Whiskey River, Drown my Soul

Chapter One

"Really rough", Andy said. "She blames herself and no one can tell her otherwise".

"And then she disappeared?", Rev asked, his blood pressure rising. "When?"

"After the lawyer gave us Brad's will but before his funeral. Brad left everything he owned to Paige, and obviously she has all their money...but all of his life insurance he left to Bre. Not Bre and Steve, just Bre. I helped him set this up probably ten years ago, and Paige was the beneficiary at that point, so some time since then he changed it to Bre. I asked Paige if she knew why and she told me to talk to Bre if I wanted to know, which I haven't. Bre's been...distraught. Steve and Bre, their kids, my kids...they're all devastated. Anyway, after the reading of his will, there were envelopes for Paige, Bre, Steve, and myself. I'm assuming they had letters from Brad because I did. Among other things he wrote me that he wants Paige to be happy, and he wants her with you if that's what she wants, so I need to accept you into the family to make things easier. That's why I assumed she was with you".

Rev was trying to wrap his head around everything. He knew exactly why Brad left that money to Bre but he wasn't going to tell Andy if Paige hadn't.

"No one knows where she is?", he clarified.

"Nope. She handed Steve a check for thirty thousand dollars, told him to handle the funeral, and she left a couple days later. No one has heard from her or seen her since the day after the will. We've tried calling her. I wanted to make sure things were being taken care of, bills and the maintenance on the houses, but now...I'm terrified because she's not with you like I had assumed. Can you help?"

"Why the fuck didn't you call me weeks ago?", Rev snapped, his heart beating unnaturally fast. She might already have killed herself by now.

"You've always taken care of her. We assumed she needed space and healing, and we knew she'd be safe with you. I didn't want to set her off by sticking my nose in. I knew you would help her take care of anything that needed to be done, but I got nervous when I didn't hear any updates, and it's obvious no one has been to either the cottage or her house. The guys haven't heard anything about what she wants them to do with the band. I realized if you were involved, you'd probably be communicating with us".

"One second", Rev said.

He used his phone to bring up the information for a tracking device. If Paige was still wearing a pair of silver stud earrings he had given her eight years ago, he would know exactly where she was. He hadn't checked on these for months, but last he knew, she still had them in her ears.

They showed up as still active and in Tijuana, Mexico. He just hoped beyond belief that they were actually in her ears and that she was still alive.

"Andy? I know where she is".

"Oh, thank God. Where? How?"

"Mexico. I gave her a pair of earrings a long time ago. She didn't know these had trackers in them. No one did. If they're still in her ears, I know exactly where she is. Why do you think she doesn't want to be found right now, and why the fuck hasn't she called me?"

"She's consumed with grief and guilt. I think it hurts her to see or talk to us, especially the kids because they ask her where their Uck is. Everything is a reminder. I'm really worried she might be planning on doing something crazy, especially since she hasn't called you".

Rev felt a deep seeded worry settling in the pit of his stomach.

"My gut tells me you're spot on with all that", Rev said. "I'm going to hand my case over and get the fuck out of here. I'll let you know as soon as I have her. Hang in there".