25. Cale
cale
“What?” The panicked word is the first thing I hear as I leave the restaurant, finding Melanie standing on the sidewalk with her phone pressed to her ear. “Are you okay?” She’s listening intently, but at my footsteps, she whirls around, wide eyes meeting mine.
I close the distance, curling a hand around her neck, my thumb stroking the column of her throat. “What is it?”
Melanie doesn’t answer, not blinking as her eyes stay locked with mine. Her brow is furrowed, her eyes pinched with worry as she says into the phone, “We’ll be right there. No. Not Oakley. Don’t worry about it, okay? Just…don’t move.”
I hear a brittle laugh echo through the speaker, and then someone says, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Melanie ends the call, her hand dropping to her side as she steps closer to me, almost like she’s using me as a shield. Satisfaction spills into my chest, and I pull her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, holding her to me.
“What happened, darlin’?”
“It’s Rosie,” she whispers. “Someone tried to break into her house.”
My spine straightens as tension rockets through me. “Is she okay? Is Nell?”
Melanie tips her chin back, her eyes softening as she stares at me. “I think so. I need to get over there.” She glances around, her expression lost. “Oakley…Harrison…”
I grip her chin between my thumb and fingers, turning her back to me.
“Harrison able to drive yet?” Melanie doesn’t pull away, bobbing her head in a tiny nod that doesn’t break my hold on her.
If anything, she’s leaning into me, absorbing my support like I’m her lifeline.
“So we call Harrison, and have him take Oakley home to Jaz, yeah? And I’ll take you to Rosie. ”
“You don’t have to—”
“Just say yes, darlin’,” I cut in, leaning down to press my forehead to hers. “You’re not alone here, and I’m not letting you go by yourself. Just accept my help.”
Her stormy eyes search mine for a beat. And then another. Finally, she exhales the softest sigh, her lashes fluttering.
“Okay.” It’s a whisper of sound—an olive branch of trust—letting me be here for her when not so long ago, she would have run in the opposite direction.
My chest is inexplicably tight. “Good girl,” I murmur, giving her one last hug before taking her phone out of her limp grasp. “What’s your code?” She tells me, and I unlock it, pulling up Harrison’s number—at the top of the goddamn list—and connecting the call.
He answers after the first ring. “It safe to bring him back?”
“Hey, man, it’s Cale. Look, something’s happened with Rosie. I’m going to drive Melanie over there. Are you able to take Oakley home? My sister’s at their place, and I’ll message, letting her know you’re coming.”
“No problem,” he says, clearly sensing my urgency. “Is everything okay? Anything I can do?”
Harrison is a good guy, but I’m not quite ready to forgive the fact that he was out on a date with my woman. I battle the irrational jealousy down, knowing it’s neither the time nor the place for it. “I’ve got it from here. Thank you. Just let us know when Oakley is home safe.”
Melanie startles in my arms. I look down, finding her eyes on me, her expression unreadable. But then she loops an arm around my waist, giving me more of her weight. My breath catches in my throat, my world finally feeling right after months of being out in the cold.
“Will do,” Harrison says in my ear, and then he’s gone.
I slide Melanie’s phone into my pocket and press a kiss to her temple, pretending I don’t notice the way she shivers at the brief touch. “Come on, darlin’. Let’s get going.”
I hustle her into my truck, making sure she’s belted in before doing mine up and pulling out onto the road. The drive to Rosie’s place is silent, neither of us moving to turn the radio on. Melanie sits with her head straight, her fingers clenched against her thighs.
“She’s okay,” I remind her. “Rosie’s okay.”
“I know,” she says softly without looking at me.
As we turn onto Rosie’s street, the dark night is lit up with swirling reds and blues, taking me back to a different night.
I ease the truck to the side of the road, killing the engine.
Melanie doesn’t move, her face pale, so I reach over the console, snagging her hand and tangling our fingers together.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
My swallow is loud in the heavy silence. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” I rasp unevenly. Melanie watches me knowingly, like she’s aware exactly of what she’s doing to me. “Come on, darlin’. Let’s go find Rosie and Nell.”
She drags in a breath before getting out. I follow suit, rounding the front of the truck and following her over to the crowd gathered outside Rosie’s house.
A group of people are huddled at the end of the driveway, watching the drama unfold. Three officers with stern expressions are standing around a group of kids huddling together on the grass. Two other officers stand near the front door of the house.
“There,” Melanie says, pointing at a frozen figure standing beside a cruiser. Rosie has a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and Nell is in her arms. The sight is a little too reminiscent of how I found Melanie and Oakley all those months ago. I shake it off as we approach them.
“Rosie,” Melanie calls, and she turns to us, eyes glazed and unfocused. “You okay, honey?”
“I…” Her mouth opens and closes several times.
Her expression is shell-shocked in a way that I’ve seen on other people—not for a long time, and in a very different place.
Rosie glances down at her daughter, who looks around us, her own eyes wet.
Rosie’s shaking gets worse, either because of Nell’s weight or the adrenaline draining out of her.
I step forward. “Give Nell to me.”
Without giving Rosie a chance to tell me no, I slide my arms around Nell and pull her into my chest, hooking an arm under her legs for her to “sit” on.
Nell doesn’t protest, even as her head swivels to keep her mom in sight.
She leans her head against my shoulder, her little body obviously exhausted.
With Rosie’s arms free, Melanie moves forward and pulls her friend into a tight hug, swaying gently with the younger woman. “Tell me what happened.”
“It was kids,” Rosie whispers dazedly. I frown over at the group still sitting on the grass.
“A group of teenagers. My mom has gone to visit a friend out of town, so I took Nell to watch that movie about the superhero pets. A mommy and daughter date. Nell started feeling sick, so we came home early. I was just putting her to bed when I heard—” She breaks off with a shudder.
“I heard the glass smash, and then this horrible banging, and I just…” A dry sob leaves her throat.
“Melanie, my mind immediately went back to that night, and I froze. I couldn’t move.
It felt like I was made of ice. Nell started crying when another window was smashed, and that’s when I called the police. ”
I’ve only heard rumors about Rosie’s story, but the woman in front of me is someone who’s been through the darkest of nights and seen the worst of humanity. My heart breaks for her, knowing the fear these children inflicted has sent her spiraling straight back into the abyss.
I step closer, stopping when she flinches.
“You did everything right, Rosie,” I say firmly. “Your mind was working against you, but you protected yourself, and you protected Nell.” She gives a slow blink, and I have no idea if my words are penetrating the fog. “You did everything right,” I repeat.
She shakes her head, but Melanie doesn’t let her get a word out. “Cale’s right, Rosie. Nell’s safe because of you.”
Her eyes are flicking between the two of us before settling on Nell, who’s just watching quietly. Rosie’s mouth trembles, her eyes filling with tears, and she turns her head away, burying it in Melanie’s shoulder.
“I was so scared,” she whispers. “It was like every nightmare I’ve ever had coming true, and Nell—” Her shoulders shake, but she muffles the sound, hiding her pain from her daughter.
“I know.” Melanie strokes a hand over her back. “You’re okay now. Nell is okay.”
They stand like that for a long, silent moment.
A police officer approaches, his eyes sympathetic as he looks at Rosie.
“Ma’am, the house has been cleared for you to go back inside, but with the windows broken and the graffiti on the outside”—he grimaces—“it might be better to sleep somewhere else tonight.”
“Graffiti?” Melanie demands. “What graffiti?”
“The door,” the officer says quietly, eyes drifting to where Nell is nestled against my shoulder. I look over at the house, seeing the word I missed when we first arrived—the word whore sprayed over the dark wood of Rosie’s front door in red spray paint.
“What the fu-fudge,” I growl, the soft weight of Nell in my arms grounding my furious anger as I glare over at the group of teenagers. Their expressions range from guilty, petulant, and smug.
Nell stirs, her fingers tapping my cheek. I look down at her as she tells me, “Mom says we’re not allowed to paint or draw on the walls. They weren’t being very nice to our house.”
I hug her tighter, her apple-scented shampoo filling my nose. “No,” I agree. “They weren’t being nice, were they? They broke the rules.”
“Are they in trouble now?”
“Yeah, Nell.” As I look back over at the kids, one of them shifts, revealing a smaller body sitting behind him, half-hidden. Familiarity smacks into me, my breathing hissing out in a rush.
Melanie looks at me curiously. “What’s wrong?”
I glance down at the girl in my arms, at Rosie, and then at Melanie. “I know one of them,” I say quietly, tilting my head toward the group.
The officer perks up. “None of them are talking yet. They seem to think the longer they hold out, the better it’ll be with their folks.” His tone conveys how stupid he thinks that is. “Which one do you know?”
“The youngest one,” I say grimly. “His name is Ryan Gordon. His father is Levi Gordon, the owner of Onyx Security.” I glance at Melanie, telling her meaningfully, “And his aunt is—”