CHAPTER FORTY
Fallon
“ALL MY FRIENDS WANT LUNCH BAGS LIKE ME NOW,” GRACIE said as I helped her into my SUV. “Hay Hay, you think you could make theirs pretty, too?”
I glanced at a slightly panicked Hayden in the front passenger seat. “You know, you could probably start a business. Earn some money for extra ice time.”
Hayden’s head cocked to one side. “Not a bad idea.”
The truth was, Kye would pay for all the ice time Hayden wanted. He’d be thrilled to. But we’d talked about how Hayden needed to feel useful and like she was standing on her own. It would be a difficult balance for the brother who wanted to give her everything.
“I told them it was kin-kin-ugi,” Gracie said, struggling to pronounce the term.
“Kintsugi,” Clem amended.
Gracie frowned. “That’s what I said.”
Clem rolled her eyes but still had a smile on her face. “You know, maybe we could try it with pottery.”
Hayden laughed. “I don’t have a lot of gold just lying around for that.”
“We could mix gold paint with glue,” Clem argued.
“I think that could be super fun,” I said as I hopped behind the wheel. “There’s a place over in Roxbury where you can break dishes for fun. We could break them and then put them back together.”
“Seriously?” Hayden asked.
Clem glanced at me from the back seat. “Will we still get to go if we’re staying at Miss Nora’s?”
Crap. Crap. Crap.
After consulting with Rose, we’d made the hard decision to have the girls move to Colson Ranch tomorrow.
We couldn’t risk putting them in any sort of danger.
Kye and I could still drive them to school, and Nora would bring them over for movies and dinners, but they would stay with her until this monster was caught.
“We are going to do all our things. Even bedtime stories. This is just to be sure we’re extra careful,” I assured Clementine.
“You mean so the stupid system thinks you’re good parents,” Hayden muttered. “You’re the best people we’ve ever had in our lives.”
“She’s right,” Gracie said softly.
My heart felt like it had been put in a vise in the best and worst ways. “You guys are amazing. And because you are, we all need to make extra sure you’re taken care of. It won’t be for long, and we’ll go to the breaking-dishes place this weekend.”
Gracie’s head tilted to one side. “I do wanna break some things.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. We spent the rest of the car ride to school, making plans for the following weekend. I wasn’t sure how Kye would feel about the outing, but he’d get on board when he saw how excited the girls were.
I glanced down at my phone in the holder, hoping he’d texted me. He’d had a meeting with his lawyer first thing this morning to go over his adoption filing since proceedings had begun for the state to terminate Renee’s parental rights. But I hadn’t heard anything from him yet.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm my nerves and turned into the elementary school parking lot. It didn’t take long to make it to the front. I hopped out to help Gracie as Clem and Hayden got out.
Gracie threw her arms around me. “I love you, Fallon.”
The admission caught me off guard. It was out of the blue and completely unexpected, but it hit me right in the dang feels. I hugged her tightly. “Love you more than double-chocolate Oreo milkshakes.”
Gracie beamed up at me. “Really?”
“Really,” I assured her.
“Come on,” Clem called. “We’re gonna be late.”
Gracie released me and ran off with her sister. Hayden waved as she headed to the next building over. God, they were the best kids.
I moved to climb into my SUV, but a flash of color caught my eye. A bright pink puffy jacket and a woman glaring daggers at me. Everything in me stilled. Renee.
I braced to move, to walk right into the elementary school and warn the administration, but she dipped into a sedan with a dent on the front bumper and along the side. It sputtered to life, and she took off.
Someone behind me honked, and I turned to see the same impatient man who had honked at Kye.
I sent him my best death glare. Unfortunately, it didn’t scare him like Kye’s had, so I just climbed into my vehicle and texted Trace about the Renee sighting.
He or another officer could stop by her place and issue a warning.
After taking my sweet time to get settled, I pulled away from the curb and headed for DHS. About halfway there, my phone dinged. My gaze flicked to the screen, hoping to see Kye’s name. Instead, it was Rose.
I tried not to let disappointment hit me too hard. I hit a button on the steering wheel. “Read me text message.”
My phone responded through my SUV’s speakers in that computerized voice.
“You have one new text message from Rose Hawley. Rose said, ‘Morning, Fal. We got a call out for two sisters needing emergency placement. Their mother overdosed and is en route to the hospital. Can you meet Noah at 6233 Whychus Lane?’”
I pressed another button on the wheel. “No problem. On my way. About ten minutes out.”
The feeling of dread simmering in me was for more than the poor girls whose mother had just been taken away by the EMTs. It was because I’d have to deal with Noah. But it would have happened sooner or later, so I might as well get it over with.
I arrived quicker than expected, but as I pulled up to the rundown cabin, only one vehicle was there—a navy sedan that looked like an unmarked law enforcement vehicle. Maybe Noah hadn’t made it here yet.
Parking, I slid out of my SUV and grabbed my bag, jacket, and keys. I headed toward the front door just as the wind picked up, the cold chilling me straight to the bone. Just before I reached the door, crying started up. A baby’s wails.
Poor thing was probably terrified. I tried to remember what I had in terms of supplies. I knew I had diapers and formula, but I wondered if I had toys. I knocked twice on the door, but the officer probably couldn’t hear me over the crying—it had only gotten louder.
I tested the knob, and it turned. I knew I shouldn’t enter until I got confirmation of law enforcement’s presence, but the crying was too much for me to take.
Pulling the door open, I stepped inside.
It took a second for me to realize what was wrong.
The cabin was too cold, too dark, and there was no furniture in it at all.
In the time it took me to realize the wrongness, I’d lost the chance to run. Something slammed into me, sending me hurtling back into a wall, hitting it so hard lights danced in front of my eyes. The blow stunned me so badly that I didn’t even have a chance to defend myself.
Hands encircled my neck, squeezing as a masked face filled my vision. Some zombie with dead eyes. It kept me from seeing who might be beneath. I tried to bring my knee up, even as my vision started to tunnel.
The figure in front of me twisted, avoiding the worst of the blow, but let out a snarl. “He doesn’t deserve you. He doesn’t deserve happiness.”
I could barely hear the words, but the growly tenor didn’t hit as anyone I recognized. My ears rang, and my vision started to go black. But then I heard Kyler clear as day in my mind. “Don’t let him win. Shoot your arms straight up. Break his hold.”
It was as if my body listened before my brain caught on. I shot my arms up with everything I had, my purse clocking the guy in the face in the process. My knee came up on instinct, following through with the sequence I’d gone through with Kye countless times in the gym as Clem and Gracie practiced.
The man folded over, cupping his balls, and I didn’t wait. I ran. I ran with everything I had, out the front door and into my SUV. My hand shook violently as I locked the door, but my keys were still there. My purse was still hooked on my arm.
I started the engine, gunned it, and sent gravel flying as I sped out. I didn’t think. I just drove, hitting the button on my wheel as I did. “Call Kyler.”