That pissed me off. But that would be something I’d work through as time went on.
Right now, I was looking at what I had and what to do with it.
I heard a whistle and I looked toward the beach again.
Nero was walking toward me.
Lars, Paxton, and Turner hung back.
Nero didn’t wave or nod.
He looked pissed.
“Think we have a problem,” he called out.
“Like what?” I asked as I stepped toward him.
“I think your boys are up to no good.”
“My boys?”
“Salty and Dickhead,” Nero said.
“Who?” Then it hit me. “Simon and Darius?”
“There you go.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“Something weird is going on,” Nero said. “Saw some big SUV cruising around. Looked way out of place. The entire vibe was no good. We tried to go after it but no luck. Fuckers threw shit at us. Bricks.”
“Bricks,” I said.
I thought about my car.
The window.
The brick.
The note.
“I don’t like this, Elijah,” Nero said. “I’m talking to you out of respect. Before anything happens.”
“It’s not them, Nero. Simon and Darius have nothing to do with HCH.”
“Then who would it be?”
I took the last drag off my cigarette and flicked it away. “Fucking Ryland.”
“No offense, Elijah, but I don’t do the ghosts or zombies thing unless it’s Halloween.”
“Whoever took him out, Nero,” I said. “I think they’re after me.”
“The last time you thought that a chick showed up with a baby.”
“Yeah, I know. And I think by coming to town and pushing at the situation…”
“You pissed them off,” Nero said.
“Fuck,” I said. “Look, man, I’m with my daughter right now. Let me see if I can get in touch with Rory or something. We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m going to do what I have to do,” Nero said. “To clear my own head on it.”
I nodded.
Nero was going to pick a fight with the guys that were once my closest friends.
More bridges burning and while I didn’t need to cross those bridges, I certainly didn’t need the heat from them either.
Nero and I looked each other down as though we were ready to fight.
He stuck his right hand out first.
I slammed my hand to his.
“Nero. I’ll make sure this all goes away. Whatever Ryland was into…”
“Hey, it’s simple,” Nero said. “If they want to fuck with us, we’ll fuck right back.”
I took my hand away from his and walked back to the house.
I waited until I was out of sight before I started to run.
I needed a backup plan now.
Calling Rory… that would only make us closer. Or if she felt that Cecily was in danger…
I gritted my teeth as I hurried through the house.
Something caught the corner of my eye.
The front door to the house was open.
Not all the way wide open, but cracked open. Like someone hurried out and didn’t pull the door hard enough to shut it.
I ran to the front door and looked outside.
Everything was in place.
I shut the door and locked it.
I hurried my way upstairs with my mind racing once again. And my stomach was twisted and burning.
This feeling of… oh, shit… was going through me in a way I didn’t like at all.
When I saw my bedroom and Cecily’s bedroom doors were both open, I froze.
“Nova?” I called out.
I ran down the hallway and could see my bed.
It was empty.
I noticed then that Cecily’s bedroom light was turned on.
When I made the turn to enter the room, I froze again.
My eyes moved to the crib.
“Nova?” I called out again.
I looked around.
There were clothes on the floor.
A blanket on the floor.
But there was no sign of…
“Nova!” I yelled as loud as I could.
I managed to take one step before my right leg gave out.
I fell to one knee and slid my right hand across the floor.
“I’m so sorry,” a voice said from across the room.
I turned my head. “Where is she?”
Nova shook her head… “She’s gone.”
Want more #hch?
Book 2 is titled HIDDEN CREEK ALWAYS and it’s AVAILABLE … just go to Amazon.com and type in ‘Jaxson Kidman Hidden Creek Always’ to order your copy today!
But… here’s a little preview of the book before you order!
* * *
HIDDEN CREEK ALWAYS
Chapter 1
Elijah
There were voices in my head. And each one tried to talk louder than the other. I used to be able to tell those voices to shut the fuck up. To calm down and go away. That was when it was only a couple voices. The whole notion of right and wrong. The angel and the devil, right? I was born with two devils though. There was one who was mean. He loved to stir up trouble and laughed at it. Then there was the other devil. This motherfucker wanted to watch the world burn. The closest thing I ever had to an angel in the mix was when I had Nova in my arms.
But now the voices were unstoppable. And there were so many.
I heard the voice of Rosemary. Shrieking when she came home to find the police at her house once again. My father holding her as she freaked out, the memories of the night Ryland died playing through her memory. The voices of the police and detectives. Asking a hundred questions. Over and over. The voice of Rory as I had to tell her what had happened. Knowing she was going to attack me in every way possible. Knowing I needed to keep the attention on me so she didn’t blame Nova. The voice of Nova. Crying. Explaining what happened over and over. Hating herself for being there when it happened.
The voices of everyone else… again with the bullshit condolences. The small whispers of rumors throughout HCH and Tech. So much so that I stopped going. Same for Nova.
That was okay though.
Nothing mattered more than finding Cecily.
Nothing would stop me.
There was no way in hell Cecily was going to stay missing forever. Or get hurt.
This was all tied to Ryland.
To the money I stupidly gave him after feeling heartbroken over breaking up with Nova at the end of last summer. When I gave her a note that made it clear it was done for good. I wanted her to find true love and have a great life without me. And then I decided to derail my life by getting involved with some scheme that Ryland was a part of. I had no idea what the money was ever used for. What I did know was that it left Ryland dead and me searching for answers.
It was all my fault.
Rory getting pregnant.
Me messing with Nova’s heart.
And now Cecily missing…
“I know where it is,” Nero said to me. “But I’m still sticking by what I said. This is fucked up.”
I flung the mostly empty bottle of whiskey by its skinny neck off the road and turned to face Nero.
The tension between us was intense.
He still wanted to go after Simon and Darius. Even though he knew he was wrong for wanting to do so.
“I have to do it,” I said. “No waiting. Make sure they know that I know.”
“If they had anything to do with…”
“Nero,” I said. “I’ll drive myself.”
“You’re hammered, man.”
“Point?”
“You just can’t ever pull shit together for a second, can you?”
“You’re not my father,” I said. “Hell, I have no father. And my mother… she’s trying to put up pictures of Cecily on telephone poles, making a case
for herself as this lonely and heartbroken grandmother.” I put my hand to Nero’s shoulder. “She never met Cecily, brother. They’re all fucked up. So I’m going to fix this. You said you found the SUV. So let’s go talk.”
“It’s just me and Lars right now,” Nero said.
“Paxton and Turner…”
“Don’t worry about them. It’s just us.”
“I just need you to take me there,” I said. “That’s it. Don’t even show your face.”
“Why?” Nero asked. “What are you planning on doing?”
I walked to the back driver’s side door of Nero’s ride and opened it.
I looked at him and nodded. “I want to remind myself that I can still feel pain.”
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Look for more heart wrenching, emotional upcoming novels including:
A LETTER TO DELILAH
THE WRONG SIDE
* * *
Other bestselling novels by Jaxson include:
5 Years Later
Somebody Else (& Nobody Else)
Dear Everly,
Imagine Us
Anna’s Dress
Let You Go
When I’m Gone
What You Don’t Know
Every Other Weekend
Check out the books here:
Jaxson’s Amazon Page
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. (This also includes the cover image and/or cover model(s) appearing on the cover. The context of this book does not in any way depict the personal life of said cover model(s). Image is licensed and used purely for fictional purpose only.)
First electronic edition November 2019
Copyright © 2019 by Jaxson Kidman
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.
Copyright image iStock/DepositPhotos
Copyright cover Cosmic Letters
HIDDEN CREEK CRY: a hidden creek high noval Page 21