Chapter 38TJ
The ride to Richmond seems to be taking ten times longer than it ever has before. By the time we make a pit stop just outside of Philadelphia halfway into our trip, my back is already hurting, and my fingers itch with emptiness.
Pulling out my phone, I plan to shoot Kaci a super filthy text, priming her for some video chat action I have planned once we get to our hotel for the night.
She must need me as much as I do her because I missed a call from her twenty minutes ago. Instead of the planned text, I opt to call, the promise of her voice too tempting to pass up. The phone rings a dozen times before her voicemail kicks in. I call again and again, but she doesn’t answer. Kaci doesn’t always carry her phone around with her, so I call the next best thing.
“Hey, sugar,” Xena purrs when she answers the phone.
“Can you tell Envy to get her phone?”
“Already missing her?” Xena laughs lightly, but from the sound of it, she’s walking through the clubhouse. “I can keep her warm while you’re gone.”
Her offer makes me frown, but she knows better, so I chuckle. “You keep your hands off my girl.”
“Afraid I’ll steal her away from you?”
“Fat fucking chance.”
“Hey, gorgeous.” A knock on a door echoes through the phone. “TJ said yo—”
She pauses, and fear skates down my spine.
“What is it?”
“She’s not here.”
“She has to be there. I told her not to fucking leave.”
“Does she always listen—”
I hang up the phone before Xena can even finish, and I’m calling her again. Over and over I call. Frantic and begging for her to pick up.
“What’s wrong?” Sonic asks as he replaces the gas nozzle back on the machine.
I’m about to answer him when another desperate call to Kaci is answered.
“Baby?” I say when I’m met with silence.
“He’s gone,” she whispers so low I can barely hear her.
I break off from Sonic, uncaring that all the guys are gassed up and ready to hit the road again. They can fucking leave without me for all I care. The girl on the phone is the only fucking person that matters to me right now.
“Who’s gone, baby?” I ask as I walk around behind the gas station, hoping it shields me from the noise of the traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike. It helps some, but not a lot. I cup my free hand over my ear to block everything out but her.
“My father had me abducted.” She’s stating a fact as if she has no emotion or is in shock.
“Fuck,” I grunt, hating that she’s discovered this and I’m not there to help her through it.
“My mom killed herself yesterday.”
Once again she delivers the news the same way she would let someone know they have mail on the counter or they missed an unimportant phone call.
Confused, my brows draw in. “And your dad is gone?”
“He said all these things.” Her voice cracks, the first sign of emotion before she continues, “He confessed to having those men take me, to hating me my whole life, to not being my real dad.”
Shit. I didn’t even know that part, but a lifetime of guilt swims in my gut for knowing the things I did know and not discussing those things with her while I had more control of the situation.
“He attacked me. I didn’t mean to kill him, but I couldn’t let him hurt me any longer.”
Unease settles low in my gut, and I walk from behind the gas station and wave down Briar.
“Everything will be okay,” I assure her as I motion for Briar to give me his phone. I type out a message letting him know what is going on, and that he needs to get my brother on the phone immediately.
“I have to call the police.” Her voice is weak and too soft, nothing like the vibrant girl I’ve held in my arms the last couple of days. She’s blossomed since I brought her to the clubhouse, and it kills me to hear the defeat in her voice.
“Baby, are you listening to me?” Silence fills the air again. “Do not call the police. We can take care of this without their help. Envy? Are you listening?”
“You’re too far away,” she finally says. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“Baby, I’m going to send someone to you until I can get there.”
Briar’s phone chimes, and he turns it around so I can read the message from Virus. It explains that he’s traced her phone back to her parents’ house.
“Kaci!” I snap. “Do not call the police. Do you hear me?”
“I’m so glad I met you, TJ.”
Terror fills my bones with the defeat in her voice.
“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me,” I confess. “I need you to be brave for me.”