Page 115 of Fought and Freed

“Is he still staying here?” Maddy asked with hope in her voice.

“Randy, are you giving away personal information again?” demanded a tall, full-figured woman, looking pissed off.

“He was helping me. I’m Maddy Walsh.” She held out her hand for the woman to shake. “I’m friends with Grant Turner. He hasn’t been to work, and I came here looking for him.”

The woman gave them a tense smile. “Unless you’re family, we can’t give out personal information.”

“Grant doesn’t have any family, ma’am. I was with him in rehab, and we came out together. He’s been working for my boyfriend in construction.” Maddy gave the woman a pleading stare. “I’m worried about him and just want to make sure he’s safe.”

She looked around the room. “I wish I could help you find Grant.”

Confused by her strange behavior, Maddy said, “Thank you?”

She looked at us over her glasses. “If you find him, tell him he’s on his last warning, and he better be here before curfew, or he’ll be finding a new place to live.”

Relief swept through Maddy, and she mouthed, Thank you.

Cody opened the door for her and waited until they were back by the truck before speaking. “At least we know he’s still living there, even if they haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Yeah, but he’s getting into trouble, and he might not have that place for long.” She sighed. “While he was working with you, did he mention any places he goes to?”

Cody frowned. “No. Sorry, little one.”

She threw up her hands. “I have no idea where to even look for him.”

“Try calling him or texting him,” he suggested.

Grant hadn’t been very responsive to either method, but she tried both anyway.

As expected, he didn’t answer his phone, and she left him a message on his voicemail before sending him a text.

If he didn’t want to talk, though, she couldn’t do anything.

Cody drove them home. She had homework she didn’t understand that she needed to finish.

She was failing Calculus and barely passing her other classes. During her first semester here, even while working in the cafeteria, she had no problem with her grades. Hell, in high school, she had two jobs and still passed with straight As.

Why was she struggling so much now?

After her bout with the flu, the school mailed a letter warning that she couldn’t miss any more days, which was just one more thing to add pressure.

Once they got back to the house, she asked Jace to help her, but it only frustrated her more. It was like she was staring at the problems, but nothing was clicking in her brain.

Had the guys been right and going back to school so soon after rehab was pushing it too much? Should she withdraw from classes before she flunked out and try again in the fall once things had settled?

When it was time to go to bed, Jace invited Maddy to sleep in his room, but she wasn’t in a good mood and just wanted to sleep alone.

That night, her dreams were filled with calculus equations attacking her as she searched for Grant. The calculations had caught her in a dark corner when she jolted up in bed, sucking in a breath.

Her phone was ringing beside her, and she rubbed her face before answering. “Hello?”

“Maddy?” Grant’s whisper snapped her awake.

“Grant?” She leaped out of bed. “Where the Hell have you been?”

“I’m in trouble,” he whispered urgently. “I need you to come to pick me up.”

She put on clothes as she spoke. “I’ll go wake up Jace.”

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