Chapter 63
“IF THE WORLD WAS ENDING (FEAT. JULIA MICHAELS)” BY JP SAXE AND JULIA MICHAELS
“Mommy?” Estelle rubbed her eyes, woken up from her sleep in the dead of night. “We go?”
“You’re going to go on a fun trip for a few days with a friend of Mommy’s.” I explained, my hands shaking as I tried to buckle her into the car seat. “But Eric is going to meet you out there with Ollie, okay? Then Mommy will come find you!”
“Like hide and seek?”
“Yes! Just like that.” I brushed her hair out of her face, her dark auburn locks messy from her tossing and turning. “Estelle, I love you. Can you remember that for me? Mommy loves you.”
“I love Mommy.” Estelle sleepily smiled at me, her little hand clutching my leather jacket.
I unraveled her tiny fingers and kissed the back of her hand. She hugged the stuffed animal Erica got her for her birthday and closed her eyes again. I knew she’d be too tired to stay up much longer than transferring from Dominik’s old pickup truck to the newer model Ram.
The door closed loudly, and I jumped down from the raised step. I stared at the tinted windows before turning to face Duke.
“Do this one thing for me, and I’ll forgive you for everything.”
Duke nodded. He didn’t know how else to respond when I showed up to his mother’s house in the dead of night, begging him to take Estelle west for a few days. He just sat there, struggling to speak.
“I’m gonna miss my football game.” He mumbled. “But I can see this means a lot to you, so it’s no big deal.”
“She’s in danger.” I repeated. “A few days. That’s all I need. Erica is picking up Olivia and will meet you at the hotel. She’s going south and will cut over.”
Duke followed me to my uncle’s truck and frowned when he noticed the gun in the passenger seat. I closed the door and glared at him.
“You don’t need to know,” I explained. “Just drive and don’t look back. Give her to Erica when you get there.”
“Are you okay?” Duke rubbed the back of his neck. “You have blood on your pants…Did you do something? Cause, uh, I don’t want to be a part of a murder scheme.”
“I can’t tell you. It’s safer this way.” I turned back to the car and rounded the hood. “Don’t text me!”
“Um, okay.” Duke glanced back at his truck. “What if there’s an emergency?”
“Trust me, this is the emergency. You are saving her life right now.” I told him.
Duke seemed to accept this answer and took a step back. He watched me climb back into the old pick up and roll down the hill of a driveway to return to my house.
I hadn’t figured out what my grandfather meant. He ignored all my calls, as well as one from my mother. Mom was preparing the house. She thankfully believed I hadn’t done anything wrong and wanted to be prepared in case Papa returned to the family estate looking for blood.
The photo of Estelle and me still sat on the dash from Dominik. I reached over and brushed my thumb against her young face, stopping the truck at an intersection in Coven Hills.
Duke’s mother lived up this way with her girlfriend, another reason I didn’t understand why he acted the way he did. If he was worried about his family’s reaction to his sexuality, he had to know his mother would at least be fine with it, considering she was a wealthy lesbian who gave no fucks.
His father was a dick. That was about all I knew about him.
I slowed down the truck when I approached my house and felt my heart sink. Red and blue flashing lights were everywhere. Some lined the street, a few kept the gate open, multiple close enough to my house that I could see its structure by the way lights made shadows.
I gulped and rolled my hands over the steering wheel. Mom was inside. She wouldn’t have called the police.
There were too many black SUVs for this to be the sheriff’s officer. The local station didn’t have this many cops, nor did Murdafest.
I ducked down in my seat as another set of bright lights came down the road in my direction. The truck idled with the headlines off as the vehicle turned and started up the hill toward my home. A flash of silver caught my attention.
It was Bruno, the same silver car I looked for every night I snuck into his sister’s home to sleep over with Erica instead of going home.
I peeked up over the dash and spotted a man in the driver’s seat.
Baseball cap. It had to be Bruno. Obviously, he must have talked to Sebastian and decided to bring in a fucking SWAT tank and agents to look for his daughter.
If I let either of them see me, I would be asking for a one-way ticket straight to prison.
Carefully, I drove past the numerous police cars and headed back toward Murdafest. I needed to find Oscar. I didn’t have much time. Mother could only stall the police for so long if the FBI was involved. Surely, they knew enough to come after me.