31. Andy
ANDY
I’ve just finished opening the shop when my phone rings from the back room.
Seeing the school’s number on the display takes me by surprise.
“Hello.”
An automated message says, “Your student has been marked absent. Please press one if you’d like to leave a message to report the reason for the absence.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands up.
I dropped Piper off forty minutes ago. Just in time for the first bell.
She’s there.
I know she’s there. I watched her walk toward the building from the drop-off line.
Maybe they messed up and missed her while doing attendance.
I disconnect the call and dial the front office.
“Everette Elementary, Mary speaking.”
“Mary. It’s Andy. I just got a call that Piper was marked absent.”
“Hey. Lemme take a look.” I hear the rifle of paper on the other end of the line.
“Yeah, Mrs. Lancaster has her marked as absent.”
My heart tries to leap out of my throat. “I dropped her off. Can you check if she just missed her?” I force my voice steady.
But something’s wrong.
I can feel it in my gut.
“Of course. One sec.”
The school’s hold music takes over, and I start to pace.
It feels like a million years later when the line clicks and the music ends.
“Andy, I checked, she’s not here.” Her words are rushed and her tone worried. “I called the principal. We’re going to start looking for her. You’re sure you dropped her off?”
Terror engulfs me.
“I did. I’m on my way.”
I hang up and run, snatching my purse on the way out.
At the school, I shove the gear shift into park and leave the engine running as I sprint into the office.
Pushing through the door, I shout, “Did you find her?”
Mary’s looking at me with fear in her gaze before she shakes her head. “Not yet.”
“Call Harlan.” I pull my phone out of my pocket, my hands shaking so badly. My vision tunnels to one number.
“Jedd,” I say on a whimper when he answers. “Piper’s missing.”
The school goes into lock down just as Harlan gets there.
“Andy. What’s going on?” he says when he takes in my trembling form. The urge to get up and move courses through me.
I need to do something. Anything.
“Har,” I whisper.
“Hey. Hey. It’ll be okay. Tell me what happened.”
“Piper’s not here. I dropped her off this morning, and she’s not here. They can’t find her.”
“When did you drop her off?” His voice is calm, and I latch onto his control.
“Eight thirty. Like always. The bell rings at eight thirty-five.”
He turns to Mary. “Have you searched the school?”
“We’re doing that now. But so far no sign of her.”
Cassie and Stella step into the front office behind Harlan. The sight of the two deputies with Harlan making my stomach plummet.
What is happening?
The door opens again and Jedd rushes through. “Have you found her?” He steps around the deputies to pull me close.
“Jedd,” I say weakly. Terror takes hold when I see the look on the principal’s face as she speed walks around the corner, clutching a squawking walkie-talkie in her hands.
“She’s not here. We checked all the classrooms, the bathrooms, the storage closets, and the teachers’ lounge.”
“Issue the alert,” Harlan barks at Cassie and Stella.
An Amber Alert.
Oh god.
“Alex,” Jedd says with a snarl.
“What?” I look up at him confused.
“It has to be Alex. Piper wouldn’t run away. Alex had to have taken her.”
“Wait. Wait. Why do you think that, Jedd?” Harlan asks.
He holds me tighter to him with one hand while the other scrubs through his hair.
“She came for visitation on Saturday. It went badly. Duke and I went to see her Saturday night. I paid her to sign her rights over to Andy.”
“You did what?” My mind reels. Why wouldn’t he tell me? Why wouldn’t he tell me he was going to see her? Or that he saw her and offered her money?
“I’m sorry. Andy, I’m so fucking sorry. I just wanted to fix it.”
Oh god. I can’t.
I push out of his arms that felt so safe seconds ago and hold up my hand to stop him.
“We don’t have time for this. Piper’s been missing for almost an hour. We don’t have time to get into this,” I say.
Harlan speaks into his radio. He turns to Stella and Cassie telling them to stay put in case Piper is found.
“I’m going to find her Andy,” he promises me as he backs toward the door. “I will. But I need you to stay here.”
Fuck that.
I will not sit idly by while they go search for my little girl.
I’m hot on his heels, Jedd right behind me.
Harlan breaks into a jog, his department SUV in front of my Jeep.
“You know where she’s staying?” I ask as I climb into my driver’s seat, while Jedd yanks open the passenger door. Harlan’s SUV screams out of the parking lot, lights flashing.
“The motel right off the highway,” he tells me.
I pull away from the curb, my tires screeching with the sudden burst of speed.
“Andy.”
I slash a hand through the air. “Not now, Jedd.” I have to focus on driving.
“I didn’t think that she’d do something like this.”
I hear him, but I don’t say anything. I can’t. Not with fear and anger and panic clawing through my throat. I can’t.
My Jeep tops out at sixty miles an hour without wobbling, so I lose Harlan by the time we hit the highway.
Oh god.
What if she’s gone? What if Alex took Piper? What if she does something horrible to her?
I can’t get my thoughts to focus past the sheer dread.
Why would she do this? Why would she kidnap Piper? What if she didn’t kidnap Piper? What if we never find her?
Each minute is like a year, dragging out, my thoughts racing until the motel comes into view. I sob at the sight of it.
There are cops everywhere.
State troopers, sheriff’s deputies, even state cops. An ambulance is parked to the far side of the lot where a car sits with the doors open.
Red and blue flashes all but blind me as I pull into the parking lot, slamming to a stop behind the row of cars.
I jump out of the car and sprint toward Harlan’s familiar form where he’s talking to a cop.
“Is she here? Did you find her?” Tears are coursing down my face, and I ignore the way they blur my vision.
Harlan twists before grabbing my arms, stopping me from pushing past him.
“Andy. We got her. We got her. It’s okay. Here, let me take you to her.”
My knees weaken, and I almost go down. If it wasn’t for Harlan holding me up, I’d be a puddle on the asphalt.
“Thank fucking god,” Jedd says from behind me. Harlan releases me and Jedd wraps his arms around me.
Harlan leads us through the crowd of cops and first responders. Piper’s sitting in the back of an ambulance.
I break out of Jedd’s arms and run.
Her hair is a mess, the crown braid I did this morning falling around her tear-stained face.
“Piper,” I yell.
“Aunt Andy,” she cries as I clear the back of the ambulance. She holds her arms out, and I hug her to me, sobs racking my frame.
She’s safe.
She’s safe.
She’s safe.
The words are a mantra in my heart, a balm to my soul, even as I squeeze her tighter.
“Andy. I need you to step back for a second, okay?” A familiar voice penetrates the sheer blinding relief I feel at having Piper back in my arms.
“Rhett?” I say, focusing on him, stepping back. “Is she okay?”
He nods. “She’s fine. A little shaken up. Here, sit down.” He lowers one of the seats and pushes against my shoulders until I sit down. I take Piper’s hand in mine, unwilling to break contact. Not until my heart calms down. Not until I’m sure she’s okay.
The back of the ambulance dips as Jedd climbs in and hugs Piper just like I did. His cheeks are wet with tears and his chest heaves as he holds her close.
“Jedd, back up,” Rhett tells him with a hand on his shoulder.
Jedd sits in the seat next to me.
“I’ll be right back.” Rhett fiddles with one of the machines before stepping out of the back of the ambulance to find Harlan.
“Piper, honey. Can you tell me what happened?” I say when I’m sure I’m calm.
Piper’s eyes find mine and tears well in them again. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Andy. Mom was at the school after you dropped me off. She was by the pillar at the front office. She told me that she asked you if she could surprise me by taking me out to breakfast.”
She hiccups on a cry. “But she didn’t take me to breakfast, she got on the highway and when I asked her where we were going she slapped me and told me to shut up. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.” Her voice breaks on the last plea and rage overtakes any lingering fear.
I’ll fucking kill her.
I have to fight to keep my voice steady. “Pip. I am not and will not be mad at you. I promise. You have nothing to be sorry for. This is not your fault.”
“We’re just glad that you’re okay, Pipsqueak,” Jedd speaks up from next to me.
I should have walked her into the school building. I should have warned her that we have to be careful around Alex.
That Alex is unpredictable when backed into a corner.
Which I would have known if Jedd had told me that he was going to confront her.
I look at him. His expression is still strained. Any plans I had to rail at him for doing this disappear at the anguish in his gaze.
He’s already blaming himself.
For trying to make things better. For trying to make our lives better. For trying to protect us.
And no matter how terrified I was thirty minutes ago, I can’t fault him for any of it.
I would have done the same for him.
I would do anything for him.
I reach over and lay my other hand over his. Hazel eyes drenched in tears meet mine, and he clasps my palm to his in a tight squeeze.
“It’s not your fault,” I murmur.
“I’m so damned sorry, Mischief. I never meant for this to happen.”
I nod. “I know.”
Clearing my throat, I continue, “This is on Alex. I know that you had good intentions, but this is on her.”
Jedd pulls my face to his, pressing a kiss to my lips and my heart leaps as the feeling of his love sends me flying.
“Ewwww,” Piper grouses from the gurney.
I break away with a laugh. “Sorry, Pip,” I say, resting my forehead on Jedd’s.
Rhett climbs back into the ambulance. “Okay, guys. You are all free to go. If you guys can hop out for a second, I’ll get her unhooked for you.
Take her home, let her relax, and she’ll be right as rain.
” Rhett winks at Piper. “I think that she definitely deserves some ice cream and a couple of movies today.”
“I can have ice cream? But it’s still morning.”
“You can have all of the ice cream,” I say as Jedd and I step down and let Rhett work.
Jedd turns me to face him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to tell you and have her back out. I didn’t want to get your hopes up if she wasn’t going to go through with it.”
“Did you really offer her money?” The lengths this man is willing to go to take care of me and Piper are awe inspiring.
How in the world will I ever deserve him?
He nods, and I ask, “How much?”
Jedd glances away. “My entire savings.”
My breath backs up in my lungs. “What … what were you thinking? Your shop …”
His eyes flare. “How could I give her money to protect the two most important people in my life? To protect my family ?” he asks with no shame.
“Easily. It’s money. I can make more. I will make more.
What I won’t do is have you and Piper on a cliff’s edge wondering how or when Alex is going to come in and fuck everything up again, or what the future holds if your sister gets a bug up her ass to keep stringing you along. ”
He cups my cheeks and locks me in a stare.
“My shop doesn’t matter. I’d give her everything I own if it keeps you and Piper happy, together, and safe.
There’s no amount of money or any career on the planet that’s worth more than your peace.
” He emphasizes the last word, a world of guilt sunk into it.
I step into his arms, the same feeling of safety and love as present as always.
I want to tell him again that it wasn’t his fault. That he didn’t do anything wrong—well legally he did, but that’s another conversation—that he’s perfect. That I don’t deserve him and I’m not sure I ever will.
“I love you” is what I settle on.
Emotion leaps into his eyes. A slow smile grows, taking over his face, and my heart jolts at the devotion shining back at me.
“I love you too.”
And he kisses me.
But this kiss tastes different. It tastes like everything I’ve told myself I’d never have in life.
And I relish it.