Chapter 5
Five
Jackson’s breath stalled in his throat. Unbidden, a scene filled his mind.
“Jackson, I love you.” Mia stared up at him, her dark eyes luminous with tears, the thick fringe of lashes damp.
Her skin, normally rosy, was pale in the shade where they stood behind the bleachers.
No one was around. They’d skipped the last class to talk.
Her dark ponytail swung nearly to her trim waist. She reached for him.
His fingers itched to run through her hair, even as heat simmered in his veins.
“I can’t be a father, Mia! You know that! I need to go to college, to make something of my life. I can’t do that if I’m raising a kid. I’m only sixteen!”
Her face grew even paler.
The tears dried, and her lips trembled, but the rest of her froze, like an ice princess. “I thought you said we could do anything if we loved each other.”
“But we’re too young!” He swung away from her. He needed space. When he looked back over his shoulder, she was watching him, her hands pressed against her flat stomach.
His baby.
“Jackson.” Distrust shivered in her tone. “I didn’t expect to see you.”
How could he have mistaken that young girl for Mia?
Mia’s hair hung in a thick braid over her shoulder.
He recalled the rich color, like dark chocolate, and the soft feel of it.
Her brown eyes, once so warm when she looked at him, froze him in place.
She wore a simple sleeveless dress, the hem brushing her knees.
No jewelry except for delicate hoop earrings.
She had never needed accessories to amplify her natural beauty.
Twelve years ago, he’d thought Mia was the prettiest girl in the school. Now, she robbed him of his breath.
Even though he bore part of the blame, what she’d done was almost impossible to forgive. He’d try, because God wanted him to. But seeing her brought back all the anger and bitterness he’d thought he’d left in the past.
“If it weren’t for Dylan, I wouldn’t be here.”
A flicker of uncertainty danced across her face. “Dylan? He didn’t come to his IEP meeting.”
She bit her lip, as if she regretted saying that much.
She swiped an errant curl behind her ear with slim fingers.
The fact that she could still fascinate him burned. This was the woman who had aborted their child. Maybe if I hadn’t been such a jerk, she wouldn’t have felt that was her only option. Her parents wouldn’t have supported her.
But she knew Dylan and might be able to offer some clues.
“I know things ended badly for us in high school. But I need to find my brother. I thought you might know where he is.”
“Why would I know?”
“Because you’re his teacher. And you know all of his friends. Don’t teachers hear things?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t heard anything. It’s summer. I won’t see any of them until next week.”
He blinked. He hadn’t considered that. This had been a waste of time. Sighing, he began to turn away from her. The less time they spent together, the better.
“Jackson.”
Reluctantly, he pivoted slowly to face her again. “Yeah?”
“Why’d you do it?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I trusted you. I never expected you to be cruel.”
Cruel? “Mia, I know I got angry. But I don’t think I was that mean. I was shocked!”
She huffed. “Please. You made me feel so cheap. I couldn’t hold my head up anymore. I know you didn’t want our baby.”
He tensed. “I was young when I said that. You didn’t give me a chance to get used to the idea!”
“Give you a chance? I told you, you rejected me, and the next thing I know, the whole school is talking about me. I was forced off the cheerleading team! Because I was a ‘bad influence.’” She made air quotes.
The breath left him. “Wait. You don’t think I had something to do with the rumors?”
She narrowed her eyes. “No one else knew. You ruined my reputation, Jackson. After telling me how much you loved me, you destroyed me. I left Renegade the first chance I got, and I only came back because Gus was sick.”
He remembered the feisty old lady. Queasiness hit him. Had someone overheard their conversation that morning behind the bleachers?
“Mia, I promise. I had nothing to do with the rumors.”
Tears flooded her eyes. For a moment, the vulnerability, the hurt, broke through.
Then her icy mask was back. “You and my friends meant the world to me. And you took it all away.”
“Your parents—”
“My parents treated me like a leper. I had no one.”
His heart pounded in his ears. Even though he hadn’t spread the rumors, someone had found out. He had gotten her pregnant, convinced her to take that step. A step he’d known was supposed to be for marriage only.
“I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I never wanted to hurt you.” The words sounded hollow.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and sighed. “Forget it. It was over ten years ago. I’ve moved on.”
But clearly she hadn’t. There was no ring on her finger. No pictures of family or friends decorated her desk, unlike the other desk in the room, which had pictures sitting on it and tacked on the board behind it.
Mia’s area looked empty and forlorn in comparison.
He couldn’t go there. He lifted his chin.
He had a mission. Dylan needed him. He knew what it was like to have no one on your side. “Look. I know you want me gone. I don’t want to be here either. But my brother is missing. I know I let you down in the past, but I’m not that person anymore. I won’t abandon him.”
Mia stared at him, measuring him. “Dylan’s one of my favorite students. He works so hard, and he’s never given me any attitude. I heard he’s on a camping trip. With Reggie?”
“That’s what Reggie told his mom. I don’t know if I believe that. Reggie might not check in with his mom, but Dylan always checks in. And his phone has been turned off for two days.”
“He might not have electricity. Or internet.”
“He’d find a way. I’m sure of it.” And he was. “After our grandfather died, Dylan worried about being alone. He’d never make me worry, no matter how disappointed he was.”
Her eyebrows rose.
Oh. She didn’t know. “I was denied custody by the judge.”
“That’s awful.” For the first time, anger for him and not against him lit her eyes. “Are you going to appeal?”
“Absolutely.”
“Look, I don’t know anything. But if I hear anything, I’ll let you know. I want Dylan found too.” She chewed her lower lip for an instant. “What’s your phone number?”
He recited his number.
She checked her phone. “Here it is. I’ll add you to my contacts so I know it’s you.”
Jackson nodded and left. He couldn’t ask for more, and standing around here was wasting precious time.
Funny. He’d always expected Mia to end up as a CEO or some kind of socialite.
She had the looks and the intelligence to do whatever she wanted.
So why was she back here, working in the poorest high school in the district as a learning support teacher, instead of in one of the more affluent parts of town?
He didn’t remember her being so cold though. Determined, yes. Even an overachiever. But the woman he’d seen today had been frosty, icicles dripping from her words. He probably should have expected it. They hadn’t parted well.
These were questions he couldn’t answer, and he had no time to do a deep dive into the complex personality of Mia Turner. He had a brother to find.
Despite everyone’s assertion that Dylan would come home when he was ready, every instinct he possessed shouted that the two boys were in trouble so deep they couldn’t dig themselves out. He needed to find them.
He was positive Cynthia would file a police report.
She was a good foster mom. But still, it was beyond him to sit back and let others try to locate Dylan and do nothing about it himself.
He knew his brother. As mad as he was, Dylan wouldn’t stay away and let others worry about him.
He wasn’t that self-centered. He did care what others thought.
Jackson’s pager went off. Even though he wasn’t on duty, he liked to know what was going on. Sliding into his truck, he increased the volume and set the device in the cup holder, next to his half-empty bottle of Mountain Dew.
The pager crackled for a moment, then the voice of the day-shift dispatcher, Vickie Swift, blasted through the static.
“All units, be advised. Hit-and-run just occurred at the corner of Locust and Spring involving a twenty-five-year-old female with minor injuries. Suspect’s vehicle last seen heading south toward Parkway Drive.
EMS en route. Requesting nearest unit for response. ”
“Locust. Locust. Why do I feel I should know that street?”
Jackson started the engine. He should go home. It had been a long day. He needed to find out who Dylan hung out with besides Reggie. Maybe one of them would have some information.
But some instinct kept nudging him. This call was important. He put the address into his GPS.
“Ok, God. I’m taking this as direction from the Holy Spirit. I need to go there.”
He turned onto Locust. Natalie and Chase were already on scene.
“Doc!” Chase greeted him. “I thought you were off duty.”
“I am.” He’d come in early to cover a paramedic from the night shift, so the chief had let him leave at two. “But I heard the call and thought you might need a hand.”
“We’d never turn down another paramedic.”
Jackson gazed around. “This is where Augusta Turner lives.”
“Yeah. You know her? She used to run the daycare I went to as a kid. Sweet lady.”
“Hmmm.” He didn’t want to explain that he and Mia had been there together a couple of times.
He jogged over to Natalie, who was wrapping a bandage around a young woman’s leg. The mid-twenties woman wore jogging shorts and a tank top and sat on the curb. Various scrapes and bruises marked her skin, and her entire left side was one long friction burn.
A small crowd of onlookers clustered on the sidewalk.