Nico
NICO
“Well done, Joe,” I said, patting one of my star pupils on the back. He had promise. He didn’t have as much natural ability as Rhett, but enough that he could make a good career out of racing cars if he chose to. “Good job today.”
“Thanks, ,” Joe said, a broad grin edging across his face. “See you soon.”
He disappeared into the changing area. I called over one of the mechanics to deal with the car, then set off back to the office. Halfway there, Adele came running toward me, hair flying behind her, a cell phone clutched in her hand.
“!” she yelled. “You need to take this. It’s Everly.”
I broke into a half run, half hobble and snatched the phone out of her hand. “Everly. I’m here.”
“It’s Rhett,” she gasped. “Paul’s taken him.”
My blood ran cold. “Where are you?”
“On my way to the school.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
My ankles screamed on the dash to my car, definitely not equipped for a full-on sprint. By the time I screeched out of the car park, the pain had left me light-headed. I reached into the glove box and hunted around for a bottle of painkillers. I swallowed two, praying they’d do the trick.
I pulled onto the freeway. Dammit. Backed-up traffic. I dove into the carpool lane. If a cop tried to stop me, good luck. I might not race for a living anymore, but I bet my Aston could outrun a cop car. As I weaved in and out between the traffic, several drivers leaned on their horns and made rude gestures.
I put in a call to Everly, but it went to voicemail. I took several breaths, trying to calm myself down. If that bastard Lawson had harmed one hair on Rhett’s head, I’d kill him.
By the time I reached the school, the pain in my bones had faded to a dull ache. I limped up to the entrance doors and made my way through the hallways, past the rows and rows of lockers, searching for the principal’s office. I found it and burst inside. Two uniformed cops, a woman in her forties I assumed to be the school principal, and Everly all turned their heads.
“Oh, .”
Everly leaped to her feet and threw herself at me. My arms automatically came around her, rage thickening my chest as I spotted the gash on the side of her head. That’s two crimes I’m gonna kill him for.
“What did he do, Everly?” I said, easing her back to get a good look at the cut. “What the fuck did he do to you? Jesus, that needs stitches.”
She shook her head, her fingertips going to her temple. “No time. We need to find Rhett.”
I urged her to retake her seat before she fell down. “What’s the plan?” I barked at the cops.
“Mrs. Lawson has given us a detailed description of Rhett as well as provided recent photographs. She’s also given us information on the man she thinks might be responsible, but for now we need to keep an open mind. We’ll get his details entered into NCIC. Rest assured, we’ll do everything we can to bring Rhett home safely and quickly.”
“It’s him, ,” Everly said, reaching for my hand. “I know it’s Paul. We argued. I told him I knew everything, and I was going to get a lawyer.” She let me go and buried her face in her hands. “I don’t even know how he got in. I locked up everywhere, like you said.” A sob broke from her throat, and her shoulders violently shook. “Oh God, what if he hurts him? He was so mad. He hit me and I fell.”
Blind rage sparked to life, but I tamped it down. Getting angry wouldn’t help Everly, nor would it bring Rhett back. I needed to keep a cool head for both of us.
I put my arm around her. “We’ll find him. I promise you. We’ll find him.”
The police urged us to return to Everly’s place in case Rhett had simply wandered off, and promised to keep in regular contact. The principal watched them leave, a wretched expression on her face. Having a child go missing under her watch was probably the worst thing that had happened in her professional career. I couldn’t help feeling a crumb of sympathy for her. Working with kids brought with it a constant state of worry. I should know.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Lawson,” she said. “If there is anything I can do?—”
Everly shook her head and unsteadily got to her feet. “Thank you,” she muttered, her shoulders bowed as she walked into the hallway. I followed. As soon as I closed the door behind me, Everly grabbed my arm.
“We have to find him ourselves, ,” she blurted. “Paul might be an ex-cop now, but I don’t trust the police not to try to protect one of their own.”
I widened my eyes. “Everly, come on. They wouldn’t do that.”
“Can you be one hundred percent sure of that?” she asked.
I rubbed my fingertips over my lips. “No.”
“Then let’s go.”
We left Everly’s truck at the school. My car was faster and more reliable. We decided to follow at least one piece of police advice and swing by her house just in case, as the cops suggested, Rhett had wandered off. It’d be completely out of character, according to what both Everly and I knew of him, but we had to rule it out first. I kept glancing sideways to check on her. That head injury looked nasty, almost as if she hit her head on something as she fell. After her place, the next stop should be the emergency room. If she collapsed, she’d be no use to Rhett. Once we made sure he wasn’t at home, I’d raise it with her again, urge her to be sensible.
I didn’t fancy my chances.
Everly jumped out of the car before I’d brought it to a complete stop, and sped up the path to her house. I followed as best I could, but the painkillers I’d swallowed on the way to the school weren’t having the effect I’d hoped for. Goddamn stupid fucking ankles.
“He’s not here,” she exclaimed by the time I’d reached the front door. “God, oh God. If something happens to him, I can’t… I can’t…”
She swayed on her feet. I caught her just in time. “Everly, you have to go to the hospital.”
“No,” she said weakly. “Not until I’ve found Rhett.”
“Jesus Christ,” I gritted out. “You’re no use to him if you collapse. You could have a head injury, for fuck’s sake.”
“Stop, ,” she said, eyes bleak. “Help me find him. Please.”
I sighed, defeated. “At least let me dress the wound. Please. It’ll take two minutes.”
She hesitated, then nodded. I led her into the living room, spying blood droplets on the corner of the coffee table. That must have been where she hit her head. Hell, no wonder she had a large gash. At least it wasn’t bleeding. A positive sign her blood had clotted, although without stitches, the slightest jolt could tear the wound back open again.
Using Everly’s home first-aid kit, I cleaned her up as best I could and taped a square of gauze to her temple. I still wasn’t happy, but equally, I understood—fuck, how I understood—her drive to find Rhett, to put him way above her own needs.
“Where was Paul staying?” I asked once I got her back in the car.
She turned to me with an anguished expression. “I never asked.” She rubbed her face. “Why didn’t I ask? Do you think that’s where he’s taken Rhett?”
I wrapped my fingers around hers and squeezed. “I don’t know, love, but he’ll be aware that the first thing we’ll do is call the police. Taking a child without permission, even if you are the biological father, is a serious offense. He won’t want to risk moving him in daylight. I’m banking on the fact that he’s taken Rhett back to where he’s been staying while he waits for nightfall.”
My guess, if forced to make one, was that this had been a spur-of-the-moment decision by Paul. He’d argued with Everly, then hit her, and she’d fallen and cracked her head on the side of the coffee table. Probably passed out immediately. He panicked, thinking he’d killed her or at least severely injured her, and so he’d gone over to the school and taken Rhett. I could only pray that he wouldn’t put the boy in harm’s way. That, somehow, his parental instinct kicked in.
“Where do we even begin?” Everly wrung her hands. “This is LA. There are a million hotels.”
“You said Paul had lost his job and that Nick Grayson told you he’d returned because he had nowhere else to go, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then we start with the cheapest motels in Wilmington. Once we’ve exhausted that batch, we look farther out. Okay?”
She bit down on her lip. “Yes.”
“While we’re driving, you keep your eyes peeled in case you see them on the street.”
“Got it,” she said.
I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Try not to worry.”
“That’s like asking me to try surviving without oxygen.”