by Cole Baxter
“He’s probably just checking on my mom. Believe it or not, they’ve known each other a very long time. They may act like they hate each other, but deep down, I think there is a bond.”
“I don’t know why anyone would want to bond with him. He’s got a short fuse and a bad temper.”
“Please, let’s not start in on this again. He’s here, though. Shouldn’t that take him off the suspect list?”
“Not in my mind, sorry. There is something off about that man, and I’m going to figure out what it is.”
“Does it have to be today? I just want to go lie down. This whole afternoon has been a rollercoaster and I’m ready to get off.”
His eyes softened as he nodded his head and put the car in park. “Of course.”
“I feel bad that you don’t have a car here.”
“Actually . . .” He shuffled his feet a little. “My partner is picking me up so we can go back over the scene, but she won’t be here for a few minutes. If it’s okay, I’d like to talk to your mom too. She was pretty distraught when we spoke at the hospital. I’m hoping a little time and space have eased her mind some.”
“Good luck,” I muttered. “She’s been pretty chilly toward me since this whole thing happened.”
“There is something else that I need to talk to you about. When I was on the phone with Hayden, she let me know that they’re releasing Jenkins.”
“What?” I asked. “How can they let that pedophile go after what he said in the interrogation room?”
“He didn’t outright admit to anything, and his lawyer basically laughed off the charges when they found out you stormed in.”
“Oh, my God,” I gasped. “So, he is back on the street and it’s my fault? How could this get any worse?”
“Don’t beat yourself up. I still don’t think he’s very involved in the case, if he’s involved at all, but this way, we can put a couple of guys on him and watch him. Sometimes, suspects break open the case for you without ever knowing it. Either way, he’s back on our radar now and won’t be slipping through the cracks again.”
“I guess something good came out of all of this then. Ready?” I asked him, looking up at my house.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he said.
I hid the laughter that was rising up in my chest. He looked like a teen boyfriend going to meet a terrifying parent for the first time. I liked the way he looked, a little nervous but still confident that he knew what he was doing. My mother would give him a run for his money. With Jacob there, I would just be happy if we all made it out relatively unscathed. I couldn’t understand why Jacob hated Reyes so much when he was only trying to find my son.
As we made our way up the walkway and onto the porch, I could hear voices talking heatedly inside. Though I didn’t know what they were saying, I had to assume that nothing good could come from the two of them left alone and fighting. I turned the knob, but the door was locked. For a second, I fumbled with my keys until Reyes took them from me and gently slid the key into the lock. I flushed a deep red at his closeness and whispered a ‘thanks.’
“Anytime,” he whispered back.
Our eyes locked, the heat between us growing more intense with every moment we spent in close quarters with each other. I would have been happy to stand on the porch with him all night, had it not been for my missing son and the approaching footsteps. Jacob jerked open the door, looking over the scene that he’d just witnessed. He was flushed red, beads of sweat dripping down his speckled brow and onto his pressed white shirt.
“Jacob!” I said, trying to muster up any kind of excitement at seeing him. It continued to elude me. “I was just getting ready to give you a call.”
An awkward silence filled the air as Jacob tried to stare down Gabriel. Though he outweighed him by at least fifty pounds, Jacob would never win over the police officer in a combat situation. He didn’t seem to get the memo, though, as his chest puffed out and he took a step closer to the detective.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Jacob hissed at him.
Gabriel laughed at Jacob’s attempt at a threat. It was going to be a long afternoon after all.
Chapter Thirteen
Gabriel, much to his credit, took the attempt at hostility in stride. He didn’t seem nearly as flustered by the confrontation as I felt. I swallowed hard, waiting for Gabriel to say something.
“Well, my name is Detective Reyes. I’m helping with Annabeth’s case.”
“I know who you are. Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot. Why are you here?” Jacob demanded. Before Gabriel could respond, Jacob turned his attention and anger toward me. “So, this is why you didn’t call me back? You were with him.”
“He was just driving me home,” I said quickly as I shoved my way past him.
Mom was still sitting at the kitchen table. She’d made no effort to get up when she saw it was just me at the door. I hated the tension in our house. I hated that she resented me for Tom’s injuries. More than anything, I wished I could take back the entire situation and flee the state with Gregory. We never would have looked back if I’d only known the pain and heartache that my presence there would bring her.
“Mom,” I said in a monotone. “How was work? Short day?”
“Am I not allowed to come home and have a cup of coffee?”
“It just seems a little out of character for you in the middle of the day. Especially with Jacob.”
“Jacob and I go way back, but you probably don’t remember that.”
“No,” I muttered as I sat down. “I do. I just don’t ever remember you two spending time together.”
“And I don’t remember you telling me you were dating a cop,” she snapped.
I rolled my eyes, my attention now split between my mother and Jacob, who I knew was listening to every word I was saying, even if he didn’t appear so. The already tense situation was heightened by the rush of testosterone in the room. It was Gabriel who finally broke the silence, stepping around Jacob and into the house. I could see how much it drove Jacob mad, and a smug smile played on my lips, though I tried to hide it.
“Ma’am,” Reyes started as he approached my mother. “I was hoping you’d have a second to talk. How is your son doing?”
“I’ve already told you people everything I know. I don’t see why you keep harassing my family.”
“Mom,” I snapped. “He saved my life today when that maniac was following me!”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, don’t you think you are being a little dramatic?”
“No, mother.” I glared at her. “The man shot out my window.”
“How do you know that he was trying to kill you?” Jacob interrupted.
“Because he shot at me! How hard is that for you people to understand!” I screamed.
“Annabeth,” Gabriel said in a soothing tone.
I took a deep breath, reminding myself that I didn’t need to lose my temper over little things. There were much bigger pictures that we needed to focus on.
“Ma’am?” Reyes pressed.
Mom rolled her eyes. “Oh, fine, if I have to.”
She stood up with a dramatic flourish and stormed into the kitchen, smacking her leg as if she was calling for a dog to follow her. I wanted to flick her in the forehead for being so disrespectful to the law. It didn’t matter the circumstances. There were certain people you just owed respect to. Especially when it was someone who was trying to help find your grandson and who saved your daughter’s life. I sighed, looking down at my hands as I tried to remind myself that she was in pain too.
“So now you are ditching me for cops?” Jacob grumbled from behind me.
I sighed. “I wasn’t ditching you for anyone. God, what is wrong with you people? After the police station, he offered to drive me home. I was a little emotional, to say the least.”
“Then you should have called me.”
“There was no reason to. Gab—” I clenched my jaw. “Detective Reyes was there and offered. I
t was a good thing he did, too, because that maniac who took Gregory tried to off us!”
“Annabeth, you should have called me. I could have kept you a lot safer than that scrawny officer. You know he’s just trying to get into your pants, right?”
“Jesus, Jacob, don’t you have any class? It was a ride home, and one which I was grateful for. What are you doing here, anyway? Since when do you and my mother have long talks while I’m gone?”
“Since when do you go running around and turning off your phone? I was worried about you. I came over here to make sure that you were okay. It wasn’t until your mother told me you messaged her that I was finally able to take a deep breath again.”
“Well, you shouldn’t always be worrying about me. I’m a grown woman. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“I hope you don’t think of me as a babysitter, just a concerned friend who knows what a hard time you are having right now. I guess I just wanted a firsthand update on what the police were doing to find Gregory.”
“Well, now you have it,” I snapped.
I felt him tense behind me and moved around in the seat so my back wasn’t to him. I hated not being able to see the people I was talking to. It was a latent fear stemming from my own kidnapping. When Gregory came home, he would have so many of the same problems as me. I shuddered and squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to think about the worst possible outcome. Jacob reached out and squeezed my shoulder. Instinctively, I jerked away from him and sprang to my feet.
“Do not touch me,” I hissed in a harsher tone than intended.
His face flushed red, rage apparent underneath his thin exterior. My back was to the door when my mother and Gabriel, now chatting like old friends, appeared behind me. They could sense the tension in the room. Gabriel lightly touched my arm to get my attention. The sensation didn’t make me jump though. I looked at him and smiled, nodding my head in reassurance that I was fine.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jacob hissed. He was now seeing red.
“Is there a problem here?” Gabriel asked, his gaze leveled on Jacob but his hand still lightly touching my arm.
“No,” I quickly replied. “I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day, though, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Perfect timing,” Gabriel said with his easy smile. “Hayden is waiting for me outside.”
“That your girlfriend?” Jacob spat out.
Gabriel wasn’t fazed. “My partner, when I need one, of course. I prefer to work alone on most cases, but I want to make sure Annabeth and Gregory are getting the best the station has to offer right now.”
Jacob rolled his eyes. “If you’d done your job the first time, this never would have happened.”
“Well, I wasn’t with the force at that time, but since you seem to be older, maybe you’d like to come down to the station and fill in some details.”
“Are you threatening me?” Jacob snapped, stepping closer to Gabriel.
Reyes looked amused but not concerned. “Of course not. You just seem very involved in the case. I thought you could offer some extra insight.”
“If it will keep you away from Annabeth, then I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Come now, we are working on a missing persons case. Even if I could cut Annabeth out of the loop, I would never do it. She has a right to the information far more than you do.”
“All you are doing is dredging up bad memories and making her life hell. Do you think you’re a bigger man for that?” snapped Jacob.
“Jacob!” I said in shock. “This needs to stop right now. Gabriel, I’ll talk with you soon, but I think it’s best if you leave.”
He smiled at me, squeezing my arm gently, though I knew it was more to irritate Jacob than for my own benefit. It didn’t matter. Either way, his touch on my skin felt right, almost natural. I walked him back to the front door and smiled as he waved at me from the car. He was a good man, that much I knew to be true. I could count the people I trusted on one hand, and he was now one of them.
I turned around to see my mother heading back to the kitchen. Part of me wanted to beg her to stay in the room, but I knew it was a lost cause. She and Jacob had worked out whatever differences they had and now it was my turn. At some point, I knew that we were going to have to talk about how she felt toward me, but for now, I was content to let Jacob have the brunt end of my anger.
“What the hell was that?” I snapped at him right away. “Gabriel has done nothing but help me out these last few days. You have no right to be so rude to him!”
“I don’t like the way he looks at you or the way he touches you! I would never get away with doing something like that!”
“Well, maybe it’s okay when he does it. Have you ever stopped to think about that?”
“Wow.” His eyes grew wide before darkening. “I never thought that you would be the type to go screwing around while your son was missing.”
“Fuck you,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Jacob sucked in a sharp breath, his cheeks flaming red again. “What did you just say?”
“Argh!” I yelled in frustration. “Why are you even here? Jesus, Jacob, it’s like everywhere I look, you are right there, giving me a hard time. Of course, I’m not sleeping with him! That’s all you ever think about, whether I’m screwing around with someone. Well guess what? It’s none of your damn business who is in my personal life.”
“That’s because until you met that prick with a badge, you didn’t have a personal life! It’s a little strange that Gregory goes missing and suddenly, you are cuddle buddies with a cop.”
“Do you even hear how crazy you sound? Acting like this is some master plot of Gabriel’s? God, have you lost your mind?”
“If I have, it’s because of you and the way you lead people on.”
“Jeeze, what are you talking about now?”
“I thought we were getting coffee after your meeting with the pig, and you bailed on me, again. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.”
“I didn’t bail on you, asshole. I was helping them to eliminate a suspect. Isn’t that what this is all about? Finding Gregory? For someone who acts like they are so concerned, you sure do have your priorities mixed up. God, you are more worried about who I’m sleeping with than finding my son.”
His eyes widened, his mouth dropping open. “So, you are sleeping with him?”
I wanted to tell him ‘yes’, that we were having a wild, torrid affair instead of looking for my son, who was the only important man in my life. But I couldn’t get the lie to form on my lips. I didn’t want to run Gabriel’s name through the mud just because I was fighting with a man who’d been part of my life for over a decade. Instead, I childishly shrugged my shoulders, not committing to one single answer.
“I knew it. I’ll fucking kill him,” he hissed.
“Oh, for the love of God,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no, we are not sleeping together. When I told you our relationship was just professional, I meant it.”
“But you let him touch you,” Jacob seethed.
I shrugged. “It’s not really something I can control. The first time he did it, I wasn’t freaked out at all.”
“Yeah? How many other men can touch you like that? Or am I special in your disgust?”
“Please, Jacob, can we not do this again right now? It’s been a long day and I’m tired of fighting with you and for my life. I’ve been shot at, my son is still missing, and you are being a really lousy friend.”
He took a deep breath and nodded his head. “Yeah. I guess you are right. I’m just so worried about you. Do you want me to stay here for a while so you can rest without worrying about people breaking in?”
I shook my head. “Mom is done at work, and she doesn’t go to the hospital for a few hours, so I’m going to sleep then ride in with her.”
“Well,” he said, sounding like a broken little boy. “If you change your mind, let me know. You know I onl
y want what’s best for you.”
“I know,” I assured him.
Jacob made his way to the door and I let him go. He was sulking like a child, but I didn’t have it left inside me to coddle him. At some point, I might want to start dating again, and it would do him well to remember that he was a friend and nothing more. Something told me that he wasn’t going to take the news lying down. I wasn’t even sure anymore if he was there for me or for the prospect of conquering me.
Chapter Fourteen
The door slammed behind him, making me jump a little as my mother came back into the dining room. She looked around the otherwise empty house and sat down at the table.
“Did everyone leave?” my mom asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, Detective Reyes went to follow leads and Jacob is having a temper tantrum again.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “He does have a bit of a short temper.”
“How well do you know Jacob? I didn’t think you two were friends. I mean, he’s always been my friend. I didn’t think you two had much of a relationship.”
She sighed. “We aren’t really close, I admit that. I guess extreme circumstances bring people together.”
I suppose when terrible things happen, you look to whoever is willing to help. Jacob wasn’t being very helpful to me at the moment, but he was just about all I had. When you spend most of your adult life holed up at home, it doesn’t leave a lot of opportunity to make new friends. So, I did my best to keep any of the old ones I had. Unfortunately, when you’re afraid to leave the house, it’s easy to cancel lunch dates and nights out. People could only be understanding and patient for so long.
“We’ve reached rock-bottom,” I said morosely. “My car is being followed and the old neighbor kid is stopping over for coffee and a chat. You know, if you wanted to talk to someone who’s actually helpful with these things, you could see a therapist. Mine has been very beneficial.”
My mom shook her head. “There aren’t enough hours in the day. I have to go to work and visit your brother. If I’m going to spend an hour or two to decompress, then I’d like to do it in the privacy of my own home. Besides, I’d rather talk to someone who knows me than a stranger with a notepad.”