This Cat Has Claws

32: Back Together

Landon's POV

We went through all the documents that I found on Marley's desk. Over and over again. When one of us found a living relative, we'd tell Mr. Parker and he'd get in contact with his many connections and then we'd just have to wait. We did a lot of waiting. Not one of the four of us (the Mr and Mrs, JayJay and I) left the room other than to use the restroom and get food for the rest of us. I read eat sheet of paper so many times I basically had it memorized.

After two days of waiting, we finally heard back from all the contacts Mr. Parker had. Only two of them had anything that was useful, so then we spent the remainder of the day looking into three people. The two contacts told Mr. Parker that the two sister's of one of the guys that Marley killed and the brother of another were our three suspects. The Mr and Mrs and JayJay all chose one of them to watch and left the house.

I was told to stay here and wait. It sucked not being able to do anything to help, so I went back over the three files of the two women and man and then dug around some more in the internet. The two women lived out of the state so I didn't think they'd be very likely to be Marley's kidnapper. The man lived not too far away from Eugene, so he seemed like a very likely candidate. I messaged Mrs. Parker first since she was the one who went to investigate about the man named Mack.

The three of them came back to the house and we all got our gear on. It was crazy to think about this same thing happening not even half a year ago, though it seemed much more serious now than it did then. I mean, last time we had gotten Marley safe and sound not even three hours later, but this time it had almost been three days and we still didn't have anything concrete.

When everyone, minus Marley of course, was home, Mr. Parker quickly got on the phone with one of his people and they sent someone out to look for Mack. we waited a few hours before they contacted us again. There was good news and bad news. Mack had been found two hours away at an abandoned warehouse and there had been a sighting of him, but there was no sight of Marley.

"But, he has her doesn't he?" JayJay asked. "He's the only one who could."

"I believe that is the case, but we shouldn't rush. It's possible that Marley has found a way out-" Mr. Parker said but was cut off by the phone ringing before he could say any more.

He answered the phone and I could just barely hear the person on the other end. There was a loud blaring noise in the background of the call. Mr. Parker ended the call and put his phone in his pocket. He had a satisfied look on his face.

"That was my guy just now. Some sirens went off right as he was leaving and he saw Marley walk out of the building. We better head that way, since I'm sure she doesn't exactly know where she is," Mr. Parker said.

With all our gear on, though it looked like we didn't need it, we piled into the car and quickly made our way towards Marley. We drove quickly and found ourselves in sight of the warehouse just over and hour and a half later. We hadn't seen Marley along the way, and I was getting worried. Hopefully, she somehow made it home and would call us soon to let us know.

"How will we know where she is?" I couldn't help but ask.

"She knows that we'd figure it out soon enough, so I'm sure she's waiting somewhere close by. If she didn't finish this Mack guy, which it sound like she didn't, then she won't go too far from him so she can keep an eye on him," Mrs. Parker answered.

All of the sudden the door to my side of the car was ripped open and closed. I looked down and found Marley laying across mine and JayJay's laps. She had a big goofy smile plastered on her face when she looked from JayJay to me. She knew she scared the shit out of everyone in this car and found it hilarious.

"Marley April Parker!" her mother yelled and slapped her thigh lightly. "Don't pull that shit on us in this kind of place."

"It's good to see you too, Mom. Don't worry about how I've been," she said sarcastically.

Marley sat up in between JayJay and I and stared at me. I stared back and smiled. It had been too long, though we've gone longer without seeing each other. I pulled Marley into a deep hug and buried my face into the crook of her neck and breathed in. It felt so good to have her back in my arms. Marley eventually pulled away and gave me a passionate kiss.

"Ah, I've missed you so much, Landon," she said after taking a breath. "But we can't leave yet. I need to take care of Mack so he doesn't try to pull this shit another time. He threatened to kill JayJay since I killed his brother."

Marley glanced worriedly over at JayJay before turning back to her parents. We all got out of the car and slowly made our way towards the warehouse. Marley told us about the three possible rooms there: the big, empty warehouse, lounge room, and interrogation room. They apparently hadn't left the building yet and were most likely to be in the lounge room or the warehouse. Marley thought that Mack stayed because he hoped she'd come back.

"I think they'll all be in the warehouse decking it out with stuff for when I come back. I didn't see the back of the building, but I wouldn't be surprised if they kept a bunch of things out there. It'd be stupid to all huddle in the lounge room and interrogation room, so the warehouse is the best bet at finding them. Unless they have some hidden underground passageway, they're still here," Marley told us before stormed into the warehouse.

Just as she had predicted, there were crates full of stuff placed randomly here and there so our view was obstructed. Mr. Parker and Marley walked ahead of us. I was in the back, not far behind JayJay and Mrs. Parker. JayJay had handed me a gun, but I only held it in my hands to look the part. I had no clue how to really use a gun, so I knew I wouldn't be much help if it came down to that. I just hoped we could finish this soon.

It was like a cop show. We all walked slowly and quietly and stopped by the corners of every crate piled high with things to peer around it. I went with Marley and JayJay one direction while the Mr and Mrs went the opposite direction. It was nerve wracking waiting for Marley to move again once the coast was clear after she stopped to look around the corner.

This warehouse was big and all, but it seemed to me like we had covered most of the ground by now and hadn't seen anyone yet. I could tell by the look on Marley's face that she didn't like this situation either. She knew something was up. All of the sudden, Marley turned her head as quick as lightning in my direction. She pushed JayJay out of the way and onto the ground but she didn't make it in time. It was like I had somehow recorded this moment and was watching it in slow motion. I don't know why I'd chose this moment to watch in slow motion, because I hated the look on Marley's face. She looked so distraught and upset. And then she looked so hurt and almost broken before her eyes turned away from mine and looked above me. I knew that look in her eyes wasn't good, and whoever they were directed to was in big trouble.