Make Up Call (Summer Rush #3)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “Please,” she said, raising her hand. “I don’t want to argue about it.” She felt bone-tired, but there was no way she could sleep. “I think you’re doing the right thing, trying to get experts involved. Jessie is good at what he does, but it’s not like he has a lot of experience with kidnapping.”

  “Glad you see it my way.”

  She walked into the kitchen and took two bottles of water from the fridge, and with a deep breath, she rested one against her warm forehead. It wasn’t until she saw the untouched piece of cake in the fridge that the tears started to flow in earnest.

  Ever since her hysterical phone call to Chase, she’d been trying to hold it together, telling herself that Cadence would be fine. Her brother, as bad as he was, would never hurt an innocent little girl. But seeing the piece of cake Jayda had promised her daughter for dessert that night made her wonder if she’d been lying to herself. Was her brother so far gone, so lost to them that he would do anything to get what he wanted?

  “Hey,” Chase said, coming up behind her. He reached around her and closed the fridge door before taking the bottles and setting them on the counter. He pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin as he stroked her hair. “It’s gonna be okay.”

  “How do you know that? Why the hell hasn’t he called? If he wants money, why hasn’t he asked for it? It doesn’t make any sense.” She considered Jessie’s other theory—that someone was paying her brother a lot of money to keep Chase off the field. But if that was the case, it could be days, even a week or more, before she saw her daughter, depending on how the team did without Chase in their lineup.

  “I don’t know, baby.”

  Baby. Her heart stopped at the term of endearment that used to turn her to mush every time. She’d never been anyone’s baby. She’d been a tomboy growing up. Her father and brothers thought of her as one of the guys. She worked on cars, drank beer, and watched sports. Chase was the only one who’d ever acknowledged her feminine side. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Plenty of men had admired her body, but only because they were hoping to get close enough to touch.

  “Maybe you should go back home,” she said, stepping back.

  He scowled. “Why would I do that? Until our little girl is safe and sound, I’m not going anywhere.”

  She wanted to claim that Chase had been a deadbeat dad since their split, but nothing could be further from the truth. He’d bought Cadence an iPad for her fourth birthday so they could FaceTime every day, and he came to visit her as often as he could during the off-season. He’d even gone so far as to rent an apartment in the area to give her a sense of normalcy, but according to Cadence, his lease had ended last month because the owner intended to turn the building into condos. Chase had offered to buy one of the units, but the owner said it would be a year or more before they were habitable.

  “Jessie has a couple of theories,” Jayda said, brushing the tears off her cheeks as she took her water and led him into the living room.

  “What the hell are they?” he asked, his voice tight. “And why did you wait until now to tell me?”

  She sat on the couch, reaching for a pillow. “One is that my brother will hit you up for money to get Cadence back.”

  “As much as I hate the thought of giving that little puke a dime, he knows I’d do anything to get her back,” Chase said, twisting the cap off his bottle. “What’s the other theory?”

  “He thinks someone may be paying my brother to keep you out of the playoffs.” Since Dillon hadn’t contacted them yet, Jayda felt more certain that that theory was a real possibility.

  “Who would do that?” Chase asked, frowning.

  “According to Jessie, there’s a lot of money riding on these games. With you out of the mix, your team’s odds of winning aren’t as good.”

  Chase seemed to ponder that possibility as he tipped back his bottle. “I guess that could be. It wouldn’t be that hard for some loser to do a little digging and figure out my connection to your family. Given Dillon’s problem, that makes him an easy target.” He rubbed his forehead. “I just can’t believe they’d drag an innocent little girl into this. God, she must be scared out of her mind, Jay.”

  She glanced at her cell phone on the table, which she’d had in her sight at all times since she realized her daughter was missing. No missed calls. “He wouldn’t hurt her.”

  “No.” Chase clenched his jaw as he stared at a picture of his daughter on the end table. “Because he knows if he did, I’d hurt him. Bad.”

  “You’d have to get in line,” Jayda said, feeling as vicious as her ex-husband looked.

  “Have you had much to do with him lately?”

  “He’s been in and out of rehab,” Jayda admitted. “You know him. It never lasts.”

  “Yeah, and who’s been footing the bill for that?”

  Her willingness to pay for her brother’s treatment, over and over again, had always been a bone of contention between them.

  “What choice do I have?” She wasn’t a patsy, but until this latest stunt, she hadn’t been willing to give up on Dillon either. “Am I supposed to just give up and let this addiction kill him?” Jayda jumped when her phone rang. But instead of an unrecognizable number that may lead her to her daughter, it was her older brother, Danny. “Sorry,” she said to Chase. “I have to take this.”

  “No worries. Take your time.” He hooked a finger over his shoulder. “I could use a breath of fresh air anyhow.”

  She answered and waited for Chase to step outside before she said, “Hey, big brother. What’s up?”

  “Sorry for calling so late. I just talked to Dad.”

  “It’s okay. It’s not like I could sleep anyways.” She looked at the abandoned bottles on the table, thinking she couldn’t drink or eat either. “So Dad told you what Dillon did?”

  “I can’t believe it. I mean, I knew he was off the rails, but to take Cadence? That’s just whacked.”

  “I know.” Jayda bit her lip, trying to hold back her tears. “I guess he really needed the money.” To buy more drugs. Though she knew she didn’t have to tell Danny that. He knew their kid brother better than anyone.

  “You need me to come home, kid?”

  Danny was a cop who lived and worked over five hundred miles away, with a wife and family of his own, so she was touched that he’d offer to drop everything to come home and support her.

  “No, it’s okay. Chase is here with me.”

  “He’s staying with you?”

  She could hear the condemnation in her brother’s voice, but she refused to feel guilty for offering her ex a place to stay while they searched for their daughter. He was hurting as much as she was. And no one else could truly understand what they were going through.

  “Yes, he is. Where else would he be? His daughter is missing… thanks to our brother. He’s going out of his mind, same as I am.” When Danny didn’t respond, she sighed. “Look, I know you don’t like Chase, but you can’t deny he’s a good father. He loves our little girl. He’d do anything for her.”

  “Except stay and help you raise her.”

  When they’d gotten married, Chase had been playing for a pro team in the city less than an hour away. He kept a condo there, and Jayda would drive in to spend the night with him whenever he was in town. It wasn’t ideal, but they made it work. It wasn’t until he announced that he had a chance to play for twice the money, with a team that had a real shot at a World Series, that their little family began to fall apart.

  “It takes two people to destroy a relationship. I can’t put it all on him.”

  “Really?” She heard the disbelief in his voice when he said, “Because I’ve heard you rag on him plenty of times over the years.”

  Jayda had tried to hold on to her anger and resentment, blaming Chase for tearing their family apart, but she knew he wasn’t the only one to blame. Besides, Cadence adored her dad, and he worshiped her. Their relationship had to be solid no matter how she felt about her ex. “He steppe
d up now when I needed him the most. That has to count for something, right?”

  “You still have feelings for him.”

  “What?”

  “Can you deny it?”

  Could she? “I don’t see how my feelings for Chase are relevant. What matters right now is finding Cadence and teaching our brother a lesson he’ll never forget.”

  “He’ll go to jail for this,” Danny said quietly. “You know that’s where he belongs, right? It could be the best thing for him. A chance to finally sober up.”

  Despite what he’d done, Dillon was still her flesh and blood, and it hurt Jayda to think of him behind bars, but Danny was right. He needed to pay this time. He couldn’t go on hurting people and getting away with it. “I know.”

  “Good, I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t try to protect him again.”

  “From now on, the only person I’m going to try to protect is my daughter.” She only wished she’d been able to do a better job of it. Maybe if she had been on high alert, this never would have happened.

  “I love you, sis. Call me if you need me?”

  “I will. Love you too.”

  “And please be careful with Miller. I know you have a soft spot for that guy, and I can’t shake the feeling he’s not done with you.”

  The way he’d looked at her earlier led Jayda to believe, for the first time in five long years, that maybe they did have some unfinished business. Not that she’d be stupid enough to get involved with her ex again. They’d hurt each other before. She couldn’t let it happen again.

  Chapter Four

  Chase walked back in and sat on the edge of the chair. “I don’t suppose that call was about our daughter?”

  “It was Danny. He just wanted to know whether I needed him to come out here.”

  “Mightn’t be a bad idea. He is a cop. Maybe he could give us a different perspective.”

  “I’m surprised to hear you say that. Danny was never your biggest fan.”

  He shrugged. He’d shake hands with the devil himself if he’d help him find his daughter. “He’s Cadence’s uncle, your brother. The way I feel about him or he feels about me doesn’t matter now, does it?”

  “You’ve changed.”

  More than she knew. Losing the love of his life had that effect on a man. “I’m sure I’m not the only one.”

  She shook her head, looking at her painted toes as she curled her hands into the sofa cushions. “No, I guess you’re not.”

  “You should try to get some sleep. It’s bound to be a long, grueling day tomorrow.”

  “Our daughter is missing. How am I supposed to sleep?”

  He wanted to offer to hold her, all night if that was what she needed, but he knew she’d never let him be there for her, no matter how scared and vulnerable she felt. And that just fueled his anger. He clenched his fists at his sides. “You know what I want to do right now? I want to hop in your car and race around this town ‘til I find your skinny-ass brother, so I can beat some sense into him. But not before I kiss and hug my baby girl and tell her everything’s going to be okay, ‘cause her daddy will never let anyone hurt her again.”

  Jayda closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. “This is all my fault. I should have seen that Dillon was on the edge. When he came to me for money, I should have—”

  “Do not blame yourself for this,” Chase warned, gripping her wrists and pulling her hands away from her face. “That loser is responsible for his own actions, and I’m sick of seeing you beat yourself up because you can’t save him.”

  “He needs to go to jail for this,” she said, raising her chin. “Danny and I were just talking about it. Whatever happens, whether he returns her willingly or they track him down, he needs to go to jail for taking her.”

  Chase knew how much it cost Jay to admit that, and he’d never been more proud of her. For years he’d tried telling her that she wasn’t responsible for her kid brother, that he was a grown man who had to start taking responsibility for his own actions. Finally, they were on the same page.

  “I’m glad you feel that way.” He held her upper arms, his eyes meeting hers. “It could be good for him, you know. Give him a chance to get clean, grow up, and see that there are consequences to his actions.”

  “I can’t help but feel that part of the reason he did this is because he hates you so much.”

  Chase didn’t give a rat’s ass how Jayda’s family felt about him. In his opinion, they’d been part of the reason their marriage fell apart. They’d poisoned her mind, convinced her that he was a selfish bastard who only thought about what was best for him and his career. While that may have been partially true, he also wanted to give the two people he loved most the life they deserved. And he wanted them to be proud of him, to be able to say that their husband and father was among the best in the world at what he did. Was that so wrong?

  “He’s always been so jealous of you. He thinks that everything came easily to you. That—”

  “I worked my ass for everything I’ve got!” Chase let his hands fall as he turned away from Jay. “I wasn’t a first-round draft pick. I had to prove myself. I was the first one to show up to the ballpark every day and the last one to leave. I played through the injuries when my body was begging for mercy…”

  “I know,” she whispered, gripping his bicep as she turned him to face her. “I was there, remember?” Her hand skated over his ribs, making his stomach clench involuntarily. Her touch was innocent, but his body reacted even while his brain tried to shut it down. “I saw the bruises.” Her emerald eyes inspected his dark skin, her fingertips grazing his six-pack. “I bandaged the cuts. I made love to you gently to distract you from the pain.”

  He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, remembering every second of her special brand of therapy. He wished like hell they could help heal each other’s internal wounds tonight.

  “You worked so hard, so determined to provide a better life for us.”

  His eyes flew open. He’d never heard her acknowledge before that he’d worked hard for them. “You really believe that?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then why were you so angry that I wanted a better contract? I deserved it. I’d earned it.”

  “You don’t think I know that?” She shook her head. “You were among the best in the league, even back then. Of course you deserved to be with a team who could pay you what you were worth.”

  “Then why?” He had so many questions and so few answers. So many years had passed, yet he still didn’t feel he knew the real reason he was divorced when he would have given his right arm to be married again and living under the same roof as his family.

  “I didn’t care about the money,” she said, her hands still resting on his stomach. “That never mattered to me. As long as I had enough to support my family, that’s all I ever needed.”

  “But I could have supported your family, Jay. I make more money than our grandchildren will ever spend. You honestly think I would have let your family struggle while we lived in the lap of luxury?”

  “But my family hated you,” she said, looking confused. “Why would you have helped them?”

  “Because you loved them.” He thought that would have been obvious. “And I loved you.” I still do. “We’re talking about my daughter’s grandfather, her uncle…” He wouldn’t include Dillon because he hated that he’d handed over money to support a drug habit so Dillon could go on breaking Jay’s heart. “Whether we like it or not, we’re family. Because of Cadence. Our divorce doesn’t change that.”

  She shook her head, her smile sad. “I guess you’re right.”

  Seeing Jayda over the years, a few stolen moments in passing as they exchanged their daughter, had been hell for him, but not as torturous as it was right now. Her mouth was just a few inches from his, but he didn’t have the right to kiss away her sadness and fear.

  “She’s a part of you,” he whispered, lowering his head, so his stubble grazed her temple. “A par
t of me. The very best part of both of us.”

  “She is, isn’t she?” Jayda whispered, curling her hands around his biceps.

  “Do you remember when you were pregnant?” A smile softened his lips when he said, “I used to talk to your belly all the time so she’d recognize my voice.”

  “I remember.”

  “When I saw that perfect little face for the first time, I cried like a girl.” He would have been embarrassed for anyone else to see him so vulnerable, but Jayda already knew his heart better than anyone. “I was so relieved that she was here and she was okay. And that I’d be able to protect her…” He shuddered. “But I couldn’t protect her this time, Jay. I wasn’t here. I was halfway across the country, not even giving her a second thought, so focused on some stupid game that I didn’t even realize my daughter needed me.”

  “Sssh.” She wrapped her arms around his neck as she lowered his head to her shoulder while his arms came around her waist. “You couldn’t have known. It’s not your fault.”

  She was giving him a pass, forgiveness, when he couldn’t forgive himself. It was a gift he’d never expected and didn’t feel he deserved… which only made him miss her more. Miss the closeness they used to take for granted.

  When they broke apart, his lips were lingering over hers and he whispered, “I have to kiss you, Jay. I have to.”

  She licked her lips, a barely perceptible nod giving him the go-ahead.

  The kiss was tender and sweet, and he felt like crying with relief. He never thought he’d taste her sweet mouth again, and now that he was, he never wanted to stop. He deepened the kiss, taking it from exploratory to demanding in a single breath. Her hands caressed his back as she moaned, and he backed her into the cushion. His hands were threaded in her hair, tugging her head back as he kissed her neck before he reached for the hem of her T-shirt.

  Her breathing was ragged when she reached for his hands. “Chase, we can’t.”

  He wanted to wail at the injustice. Now that he’d touched her again, kissed her, he couldn’t get enough. All of his primitive instincts screamed at him to take her, to make her his in every way, but he knew he couldn’t do that until they were on the same page.