42. Samantha
42
SAMANTHA
T his was an all-hands-on-deck situation.
Maddy was safe. She was physically fine. That had been my first concern, but she and Max were both fine. They’d showed up late to whatever had been happening in that warehouse, thank God. I’d seen enough to have my stomach curdling and my mama instincts coming out strong.
These boys needed to feel safe, and whatever they’d gone through, it was not going to happen again. Not on my watch.
So until I could make sure they were safe, we were taking in three teenage boys. Thank goodness that Nash and Nolan had gone to David and Malinda’s for the weekend, but if these boys stayed longer…I’d have to talk through it with the twins. Make sure they understood.
For now, though, I had these boys in my house.
Before we left, Mason took me aside and told me what had been happening before we got there. My blood boiled.
He stayed behind after that, and I pointedly did not ask what he was going to do. I would ask when he got home, but for now, he’d handle what he needed to handle and I’d handle the kids. The first order of business was the hospital. Beltraine was getting checked out while we were in the waiting lounge.
Channing was outside on his phone, and Heather and I were in our investigator roles. I was going to get all the information about all of these boys and I was going to do it so thoroughly I’d be convinced I could become an FBI profiler by the time I was done.
First boy up: Axel Johannson.
His parents were Briar and Emily Johannson. Briar was another prominent businessman in the area and a shareholder with Kade Enterprises. I made a note to ask Mason about him. Based on this guy’s social media, he was smarmy. His hands were too low when he posed with women who were not his wife.
When I told Axel that I was going to contact her, he sneered. “Don’t bother. I’m eighteen. Turned adult last month, but I’m already more adult than she is.”
My heart broke at the bitterness in his tone and the dead look in his eyes. I wanted to take that from him, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t take all that away in one night. “What about your dad?”
He shook his head, his eyes going bleak. “I don’t want him to know. Please.” Fear flashed in his eyes. “I—you don’t get it. My parents don’t care. You’ve got no idea what that’s like—”
All he had were his friends. A crack tore through my middle.
I said, quietly, “I do, actually.”
His eyebrows pinched together, and whatever he read in me, some of the bitterness faded. He blinked a few times before looking away. “Yeah. Okay. Whatever. Just… I’m eighteen. I’m asking you not to contact them. Trust me. I’ve been living at Bell’s for a reason. Phillip’s an abusive fuckface, but it’s still better than dealing with my parents.”
Okay. Noted. We’d be looking into his parents.
I turned to the last one, Steele Manning.
He’d been skittish around me, but Maddy had snorted, calling him out. “ Dude, stop gawking at my mom. You’re totally fanboying .”
He’d gotten red in the face and jerked his eyes away. He paled now as he saw me heading his way. He shoved out of his chair, indicating behind me. “They’re done.”
He was right.
Brett had returned with Beltraine. A nurse had come with him and she looked around the room.
“I need to talk to Samantha Kade?” she said.
I started her way. Beltraine stood with her, an arm wrapped tight around his middle. He held a bag in his other hand.
“He requested for your name to be put on his medical file,” the nurse told me. “He also removed his parents’s names.”
He raised his chin. “I’m eighteen. I can do that shit.”
Her eyes flared. “Either way, he’s insistent this was all just an extra physical training session after their football game. For the most part, he’s severely dehydrated. He needs rest. A lot of rest. We hooked him up to an IV to start replenishing some of his nutrients, but going forward I’d recommend a service where they bring an IV to your home.” She paused, studying the other boys. Her eyes narrowed on Maddy, who beamed at her, then returned to me. She gestured to Axel. “That one looks like he could see a doctor.”
Axel shook his head, faking a yawn while somehow smirking at the same time. “I’m all good. Nothing a few bags of frozen peas can’t fix.”
His eyes moved to me. He had a mask in place. How many times had he shown that to an adult? How many times had no one looked past it?
I saw through it, and his eyes narrowed, staying on me.
The nurse sighed. “He has a right to refuse medical care, but it would be a good idea to get him checked out.” As she spoke, the hospital’s doors slid open and Channing walked in. The nurse’s eyes widened, and comprehension clicked.
“It’s like you know who my husband is,” Heather said dryly.
The nurse’s mouth lifted in a slight grin. “Maybe. Or I might know the wife of one of his employees.” The two shared a look before the nurse got back to business. “Beltraine instructed me that if I needed to talk to an adult besides him, you were that person.”
Axel held up a hand. “I’d like to make that change too.”
She let out a soft sigh. “Why am I not surprised?” She eyed Steele. “And you?”
He straightened up but shook his head. “I’m good.”
“Well, okay then,” the nurse said. “Then they’re all yours.”
Beltraine swaggered past us, going over to Axel and Steele. Max and Maddy also sat in that part of the waiting area. Brett was by me. He glanced down at his phone, a heavy frown on his face. “What’s your plan?”
I thought he was speaking to the phone for a minute until his eyes lifted to me.
“I’m taking ’em home,” I said immediately. Without question.
His eyebrows rose. “All of them?”
I nodded. “Except Max, but yes. Those three. I don’t trust the adults in their lives. At this point, they’ll have to go through me to get to their kids.”
“Has Mason checked in with you?”
I shook my head. “He knew we were heading here first. I’ll give him a call when we go to the house.”
His gaze moved to Maddy. “Are you worried about them being there with her?”
“Are you…” I cocked my head to the side, sharpening my focus on him. “Are you offering to take them into your place?”
Surprise flashed over his face before he shook his head. “No. No, I—the media is still crazy about Billie. It wouldn’t be a relaxed environment. Billie would love it, though. Each kid would have his own pet chicken within a week, and if they did anything to harm them…” He trailed off.
I suppressed a smile. “I’m not worried about Maddy,” I assured him. In between smiling around the entire room, Maddy kept checking in on Max. He hadn’t moved from the five seconds before she looked at him, but she was still making sure. “She’s, uh, pretty focused on someone already.”
“So you’re not worried about them being there with your girl?”
“Let’s put it this way. My daughter… Yes, with most daughters, I would worry. But Maddy…” It was the opposite. If the boys did anything to Maddy, I would have to protect them from her. “She’ll be fine,” I told him.
“If you’re sure.” He motioned to the door, looking at his phone. “I’m going to head out. Billie’s here to pick me up. Let your man know that if he needs anything, just reach out. I’d like to think if I needed help with Stevie, he’d be there for me.”
“He would, Brett. We both would.” I gave his arm a squeeze before he said his goodbyes and headed out.
Heather came over. “Channing has a guy who’s going to look into these kids’s situations, but he said Mason probably already has a handle on it. There’s some business stuff going on too. Something that has to do with Kade Enterprises. Have you heard from him?”
I checked my phone, shaking my head. “He’s not called, but he will. We’re both supposed to check in when we’re on the move. I’ll call him when we leave here.”
She nodded and turned to look at the kids. She understood. She really did. I moved closer so my arm brushed hers. My best friend. I’d missed her, and I was grateful she was with me in this. Some people would look at these boys and see their wealth and entitlement. I got that. I saw it too. It was easy to see they were the popular boys, probably the bad boys. But I also saw the absence of their parents and the absence of love.
I wanted to gut Phillip Moreaux.
Feeling choked up, I whispered, “Thank you for being here.”
Heather looked my way.
I held her gaze, letting her see the storm inside of me, the magnitude of it.
She pulled me in for a hug. “Back at you, Sam,” she murmured.