Chapter Seventy
Jake
Several Days Later
Thunder claps in the distance as I stop in front of Xavier’s house. The house he shares with his best friends. I roll down the window as Ben, one of Bella’s brothers, approaches, dropping a black duffle bag at the edge of the sidewalk. Ben’s long jeans covered legs eat up the distance in two steps.
“Hey.” I tip my head toward him.
“Hey, bud.” He nods and rests his hand on the doorframe of the cruiser, while angling his long frame so he can meet my gaze. “How’s Em and the baby?”
“Good. She’s gaining weight and about to bust out of those newborn onesies.”
He grins as lightning cracks through the sky. “Who would’ve thought? Jake, the family man.”
“Not me.” I rest my arm on the window ledge. “At least not this soon, but I’m not complaining. Court is next week so we’ll see how that all goes. I know if she goes somewhere else, we’ll both be lost.”
Iris has assured us that if things continue to go the way they have been, there will be no issues with us adopting her after parental rights are terminated for abandonment.
It happened so fast. It shouldn’t have been possible to fall for both of them in a blink of the eye, but there’s no turning back. Hell, it only took a second for me to be wrapped around Grace’s finger, and I’ve spent the last four years wishing I had my fingers and everything else on Emily.
He steps back and crosses his arms over his chest, causing the fabric over his biceps to strain with the movement.
“Everything will be fine. Bella was telling us last night that no one’s come forward claiming paternity, and there’s no one better suited to raise a child than a police officer and a paramedic.
That kid is going to be encased in bubble wrap. ”
Iris contacted Mackenzie, but she denied being Grace’s biological mother. If she’s the mother, she’s not budging whether Chad is in jail or not.
“You’re not wrong.” Although I chuckle over his comment, he’s not far off base. I’ve taped bubble wrap on the edges of everything at both our places, and she won’t walk for another nine months.
I’d prefer we only had my place to focus on, but with court around the corner, we don’t want to mess anything up.
“Where’re you head off to?” In the distance, rain pelts the ground in waves. It won’t be long.
“I’m headed to Vegas for a cooking contest. The top prize is 50k. Several top chefs are coming from around the world to judge the event.” He drops his arms to his sides and glances at his wrist. “I’ve got to go. My plane leaves in a couple of hours. I hate rushing around when I get there late.”
I tap two fingers to my forehead in a salute. “See ya around.”
Lightning glitters across the darkening sky, causing the ground to jolt. “This shit had better get through quick, so I don’t get grounded.”
Ben becoming a chef and going to Vegas for a cooking contest with a chance to win 50k? Who would’ve thought the skinny kid with the cowlick would work at a 5-star restaurant and mingle with the rich and famous? Not I.
“Xavier, home?”
“Nah, he’s at work. Although, with this weather, he’s probably stuck inside doing office work.” Ben laughs as he grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder.
Five minutes later, I’m cruising down Cedar Ridge Street when the first drops of rain splash against my windshield. Followed by a torrent of its friends. Time to find a place to park and wait out the storm. I flip on the blinker and turn onto Hawthorne Lane.
Halfway down the block, a girl lifts her purse over her head.
I switch the windshield wipers to high and listen to the scanner for any calls for help.
A tree limb flies out of an oak tree and crashes to the sidewalk, causing the drenched figure to jump backward, dropping her purse to the ground.
The contents of the black bag spill in all directions.
Mackenzie. The wind whips her hair, sending a lock of it away from her face and whipping it around like a mini tornado is in the air. I grip the steering wheel and step on the gas.
Cap knew what he was talking about when he warned us about the expected shift in weather when the wind switched to the north. Thankfully, Emily is off work today, so she doesn’t have to deal with these winds. She and Grace are tucked safely at her place.
I roll down the passenger side window as I approach the girl who’s now on her knees, grabbing handfuls of her stuff and shoving everything back into her bag.
“Can I give you a lift?” Lightning snaps as more thunder rolls, shaking my car. “It’s nasty out there today.”
Mackenzie glances up with hair stuck to her skull and black mascara running down her cheeks. She looks in all directions as if she’s hoping someone else will come to her rescue.
I raise my hands in self-defense. “I have nothing against you. Your brother is locked up because of his own choices, and those choices have nothing to do with you.”
She gnaws on her bottom lip and grips the strap hanging from her shoulder.
“I’m sure living with Chad is no walk in the park but he’s not here, so you’re safe. I’ll drive you home, or wherever you were on your way to.”
“Fine.” She yanks open the door and plops down onto the seat. The black cushion swooshes under her fast entry. Not that she’s overweight by any means. She’s become gaunt over the last several weeks.
“Where to?” I clasp the steering wheel, preparing to take off. We should stay here until the rain subsides, but she was skittish enough about getting into the vehicle with me. I don’t want to send her back into the elements to get struck by lightning just to get away from me.
“Home.” She yanks the seatbelt over her chest and snaps it into the latch. “Stop the block before my house.”
“Why?” My grip tightens on the steering wheel until the whites of my knuckles show.
She slumps into the cushions. “Because if I’m seen with you….” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
I twist to face her. “You know now is the perfect time to get away from–”
“Start the fucking car before I tell your captain that you’re hitting on me.”
“Whoa.” I raise my hands in self-defense again. “I’m just trying to help you out.”
Thankfully, the car has cameras which I hit the moment it started to rain in case anything came up. And clearly, something has come up.
Her eyes narrow into slits as she glares. “Your idea of helping keeps getting my ass beat. Just because Chad is in jail doesn’t mean he doesn’t hear everything, or that one of his loser, asshole friends won’t take over in his absence.”
Fuck. My stomach cramps. Reality is as bad as I expected. “You need to get out while he’s gone.”
The street is empty as everyone else but us and Ben, who’s on his way to the airport, got the memo to keep their dumb asses off the road in a downpour.
“Start. The. Fucking. Car.” She slaps her arms across her chest and shifts her attention to the passenger side window. “I don’t need your knight in shining armor routine.”
I bite my tongue, shove the gearshift into gear and drive. Mackenzie is like a cornered feral cat. If I don’t handle this right, I’ll end up with jagged rips up both arms and across my face. And I’m not meaning it in a figurative way.
“Like I said, I know a guy in Kansas City that owns a women’s shelter.”
Her head snaps around. “My mother took us to a women’s shelter. She died, and I got sent back to them. How do you think that happened?”
“They’re both behind bars.” I come to a halt at the stop sign. “This is the perfect time. I can send Emily to pick you up in the ambulance, and we’ll get you out of town.”
Her face pales as she clasps her purse with both hands. “Do not let Emily anywhere near me.”
“Why?”
“Just don’t.” She jerks on the door handle.
“We’re five blocks from your house.”
“I’ll walk,” she growls between clenched teeth. “You need to stay away from me.” When I don’t open the lock, she holds her phone up. “I’m calling 911.”
“Fine.” I pop open the lock. She’d only be calling me but there’s no need to pour salt into the wound. She’s not ready to walk away from her family, her ‘step’ family, and there’s nothing I can do about it. “When you’re ready, I can get you to a place where no one will find you.”
The door slams shut, and I’m rewarded with the back of her head. Stubborn fucking girl. I shake my head. What do they do to her to keep her from running when they’re locked up?