Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“I shouldn’t have come.”
“Bullshit.” My head comes up at the fierceness of that one word. “You told Quinn yourself that it’s not her fault, and it’s not your fault either. We’ll figure this out, but you won’t make yourself sick with guilt. No way.”
“You’re right.” I nod and reach for my bag. “I have everything.”
“Let’s go.”
The drive is dark. Scarily dark. There aren’t even any stars in the sky as we make our way over the pass, through slushy snow, toward the city. Drew and I haven’t said much, but he’s held my hand and reassured me several times that everything will be okay.
He’s so strong. He’s obviously a rock under pressure and in a scary situation.
And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I’m completely in love with him.
“Almost there,” he murmurs as we come off of the pass and are headed into the city. The roads are just wet now, so he reaches over to take my hand, pulls it to his lips the way he always does, and kisses my fingers. “How are you holding up?”
“I need to get there. I need to find my boy.” I searched through the security camera footage first thing when we got into the car, and there was no sign that Caleb left the house. At least there’s that.
Drew nods grimly. We haven’t heard from anyone, and in this case, no news is bad news.
The gate is standing open when we get there, and we’re waved through.
“Someone warned them that we’d be in a hurry.”
“I did,” Drew says simply, expertly taking the curves and corners that lead up my driveway.
Before he’s even cut the engine, I push out of the car and run inside.
“Caleb!” I yell. “You’d better get your ass down here now!”
Chapter 11
Drew
“He’s in so much trouble,” Rome mutters and takes London’s shoulders in his hands. “We haven’t found him yet; we were waiting for you before we started searching the grounds and outbuildings.”
“He’s not technically a missing person,” Matt says. “I’m Matt, by the way.”
“Pleasure,” London immediately replies. “Okay. I need to breathe. He’s not on the security cameras as having left.”
“That was my next question,” Matt says.
London sucks in a breath and turns to Quinn.
“Did you look in the attic?”
Quinn nods. “Yes, and the basement, too. I even looked in the washer and dryer.”
“He didn’t say anything about playing a game with you?” my dad asks, pacing the foyer.
“No,” Quinn says, shaking her head. “We were going to watch another movie, and we wanted a snack, so I said I would make us sandwiches. I’ve done that a million times.”
“Wait.” London holds up a hand. “On the phone earlier, you said he was pouty?”
“Yeah, super pouty. He was mad that you guys went without him, but I reminded him that we’d have fun together and that his mom deserves some time away. In my head, I was like, with a hot guy, because Drew’s pretty hot.”
Her face flushes, and her eyes slide over to me.
“Sorry.”
“You didn’t offend me.”
“He has a tendency to be a brat when he’s mad,” Rome says and shrugs when London narrows her eyes at him. “You know it’s true. I wouldn’t put it past him to hide.”
“Is there a shed outside? A treehouse?” Matt asks. “Did anyone check the cars in the garage?”
“I didn’t think of the garage!” Quinn makes a run for the door off of the kitchen, but London and I pass her.
“I’ll take the Porsche,” I announce as London heads for the Mercedes. Both are SUVs, so we check the very back, as well, but come up empty.
“Damn it,” London mutters, and I can see that she’s starting to lose it. “I’m so mad at him, but I’m so scared, too. What if someone took him? My God, what if someone came into my house and took my baby?”
“Unlikely,” Matt says. “They would have left a note, and Quinn would have known someone was here. Besides, they’d be on the security cameras.”
“Well, he can’t just disappear, as if into an alternate reality,” my dad says.
“Wait.” London holds up a hand and then runs back into the house. We’re all hot on her heels as she runs right for the guest room, to the bookshelf, and presses the lever that opens the secret door to the library.
“I didn’t even know this was here,” Quinn exclaims as London runs inside.
“Caleb Rome Ambrose,” London says, her voice hard as she scoops up her sleepy son and hugs him fiercely. “You are in big trouble, mister.”
She pulls back and takes Caleb by the shoulders.
“Why did you hide in here? You know that Quinn doesn’t know about this room.”
“I just wanted to hide,” he says and turns big eyes to the four men standing with their hands on their hips, watching him. “Who is that?”