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Brutus leaned down in her face. “Can’t what?” he threatened, spittle spraying her.
Her mouth flapped open and closed like a swinging doggie door, then she rushed inside.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought,” he yelled after her.
Asa found the name on the mailbox, 304. They ran up the stairs and banged on the door with heavy fists.
“Open this fucking door, Morgan, or I’ll break it down!” Asa hollered.
“Maybe he isn’t home,” Lance offered.
Brutus beat his fist until the door had a dent.
Asa glanced over at the apartment across the hall. “Knock on that door and see if they know where he is,” he instructed Brutus. “We don’t have time for this shit.”
Brutus did as instructed, using his knuckles like a jackhammer. “Open the door now!”
A few seconds later, a small voice could be heard through the door. “What do you want?” said a quivering female. Then, the sound of a wailing infant drifted through the door.
“If you don’t want something to happen to that kid, you better open the fuckin’ door!” Asa yelled.
A few seconds later, a trembling woman wearing a robe stuck her head out. She was holding a tiny infant. “Please don’t hurt my baby.”
“Then tell me where Morgan Skylar is?” Asa demanded.
She clutched her baby to her chest. “I…I…d…don’t know a Morgan Skylar. My husband and I just moved in last week.”
“You don’t know the guy who lives in this apartment?” Lance motioned to the opposite door.
“I…I haven’t been out of the apartment since we moved in. Please let me go so I can calm my baby,” she pleaded.
“Lance, you stay with her and make sure she doesn’t call the police while we search the apartment.”
“No!” she screamed, trying to close the door.
Asa stuck his foot in the door to block it from closing. “You keep your mouth shut, and he’ll let you go when we’re finished. Now move,” Asa said, yanking the door open so Lance could force his way inside.
Brutus kicked open the door to 304, and the two other men entered. Asa kept watch in the hall while Brutus and Jax searched for the ledger and signs of where Morgan might have gone. A few minutes later, Brutus came out with a handful of women’s lingerie in both hands.
“I think your son is queer,” Brutus said. “All I see is girlie clothes.”
“You assume all gay men wear women’s clothes? You’re a homophobic moron. Besides, it could belong to his girlfriend,” Jax suggested.
Asa stormed into the only bedroom and rummaged around in the drawers, throwing clothes across the room. Next, he walked into the closet and froze.
“See. Queer,” Brutus said, coming up behind him.
Asa looked at him with disgust and shook his head. He walked to the nightstand and picked up a small, framed photo of a young girl with her grandfather sitting on the porch of the cabin. The one they had just left. “Brutus, you’re an idiot. He isn’t gay. Morgan Skylar is a woman.” Shaking his head, he muttered under his breath. “That clever bastard had us all fooled.”
There was nothing in the apartment to indicate where Morgan might have gone. His dad had taught her well. There wasn’t so much as an electric bill in a drawer. Since her clothes were still there, Asa knew she would return at some point. He just didn’t have time to wait around. He needed to find her now.
On the way out, he banged on the door across the hall to let Lance know it was time to leave.
“Don’t you fuckin’ think about calling the police, or I’ll be back for that kid of yours,” Asa yelled at the woman cowering in a chair with her infant cradled tightly in her arms. He didn’t give her a chance to respond before slamming the door. This time, they went down the fire escape to avoid being seen.
Asa was about to put on his helmet when two men in a black SUV pulled up beside him. The passenger window rolled down, and Asa stared straight into the barrel of a .357.
“What the fuck?” he said, his face going slack.
