She hadn’t given me more than half a minute before she took matters into her own hands. I didn’t say anything because it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to be here that long.
Blake and Dax started going through the bags to organize all the items. Blake looked up at me. “We’ll keep your stuff separate.”
“Oh, no need for that,” I said. “I’ll just need to make sure I have enough when I head to Chicago.”
He nodded and got back to sorting. My heart paused when there was a knock at the door.
Blake was at his feet with his gun in his hand. He looked at each of us as if doing roll call. “Shit.”
Chapter Sixteen
None of us moved. A chill moved up my spine and it seemed as though we were all frozen in place.
Dax’s eyes were darting around as if he were trying to decide if he’d actually heard someone knock.
Whitney’s hand was pressed tightly to her mouth. Her entire body was shaking as if there were a storm raging inside of her thin body.
“Hey,” whoever was on the other side of the door shouted as they knocked again. “No use ignoring us. We know you’re in there.”
“Get off my property,” Blake shouted through the door as he waved for the rest of us to move away from the door.
“Geez,” the guy on the other side of the door laughed. “This how we get treated when we come to offer our help.”
Blake glanced at us over his shoulder. “We don’t need help. Now leave.”
“Or what? You’ll call the cops?” a different voice replied with a laugh.
“We’re not sick,” the first voice said as if that would somehow get Blake to open the door. “We just want to talk.”
“Well then talk,” Blake said.
“It would be easier if you open the door,” the voice said.
Blake adjusted his grip on his gun. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Fine, whatever,” the voice said. “We just wanted to offer our assistance during these difficult times. There are a few of us staying at the grocery store downtown. It’s safe there.”
“I appreciate the offer,” Blake said. “But I’ll be declining.”
“What about the rest of you in there? Will the other two be declining as well?” the voice asked.
They must have been watching us the entire time. They knew about Dax and me but they didn’t know about Whitney.
“They’re staying,” Blake replied.
“Can’t you let them answer for themselves? Maybe they’d want to stay where it’s completely safe,” the voice said. “No one’s sick and there is plenty of food and water.”
“I’d really like you to leave now,” Blake said with anger radiating from his voice. The guys on the other side of the door must have felt it through the wood.
“Fine, fine,” he said. “If you change your mind, you’re all welcome to join us until help comes.”
Several minutes passed before Dax moved. He walked over to the window and exhaled.
“They’re leaving,” Dax announced. “Oh, wait. No, they aren’t. One of them is coming back.”
There was another knock at the door. “Hello?” a young female voice called. “I saw you leaving Maddie Easton’s house. Are you her mother?”
Blake shot me a look. All I could do was shrug at him before responding.
“I am,” I said taking a step toward the door. Blake held up his palm to stop me.
“Is she in there with you? I just want to know if she’s okay. I’m a friend of hers… Taylor Mumford.”
I felt a lump growing at the back of my throat. I remembered Taylor even though she’d only spent time with my daughter a few times.
“Maddie is safe,” I said.
“Can I talk to her?” Taylor asked.
“No, sorry. That’s not a good idea,” I said pressing my fingertips to my lips.
There was a long moment. “Okay. Tell her I asked about her and that we’re at the grocery store, okay?”
“I’ll give her the message,” I said.
“Thanks,” Taylor said.
Their voices were soft through the front door. It wasn’t long before the sounds disappeared altogether.
“They’re gone,” Dax said. “For real this time.”
“Thank God,” Whitney said.
“We should have given them some masks,” I said crossing my arms.
Blake huffed. “Idiots. The sick are still out there. They aren’t going to survive long.”
“Wonder what they’re setting up at the grocery store,” Dax said with his eyes still focused on the window.
“It doesn’t matter,” Blake said. “We’re not interested.” He tucked his gun back into this waistband. “Let’s get back to organizing this stuff.”
“I’ll help,” I said.
I helped Blake rearrange his kitchen to make space for my supplies. We put a lot of items in his cabinets but other things had to be stacked on the floor. It took us several hours to finish and by the time we were done, I was exhausted.
The day was nearly over and I was still in Blake’s house. I hadn’t made any progress getting to Maddie.
Whitney was right. I was a terrible mother.
I sat down on the floor and leaned back against the wall. Blake cocked his head to the side.
“I have several comfortable chairs. I know the air mattress isn’t great but it has to be better than the floor,” he said.
“I need to leave.” The words spilled out of my mouth.
Blake stared at me for a long moment. He shook his head and dragged his hand down his face stretching out his features.
“Kit, I know you want to get to her but we talked about this. Even if the sickness has ended here, which I don’t think it has, Chicago is huge. The sickness is likely still making its way through the city,” Blake said. “You won’t do your daughter any good if you get sick.”
“How long do I have to wait? She’s out there… she’s waiting for me,” I said shifting my eyes away from him. “I can’t stay here forever. Maddie doesn’t have access to all of the supplies we do. I don’t know how long she has.”
“I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you,” Blake said.
I dared a glance. “You don’t have anyone out there?”
“No,” he said firmly. “My family is all here, except for my dad.” I imagined Dax shouting step-dad from the other room but he didn’t. “But I think he’s gone.”
“I’m pretty sure my mom is gone too,” I said.
“Were the two of you close?” he asked.
I bit my cheek so I didn’t break down into a puddle of tears. “Yeah, all I had was my mom, sister, and Maddie.”
“And your husband,” Blake added.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Maybe a little,” Blake said with a small smile.
I twisted my fingers together. “Maddie and I had it rough over the years. He was a drunk. And he wasn’t a fun drunk.” I shook my head. “I should have taken her away from here a long time ago.”
“You did the best for her you could,” Blake said.
“Did I though?” I asked. “I was weak. I am weak.”
“You’re human,” Blake said.
“All I know is that I need to get to her,” I said swallowing hard. “She needs me and… and I need her too.”
Blake nodded along with my words. “What are you going to do once you find her?”
“I… I’m not sure,” I said staring into his eyes as if hoping the answer would present itself. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“We can come back here,” Blake said.
“What do you mean by we?” I asked
Blake raised a brow. “I’m not letting you go out there on your own.”
“And I’m not letting you put yourself at risk.”
“Why are you so afraid to accept help?” Blake asked. “I can help you get your daughter.”
“You need to stay here and take care of your family,�
�� I said.
Blake chuckled. “Dax doesn’t need me to take care of him.”
“Whitney needs you,” I said pressing my palms against the tops of my thighs. Blake didn’t know that Dax had already offered to help me get to Maddie. There was a slim chance he’d be able to convince him to stay back with Whitney.
“They can take care of each other,” Blake groaned.
“Why do you think I need someone to take care of me?”
He shook his head. “I just want to help. It would be impossible for me to let you walk away.”
“You don’t even know me,” I said a bit too harshly.
“It doesn’t matter. I know you now,” Blake said.
“Can I talk you out of this?” I asked.
Blake crossed his arms. “Not a chance.”
“You guys aren’t going to leave without us,” Dax said stepping into the kitchen with his arms crossed. “We’ll all go. Together.”
Chapter Seventeen
Blake and Dax bickered for a long while. I couldn’t say anything to stop them from going with me to find Maddie. Blake was trying to tell Dax he needed to wait here with Whitney. Dax was telling him there was no way he could do that.
By the time they finished talking, it was settled that we’d all be going. Blake was going to drive. He had a black SUV in the garage he barely ever used. They’d be able to pack with supplies and it would be more reliable than my car.
Buried in Blake and Dax’s conversation, I learned that the SUV had been something Blake had bought for his ex-wife. Some kind of attempt at reconciliation or so it sounded. She’d died before she even got a chance to drive it.
“Tomorrow?” I asked as I got to my feet. “Why not now?”
“I’d rather be on the road when we have daylight,” Blake said.
“It’s not that long of a drive,” I said.
Blake held up his hand. I knew he wasn’t going to change his mind. “That’s true but we have no idea what we’re going to be walking into.”
I let his words sink in. It was just the idea of seeing Maddie again was overwhelming. I couldn’t think straight.
“We’ll just get her and come back here,” Dax said.
“She’s not alone,” I said. “She’s with her boyfriend.”
“What do you want us to do about him?” Dax asked with a sheepish grin.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “We’ll have to bring him back with us.”
“What if he doesn’t want to?” Dax asked.
“That’s his choice, I guess.” I shrugged.
“And what if your daughter won’t leave his side?” Dax asked and Blake glared at him from across the kitchen. “What? It’s a fair question. We’ll want to be prepared for that possibility, won’t we?”
I swallowed hard. My jaw felt stiff. “Maddie is coming with me no matter what.”
Dax nodded before flicking a sneer at Blake.
Footsteps tapped in the other room. Whitney popped her head into the kitchen. The three of us stopped talking and looked down as if we were guilty of stealing her last cookie.
“What’s going on in here?” Whitney said throwing her finger behind her and pointing at the window. “A group of sick just walked by.”
“How many?” Blake asked.
“Three,” Whitney replied. “They’re gone now. So it’s okay.”
Blake ran his hand through his hair as he walked out of the kitchen. Whitney looked back and forth between Dax and me.
“What were you guys talking about?” she asked her eyes stopping on Dax.
“I’m not sure how to tell you this but we’re heading out tomorrow,” Dax said.
There was a strange and quite fake smile on her face. “What do you mean by that?”
“We’re all going to Chicago,” Dax said.
“Uh, no we’re not,” Whitney said turning her stare on me. “That would be stupid.”
“That’s what I told them,” I said making my way out of the kitchen. I had to squeeze past Whitney to leave the room and of course, she didn’t budge in the slightest. “But they wouldn’t listen to me. Hopefully, you can talk some sense into them.”
Whitney grabbed my arm before I could leave. “This is about your daughter, isn’t it?”
“I’m going to go get her,” I said pulling my arm free. “Your words from earlier inspired me to get moving.”
“You had to beg them to go with you? You couldn’t just have like, I don’t know, left on your own in the middle of the night?” Whitney said looking down her nose at me.
“I didn’t beg them,” I said keeping my voice calm. Something I was used to doing from dealing with Freddie. “In fact, I told them I didn’t want any help.”
Whitney snorted. “This is ridiculous. Who are you anyway?” She threw her hands into the air. “I can’t believe this. I can’t fucking believe this.”
Dax placed his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down. Let’s go talk about this in private.”
“Calm down?” Whitney shouted. “You want me to calm down? I don’t have to calm down when you guys are putting your lives in danger for this nobody.”
“Whitney,” Dax said sharply. “What is wrong with you?”
Her mouth dropped open. She blinked several times before storming out of the room.
“Sorry about that,” Dax said as he followed behind her.
“Not a problem,” I muttered because really it wasn’t. Whitney was a bitch, to say the least, but in a way I kind of understood.
Who was I coming into her space? At the same time, I wasn’t making Blake and Dax do anything for me. It was their idea to help.
I sighed as I walked into the living room. The sounds of Dax and Whitney loudly arguing vibrated the walls.
“You know,” I said as I stood there staring at Blake’s back. “You don’t owe me anything.”
He turned and met my eyes. “I didn’t think that I did.”
“If you’re coming with me because of what happened with Freddie, you don’t have to. I don’t need anyone to take care of me or help me or any of that,” I said.
“We all need help,” Blake said crossing his arms. “And with what is going on outside, we all need it more than ever.”
“We’ve been neighbors for quite some time, yet I don’t think we’ve ever talked. Maybe a wave here and there but nothing more than that,” I said holding up my hand. “I’m not saying that’s your fault. In fact, it’s probably mine because I keep to myself. It’s just that I don’t get it. Why do you want to help me out of all the people who need help? Whitney… she’s like your family, right? Well, stay here and help her. She needs it.”
Blake drew in a slow, deep breath. “Whitney hasn’t grown up because all Dax and I have ever done is take care of her. She relies on us.”
“Well, then stay with her,” I said.
“I’ll talk to Dax about staying with her,” Blake said. “But I don’t think he’s going to change his mind. To tell the truth, I think he’s losing his mind being trapped inside my house. He never was very good about staying in one place for very long. Or with the same woman.”
“Oh,” I said feeling awkward about his last sentence. It wasn’t something I needed to know. “She already hates me.”
Blake looked down. “I’ll talk to both of them. Can you keep watch?”
“Sure, I guess,” I said.
Blake stood and gestured at the chair by the window. “It’s been quiet but let me know if you see anyone.”
“Okay,” I said.
“And of course, don’t let anyone inside,” Blake said leaning in close. His masculine, woodsy scent filled my lungs so deeply I almost sighed.
I let out a quick breath. “I won’t.”
Blake left the room and I waited over an hour for him to return. When he came out, he looked absolutely exhausted.
“It’s under control,” Blake said with both hands extended out to his sides.
“But she still hates me, right?” I asked already knowin
g the answer.
“She doesn’t hate you but I don’t think you’re her favorite person,” Blake said with a half-smile. “She just needs to get to know you.”
I nodded but I didn’t get off his chair. “We all need to get to know each other.”
“It takes Whitney longer to let people in,” Blake said.
“Don’t worry about it. It takes me a long time too. Has she ever let anyone in besides you and Dax?”
“No,” Blake said with a smile.
He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. I pointed at the couch.
“You should get some rest,” I said. “I can keep watch for a while. Not feeling even a little tired.”
“Nah, I’m good,” he said but he covered another yawn.
“If you’re going to drive tomorrow, you’ll need your rest,” I said as Dax walked through the room.
He didn’t say a word as he went into the kitchen. Dax noisily moved things around.
Blake looked around as if searching for an excuse. After a brief hesitation, he groaned. “Wake me in an hour.”
“An hour isn’t enough sleep,” I said as something in the kitchen crashed to the floor.
“Sorry,” Dax shouted. “I’ll replace it.”
“Dammit,” Blake said. He started to get off the couch but lowered his head and sat back down.
“When is the last time you got any sleep?” I asked.
He shrugged. “When was the last time you got sleep?”
“Well, I don’t have to drive tomorrow,” I said.
“Two hours,” Blake said.
I chuckled. “I’ll wake you in six.”
“No deal.”
“I’ll wake you when I get tired.”
Blake crossed his arms and laid down. His eyes were closed. “I’ve set my internal clock. See you in an hour.”
Chapter Eighteen
It was around three-thirty in the morning when Blake woke up abruptly. He coughed and spurted as he sat up and looked around the room. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face.
“She’s dead! Oh, God!” Blake gasped.
“Who’s dead?” I asked.
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