Chapter 40 Izzy
Chapter forty
Izzy
“What time are we leaving?” I ask Maverick, applying the rose pink blush to my cheeks. It’s a full-glam kind of day.
He walks into his bedroom where I’m sitting, looking every bit of handsome, and I’m half tempted to catcall him as he leans against the door frame.
“We have about half an hour left until we have to head out,” he says, eyes raking up and down my body when I push to stand and flatten my outfit. “Damn baby.” He bites down on his bottom lip, taking me in. “You know I love it when you wear pink.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day,” I say dryly, walking past him to get my shoes and swatting at his arm. “Wearing pink is practically a requirement. Duh.”
“I know something else that’s a requirement,” he jokes from behind me, and I belt out a laugh, just as I hear a knock at the door.
I chose not to tell Maverick what happened that day with Jett four months ago on the ranch. You know, just adding to the list of secrets I keep. The same secrets that bind me to guilt and hinder me from actually moving forward with my life.
Yet, that kiss, that moment we shared, still lives rent-free in my head.
Of all the secrets, it’s the one that's invasively getting in the way of everything I had going for me with Maverick.
Just when I was finally able to open myself up and let him in some, Jett came barreling back into my life like a fucking wrecking ball, leaving me in a pile of debris filled with indecision.
Not telling Maverick the truth is selfish. I know this. But to tell him would lead me to having to tell him everything he doesn’t know about me, and that’s not something I’m sure I can do. At least, not yet.
I pad over to the door, not thinking much of it. Part of me is expecting it to be a flower delivery. What I’m not expecting is the tall, dark, and handsomely dressed Anderson Cole.
"Oh, hey, Ander, what are you doing here?"
His eyes narrow in confusion. "What the..."
I arch an eyebrow, plant a hand on my hip, and let the question spread on my face. The door pushes open further when Mav walks up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder, throwing Ander a puzzled look that matches my own.
"Damn, Bear, don't you look spiffy," Maverick says, breaking the awkward silence.
I don’t crack a smile. Something’s off.
"Ander, what's wrong?" My voice is low, concern evident in my tone.
"Why are you here?" he rasps, the look of confusion on his face morphing into something of anger.
Maverick opens the door wider and motions for Ander to come in.
"What do you mean, 'why am I here?'" I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest. "You come over here, alone, dressed like you're going to a damn ball, looking confused as all hell and demanding to know why I'm here. What the fuck is going on, Ander?"
"You texted Via... She's there checking on you... Your car was there."
There? He must’ve come from my and Via’s house.
He runs a hand over his face, and it’s then that I notice how pale he looks.
I shake my head, stepping toward him. "Via hasn't been texting or calling me back, Ander. I haven't spoken to her in five days. I lost my phone for half a day, and after finding it, I haven't heard back from her. Also, my car broke down yesterday. Mav picked me up. What the hell?"
Before I know it, his eyes go wide, and he takes off running back to his truck with me hot on his heels. Ander pulls his phone out and begins calling Via, and by the look on his face, she doesn’t answer.
"Let me try to call her," I say.
"Don't bother, I'm going back over there."
"We're coming." I hop in the truck, leaving no room for argument. "I'll keep calling her on the way."
Ander nods just as Maverick gets in and closes the door, then we take off.
Something really isn’t right. Fuck, I’m worried.
Too much weird shit has been going on. First, it started with Via receiving creepy black and red flowers that always appeared dead, then notes that said things like ‘I am thinking of you.’ She thought it was all harmless attempts to get with her from Clark at her old nursing job.
But these past few days, after finding my phone, I haven’t heard from her.
The more I think about it, in this moment, the angrier I get with myself for not better protecting her.
She’s my person. I need her to be okay, but something in the pit of my stomach tells me she isn’t.
I continue calling her phone repeatedly with no luck.
"It's still going to voicemail," I say aloud, shaking my head.
"What the fuck is happening, Ander? I swear, I never talked to Via.
I've been wondering why she's been ignoring me.
When I lost my phone a few days ago, I found it weird that I had no missed calls or texts from her after finding it.
I've been trying to call and text her, but I just figured she was busy trying to get her photography business in line. I should have known something was off."
Mav leans over the back of the passenger seat and places a hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me. I don’t mean to, but on impulse, I shrug him off as the panic ensues.
"Calm down, Iz. We don't know what's going on yet," Ander says, attempting to keep his voice calm, but it's shaky.
Right. Calm down. I need to calm down.
"FUCK!" Ander screams, slamming on the brakes, sending us jolting forward. I feel something slide from under the seat and hit my foot. He’s driving like a maniac to try and get to her, and I don’t blame him one bit.
"Are y'all okay?" Ander asks, looking over at me and Mav.
"Yeah, man, just… slow down a little. I'm sure she's fine," Mav offers from the back seat, and Ander and I both shoot him a warning glare.
I face back toward the front when my gaze falls on the floorboard. "Wait..." I say, my voice small, leaning over and picking something up off the floor..
"Ander! Isn't this hers?" I shout, lifting up Via's phone. She must have forgotten it when she got out.
Ander nods, swallowing with an audible gulp.
"Should I—" I’m debating going through it. But what if? What if something is wrong, and her phone holds the answers?
"Just do it," Ander says, turning his head back to face the road. I can see every emotion he’s bottling in. He’s terrified.
Wasting no time, I get to work, my fingers moving a mile a minute, searching through everything I can think of.
"Ander, these texts between her and I... These aren't from me. Not for the past five days, at least.” My voice is shaky, but I force it out through newly falling tears.
The panic is setting in for all of us.
"What the fuck? How is that possible?" Maverick asks firmly, his tone fierce.
"I don't know!" I shout back at him, confusion replaced by rage.
"What about her emails? Look and see if there's anything there," Maverick suggests.
"Okay." My fingers shuffle around on the screen, swiping, clicking, and pressing away. "Geeze, does she ever check this shit? She's always been so bad with emails."
Via often jokes about how many emails she can "collect." And I sit there, searching, snooping, and looking through all of them. For anything that seems out of place. Junk email after junk email. Just when I’m about to swipe out and give up on the email escapade, I see it.
RELEASED.
My heart sinks in my chest, my palms grow sweaty, and my breaths grow heavy.
Liam—Via’s adopted brother. The man who has always made it his mission to make her life a living hell.
Don’t think like that, Izzy. Ignore the subject line and open the email. ‘Released’ could mean multiple things. It may not even concern Liam.
I check the sender, and just as I thought, it’s from the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. It can only mean one thing.
I open the email and am met with the exact thing I was terrified of.
I clutch my chest, the pain too intense, my breathing too difficult. Panic.
"Go faster, Ander, GO FASTER!" I scream at him frantically on repeat. Tears are falling down my cheeks in rivers, and there’s no point in swiping them away. They aren’t stopping.
"Izzy, what?! What did you find?!" Maverick shouts over my screaming.
"Izzy, you need to calm down, breathe, and tell me exactly what you found that freaked you out," Ander demands, placing a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to help calm me.
It doesn’t work. Through the panic, I shrug him off, too. Nothing will calm me down. Not until we get to her.
I take a few breaths, pulling my legs to my chest.
Wrap my arms around them.
Then, I scream out in desperation, "He's out! There's an email that Via never read, mixed in with the hundreds of other unopened ones... Liam was released in September!"