Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 105921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
"I'm sure," Kane said. "He can play this differently if they can't get to anyone they can use against him."
"Okay," Thatcher whispered, sinking back into his seat, finally turning his head to me. His fingers still gripped mine with painful force. I didn't care. "Sorry, Mom."
A tear rolled down my cheek. "You're grounded for the rest of your life. And the next life. All your lives. You're grounded forever."
"Okay," he said, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.
"I'm not kidding," I said, ignoring the tears that spilled down my cheeks. I had my baby back. We were on the way home to August. Tenn was safe, despite his crazy moves in that motel room.
If we could just get to Heartstone in the next—I checked the clock on the dashboard—five hours and forty-five minutes, everything would be perfect.
And if we didn't, Tenn might hate me for the rest of his life.
He might, but at that moment, he looked completely relaxed. Glancing at me, then to Thatcher, he smiled, slow and sweet. "We got him," he said, his smile curving wider.
"Tenn—" I had too many words. I wasn't going to tell him I loved him with an audience. Especially not when one of them was my thirteen-year-old son who'd never met Tenn before. And I couldn't say I was sorry about the risk to his inheritance. Not yet. Not when we had a good chance of making it in time.
Tenn shook his head at me, telling me without words that I didn't need to say anything. But I did need to. Just not right then. It could wait. Twisting to face the seat behind him, he met Thatcher's curious gaze. "You've been making your mom crazy, you know."
Thatcher's face flooded with color. I waited for him to get pissed, but Tenn winked and Thatcher gave him a wobbly grin. "I usually do."
"No, you don't, not like this," I protested in a watery voice, my emotions ping-ponging all over the place. "When you leave your socks everywhere or when you forget your homework at school. Not by taking off with your dad when he screwed up a job for a bunch of criminals."
Thatcher dropped his head, scratching at a spot on his jeans with his free hand. "I didn't know, Mom. I thought it was one of his dumb friends. Like he owed them poker money or something and they broke in and took it. He was so freaked, I was worried he’d do something stupid. And then—" He sucked in a breath and let it out in a rush, giving me a hopeless look I hated. "I didn't know."
I leaned over and wrapped my arms around him, the seatbelt cutting into my side as I stretched across the wide seat. "I know, buddy. I know. I didn't think it was that serious either. Not until it was too late."
We held on to each other for a while, my face buried in his hair, his tucked under my chin. Hot tears hit my neck and I rubbed his back, knowing his young man's pride would not want the two men in the front to see him cry. "We're okay, baby. Everything is okay now."
"Dad?" he pleaded, looking for a reassurance I couldn't give him.
I'd always straddled the line between not bad-mouthing Elliott to his sons and not lying to make him look better. I didn't lie to my boys. If something wasn't their business, I told them so, but I didn't lie. I wasn't going to start now.
"Your dad made some bad choices, honey. Some really bad choices. I don't know if he knew how bad and decided to take the risk or if he got in over his head. He's involved with dangerous people, and I don't think we can help him with that except by staying out of the way."
"What if he needs us?" Thatcher pressed. Breaking my hold, he reached up to touch Kane's shoulder. "Can't you guys help him? Get him away from the Learys? Make them leave him alone?"
Kane shook his head, sending Thatcher a sympathetic glance. "Can't do it, kid. We don't aid and abet criminals. We have a lot of connections with law enforcement because we keep it clean and play by the rules." Considering, he added, "Mostly. We bend the rules here and there, but not enough to jeopardize those relationships. And we never work with organized crime. The boss has a real thing about that."
"But—" Thatcher protested.
Kane cut him off. "When we leave you in Knoxville, we're headed to Memphis. You know what we're doing there?"
Thatcher shook his head.
"We're helping a family recover their daughter, a three-year-old who was grabbed while they were on vacation. The father's a big exec, deep pockets, and apparently, the people who took her were watching the family for a while. We'd recommended heavier security more than once, but they didn't want to feel trapped. The kidnappers distracted them at an amusement park and snatched the girl."