Essentialism (Bridgette & Troy's Story) (26 page)

Okay, I can’t wait to see you. I love you.

I know she hasn’t said the words back to me yet, but I can’t mask my feelings. It feels wrong to not say them. I wait for her to text me back, but she doesn’t. I start to get a little bored and head outside with a few of the guys to play a game of basketball.

We haven’t had a call all day and that always makes the time drag. Playing a good old game of ball with the guys always passes the time. None of us is ever serious when it comes to basketball, well, none of us minus Abel, and he’s inside looking at drive–thru wedding chapels. “How’s your girl, man?” Shawn asks me.

“She’s fucking hot,” Matt says. “Have you seen her Facebook picture?”

“Dude, what, are you stalking her?” I ask.

“She friend-requested me,” he says.

I can’t help but laugh out loud. Bridgette told me when Matt friend-requested her. “Right.”

“She did and she’s gorgeous.”

“Well, she’s mine. Enough about my girlfriend’s looks, okay?”

“So you really like her?” Shawn asks, shooting the ball.

“Yeah, I love her.”

“Whoa. Let me see the picture, Matt,” he says.

I snatch the ball away from him and shoot as they pull up Bridgette’s Facebook page. “Damn, bro. She is fucking hot.” Shawn says.

“Don’t you two have someone else’s girlfriend you can stalk?”

My phone rings and I answer it without looking. “Oh, hey, Ma.”

“Hey, Troy, I was making sure you and Bridge…that’s what you call her, right?”

“You can call her Bridgette.”

“Oh Okay, I was making sure that you and Bridgette were going to make it for dinner this weekend.”

“Ma, it’s Monday.”

“I know, sweetie, but I have to get to the store this week and buy groceries.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there. What did Dad say?”

“Not much, dear. But Brittany is really excited.”

“I know. She texted me about it.”

“Well, I’m so excited. Should we plan on six o’clock?”

“Sure, Ma. See you this weekend.”

We hang up and I check my phone, Bridgette still hasn’t texted me back so I send her another message. We’ve been sexting a lot lately; maybe this will get her to respond. I’m sure she got busy with work.
My cock misses you.

I head inside to check on Abel and we get a call.
Hell yeah.
I fly down the pole getting into my gear and then into the truck. Abel’s not far behind me, getting in the truck, and strapping up in the driver’s seat. Once we have a head count, we pull out of the garage.

I listen to the dispatcher over the radio. She explains it’s a fire alarm in a downtown Denver building. Dammit! Immediately, I regret the call. We’ll have to check all of the floors to ensure that everyone’s safe and each floor is clear of fire. Nine times out of ten with these calls, there’s no fire.

It takes us a few minutes to arrive on site and there are tons of people that evacuated the building, plus it’s tall as fuck. Our team heads in and the sirens are blaring as we head for the stairs. It’s quieter in here and Abel gives us orders to clear the floors.

I’m with Shawn like I have been a lot lately, but I like him. He’s a good guy and has been taking his training seriously. We sweep through our floors with precision, with too many flights to count. When we’ve cleared our assigned areas, we head back down to meet Abel. He’s talking to the building manager.

“All clear, Chief.”

“Thanks, can you reset everything?” he asks me. The sirens are off, but I go into the utility room and reset the alarms and the flashing lights. The building turns back to normal and I head outside with the other guys. It’s a cool afternoon and I can’t wait to be off with Bridge. She’s been getting so frisky and letting me do things I never dreamed of.

The guys and I load up in the truck and wait for Abel. “Dude, are we ever going to get a massive fire that takes us all day and night to contain?” Matt asks.

I laugh at him, “Why don’t you see if there are any wildfire details that need help out of state?”

“It’s too late in the season. Plus, you two assholes are going to Vegas. I might as well drive this baby,” he jokes getting into the driver’s seat.

It’s a horrible time to do so, as Abel emerges from the building to see him screwing around behind the wheel. He flings the door open and shouts, “Out.”

We all bust out laughing as Matt tucks his tail between his legs getting out of the driver’s seat. His face is red and I whisper over to him, “You know the rules. Never get behind the wheel unless you have permission.”

He nods his head, beating himself up while Abel drives us back to the station. After he backs in, I find my phone. There are no new calls or text messages from Bridge. I’m sure something came up at the office and that’s why she cancelled our lunch.

I hop in the shower and bolt. “Have a good night,” I say on the way out. It’s nice having Shawn around. It allows us to come and go early if needed. Since I haven’t heard from Bridge all day, I’m going to surprise her at her office as she’s getting off of work.

I pull up to Bridgette’s work and check my phone one last time. She hasn’t texted me all afternoon. It’s 4:59 and I know she should be off any minute. Hopping out of my Jeep, I notice how hot it is again today, almost unbearable. Walking into her building, I look a little odd to be taking an elevator up considering everyone else is leaving, but I’m on a mission.

Upon exiting on the 29
^th
floor, that whore of a woman, Spring or Summer or whatever her name is, is packing up. She gives me the biggest smile. “Well, what brings you here this evening?” she asks like I’m here for her.

“Uh, my girlfriend. I’ll just go back,” I say without even giving her the time of day.

As I round the corner, Alexa is on her phone. She doesn’t notice me, so I continue on to Bridgette’s desk. When I arrive, it’s empty. She’s not here, she’s not packing up…my stomach drops when I see a vase full of red roses on the corner. Who sent these to her? Anger flares inside of me as I snatch the note that reads
Meet me at Drain at noon – I have a surprise for you. Troy.
Reaching my hand down around the top of the vase like it’s his neck, I pick them up, squeezing so hard I wish the glass would shatter. It doesn’t, so I chuck them against the wall. The glass breaks and water gushes everywhere, leaving the roses lying there lifelessly. It doesn’t help my rage. I wish it would, but it doesn’t.

Alexa comes running over and I can see the pure shock on her face.

“Troy, what are you doing here? And what’s wrong?” she asks.

I don’t answer her. Instead, I call Bridgette. I have to get through. Maybe this is all a misunderstanding. When there is no answer, real panic starts to set in – something isn’t right. I look at Alexa and now Vincent is staring at me too.

I swallow hard before speaking. “Did I just miss Bridgette?” I ask trying to stay calm. Praying to God that what I think is happening isn’t.

They look at me confused and Alexa says, “No. Why would you ask that? She’s been with you all day.”

“No,” I snap. “She hasn’t, I haven’t heard from her all day.”

“Uh, wait? What…? But…”

“Goddammit,” I snap. “What time did she leave?”

“I don’t know, around noon. She said she was meeting you and then she texted me later asking if she could take the rest of the day off.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Yes, of course I told her yes. She said she was with you.”

“Fuck, Alexa.” There’s fear in my tone as I think of my girl out there with some sick freak. The thought almost brings me to my knees. “The flowers…the flowers on her desk were signed by me, but I didn’t send them. The card says meet me at Drain at noon, I have a surprise, and it said from Troy. Drain is the place where I have run into her ex, twice.” Vincent looks at me and I get in his face. “She’s gone, man. Bridgette’s fuckin’ missing.”

“Okay,” he says calmly. “Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves. We’ll figure it out, man. Lex, baby, will you check the delivery log?” he asks. She nods her head and leaves us. “Who do you think did this?” he asks.

“David, 100% without a doubt it’s David.”

“The flowers came at 11:30 this morning,” Alexa says, jogging around the corner.

“What time did she cancel lunch with you?” Vincent asks me.

Quickly I scroll through my log of text messages and find the one. “It was 12:23. We normally meet at 1:00 so it seemed normal.”

“I’ll call Cara and see if she’s home,” Alexa interrupts. “She could be there.”

“What about the other messages after that? Do they seem like they were from her?”

I read the few I have, and I guess they do. Then it hits me. I only have a few, which is unlike her. “She didn’t respond to the last one that I sent her; I know something is wrong. She always has to have the last word.”

“Liam!” Vincent yells. Immediately a tall, light-haired male exits a corner office. He’s in a suit like Vincent is and comes right over to us. “Everything all right?” he asks, looking at me questioningly.

“Not exactly. This is Bridgette’s boyfriend, Troy. Troy, Liam.” I shake his hand as Vincent proceeds. “It seems she’s gone missing.”

“No, she’s been taken by her ex,” I correct him.

“Sorry,” Vincent says.

I glance at Alexa on the phone with Cara, a sheen of white covering her face. The news from Cara must not have been what she was hoping for. She must have been holding things together in hopes that this wasn’t possible. Now the realization is sinking in for her like it has for me. Vincent pulls her to him and wraps an arm around her as she continues to talk with tears running down her cheeks. “No, Cara, she’s missing.” The words are choked up and almost inaudible.

“Can we call the cops?” I ask.

“Without proof, Colorado law prohibits us from filing a missing persons case for twenty-four hours.” Liam says.

“Fuck, what can we do?”

“Follow me,” Liam says. “I’ll hack into her credit cards and bank accounts to see if there have been any charges.”

We head into Liam’s office, leaving Alexa on the phone with Cara. She’s talking a million miles a minute and is so upset at the same time. Liam sits behind a large desk that has four huge, flat panel monitors.

He begins to furiously type away and Vincent asks me, “When was the last text she sent you?”

“Earlier today after she’d cancelled lunch.”

“Why don’t you try and send a message? Let’s keep in contact with this asshole, but don’t let him think you know anything.”

I stay calm thinking about his idea, although my blood is boiling. I would love for one second, just one second, to have my hands on him. Vincent’s idea is a good one; I need to remember her safety first. We can play into this and possibly get the upper hand. “What should I say?”

Liam interjects. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a firefighter.”

“Tell her that you are working an extra shift for one of the guys. Use a name, but the wrong one, not someone you work with. In these types of cases, the perpetrator wants to hurt the victim in anyway possible so he’ll likely read the message to her to accomplish that. He’ll want her to know that you are cancelling on her, that he’s more reliable than you. The name switch will let her know that you’re onto things. She’s gonna need to keep up the will to fight until we get there. Be casual, and don’t get too sappy. You don’t want to piss this bastard off.”

I won’t be able to make it over tonight. Jacob asked me to work his shift.

I reread my words out loud before I press send. Everyone agrees with the message and now we wait. The room is silent except for Liam’s fingers as they busily work the keys of his keyboard. I stare at the screen of my phone, concentrating on Bridgette’s picture. I pray to God that I’ll receive a message back. She has to be okay.

“What are you checking first?” Vincent asks Liam.

“I pulled her credit report and am hacking into her credit cards. I want to see if there are any hits there. That’s normally what they go for first since they tend to have higher limits. If I don’t get anything there, I’ll check her bank account.”

“What’s going on?” Alexa asks as she comes into the office.

“Liam is checking Bridgette’s credit cards for any new charges,” I say.

“Are you all right?” Vincent asks.

She nods her head, hugging him, and then asks, “Can you track her cell phone?”

“It’ll take longer and with how cell phone towers bounce signals, it could lead us astray.”

I watch Liam. He works like he could do this in his sleep. His eyes bounce from monitor to monitor and his hands move with Mach speed over the keyboard. “How do you know how to do this?” I ask.

He laughs, shaking his head. “You don’t want to know. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid.”

Just then my phone chimes and I squeeze it hard. I swear to God I can’t look at it. “Check it,” Vincent orders.

Pressing the unlock button, I read the message that’s from Bridgette’s number. Right away from the words, I know it’s not her.
That’s all right, love.

“Love” is what David used to call her.

“What does it say?” Liam asks.