked at the board game they were playing. It was still quiet for a few minutes. That was until Jack turned to his uncle. "So, you and Leah did the devil's tango?" Louis should have seen it coming but it came as a surprise anyway. He wanted to ignore it, but there were three of them. And Megan wasn't exactly shy either. "You robbed us of such a hot aunt." Jayden started whining. "Dad would've killed her." Jerry pointed out in his clever as-ever tone. This tone always bothered Jayden. Such a smartass know-it-all voice.
"No, he wouldn't." Jayden looked at his uncle, "I am actually kind of mad at you. You've been hiding Mrs. Elms from us. I would've had such a better childhood if I saw her as much as I saw you." Louis runs his hand through his hair. "What? You want to trade me or something?" He asked the boy. "For Mrs. Elms? Hell yeah!" Louis glared at him.
He wanted to slap the back of the boy's head so badly. He resists when Leah joins him on the couch. "They would trade me for you," Louis tells the woman sitting beside him. Leah lets out a chuckle and shakes her head. "How come you never told us, though?" Jerry questioned. "What? That I was having a secret relationship with one of the women that your father tried to murder a few years before? I don't even get it myself. What were you thinking?" Louis asked as he turned his head to Leah. "You saved my life. And I liked you before it all happened." Leah replies as casually as possible. Louis nudged her a little bit with his shoulder. "I would love to see my dad's face when he finds out about this." Jack laughed to himself. "Maybe you don't tell him?"
"Why not?" Jack whined like a child. Megan lifted her head to look at the boy. "Considering he got away from us before, maybe you shouldn't give Bill another reason to kill her and Louis." She suggested. Jack shrugged slightly and looked at the board game. "Did you just shrug? Hey, I changed your diapers and fed you when you were younger. I am literally keeping you safe as we speak." Louis reminds the boy. Jack raises one finger but doesn't remove his eyes from the board game. "First of all, I was a baby. I couldn't wipe my ass even if I wanted to. Secondly, this is Mrs. Elms' house." Louis sighed and slid a bit further down on the couch. "I can actually feel the life slipping out of my body while I'm having this conversation."

Leah looked at him with a soft smile and patted his shoulder with her hand. Her touch felt warm on his shirt and sunk straight to his skin. He liked it a lot. She always had warm hands. "But you hooked up with one of your victims. That is messed up, Louis. Can't deny that." Jayden pointed out. "Am I still having this conversation? I do not need any of you four to interfere in my love life. Especially, in the past. I don't want you in that part of my mind." Leah laughed at that. "Come on, they're just a bit curious." "Would you want your boys to ask you about your adventures, sweets? Didn't think so." Louis looked at Megan and Jerry - who seemed to be the only ones not interested in ambushing him with inappropriate questions - and cleared his throat. "Everything going okay here in the house? You're being nice to her, right?" He asked them. Jerry nodded his head and hummed as he started to rearrange the cards on his side of the table. "Not as nice as you would be, though." Jack earned a glare from both Leah and Louis with that comment. "We could be nicer, though. I know I could." Jayden said and winked at Leah. His uncle slapped the back of his head - a little harsher than he intended - making Jayden groan and rub the back of his head. "You're mean. It was a joke, man." He shot a quick glance at Megan who looked at him with a sympathetic smile. Something stung inside her chest. She didn't know if it was jealousy or something else. Maybe she was worried? The comments Jayden said to her got her to think but she wasn't gonna go all therapist mode on him. Jack and Jerry weren't the same, though. She wondered what his intentions were. He was keeping up an act - similar to the one he had in school - but what was behind it? She saw Jayden look at Leah again with a soft smile and kind eyes. 

"Any news on Jade?" Jerry spoke up. Louis shakes his head and sits up straight again. He moves his left arm to rest on the back of the couch. His hand disappeared just out of sight for them. The triplets couldn't see his fingertips softly brushing over the fabric that covered her shoulder. "Lucas Brown was involved in it. We're playing it both ways. Ian went to the police."
"Oh, okay. Did something come out of that, yet? Or are they still working on it?" Megan asked him. "Not much. Police are slow. That's why we prefer working by ourselves and not having an inside man somewhere. It's just to have some extra information." He answered. The triplets shared a worried look. "Hey, we'll find her. She's fine. If she was dead we would've found her already. She's probably hiding somewhere or she is with someone -" 
"But she's not with Casper," Jerry spoke up, cutting off his uncle. Louis looked at the boy. "We're looking for them both. We'll find them." He assures all of them. "Maybe she's with Andrew?" Megan piped up. Jack frowned at her. "I hope she's not. So she can't have the other guy so she goes back to your cousin? God, that sounds weird. No! Ew! I'm seeing it. Oh, god, I'm seeing all three of them. Get it away! Meg take off your top! Give me something to look at." Megan laughed at Jack's silliness and shoved him playfully. "You're horrible." 
"Meg, please, save me from this trauma!" Jack whined and clung to the girl's arm. Jayden slapped the back of his brother's head harshly. "That hurt!" Louis sighed loudly and sunk into the couch. "Can they go back to jail?" Three heads snapped in his direction. "Rude!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going right now," Ian said as he tried to keep his phone secure between his ear and shoulder as he made a turn in his car. "No, no, I've got to check on something. If she's been there then the weapons might be gone. We could also use some extras if you ask me." He parked his car across the street from the house. As soon as he turned off the engine, he grabbed his phone with his left hand and held it to his ear. "Has someone been in the house recently? Why? Well, because the lights are on. We didn't send Rico out tonight did we?" Ian furrowed his eyebrows as he looked across the street to the house. The curtains were shut but you could see a light from the small gap between the curtains. "Maybe it's her, I'll go check it out. Yeah, yeah. If I'm not back in twenty minutes send a group." He hung up the phone and stuffed it into his jacket's pocket before he stepped out of the vehicle. He put his gun in the back of his pants and covered it with his jacket. He leaned against the car door and lit a cigarette. He only smoked in situations like this, as a decoy. A couple walked past him across the street holding hands with their daughter. Ian gave them a nod when they looked at him. The woman smiled politely and the man nodded his head as a response. The little girl just kept giggling as she skipped on the sidewalk between her parents. As soon as they were out of sight, Ian crossed the street. He didn't walk up to the front door. He walked down the street and passed a few more houses before he made a turn and disappeared out of sight. He held his head low as he passed the backyard of a family home. They probably wouldn't have seen him anyway. He stubbed out the cigarette against a tree before he reached the backyard of the Salvini house. He was careful. Through the glass, he saw Bill walking around. Was he here? "You son of a bitch." Ian cursed in a whisper. He reached behind him to grab his gun but stopped when he saw the girl. Jade joined her father. She looked exhausted but she didn't look hurt in any way. No cuts no bruises. Ian lowered his hand again and watched as Bill embraced his daughter and kissed the top of her head.

Had she gone with him willingly? No, Jade wouldn't do that. And the crash... Ian narrowed his eyes when he saw Bill lift his right hand carefully. He brushed his thumb just under her nose over her skin. He knows. Ian watches as Bill's hands move to her ear and repeats the movement. "Son of a bitch. He knows." He wanted to reach into his jacket when he heard a soft click behind him. Safety being pulled off a gun... Ian raised his hands in the air and slowly turned around. A large man with big arms and a thick neck stood in front of him with the weapon pointed straight at him. The man's eyes almost looked like they were glowing from the streetlight a little further away from them. "Whatcha doing big man?" The man asked. "Just checking in," Ian answered in a calm tone. The man pressed the gun against his forehead. "Let's go, big guy." Ian turned around - his hands still in the air - and walked up to the house through the backyard with the armed man behind him.