Page 23 of Ride or Dies

I closed my eyes and put my hand on my chest, unsure what I needed to be bracing myself for. “Yes, I’m her. Is my mom okay?”

“Yes, Ms. Hayes, she is, but her home was broken into, and she told us that her daughter actually owns this house.”

“That’s correct.” I walked back over to my purse. “But she wasn’t hurt?”

“No, miss. She wasn’t home at the time.”

“Okay, well, I’m on my way and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.”

He thanked me and ended the call, but I was already stuffing my phone back into my purse.

“What’s going on?” Jenna asked.

“Mom’s house was broken into.”

“You mean your house.” Levi pushed himself upright.

I shot him a glare but spoke to Jenna and Isabel. “I’m so sorry to cut things short today, but I need to go. The cop on the phone said she wasn’t home when it happened, but I still need to see for myself.”

“Of course,” Jenna said.

“You do what you need to do,” Isabel added.

“And if you need us for anything, you just let us know.” Sue came over and gave me a hug. “Don’t let your mom use this to guilt you into anything.”

I nodded, loving that she understood how my mom was, enough that she wanted to look out for me.

“Mason’s on his way here,” Levi announced. “He’ll take the three of you home when you’re done. We need to take the car.”

“And where are you going?” Jenna asked.

Levi’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going with Evie.”

I wanted to say like hell you are, but I couldn’t deny that I liked the idea of having him with me for this. My mom was a lot to deal with on her own. Add in the cops and a burglary, and I was starting to feel like I was in over my head. Even though Levi could be a total bastard sometimes, he was the sort of solid presence that I needed with me.

“You—” Jenna started.

“No, it’s okay,” I interrupted. “I shouldn’t go anywhere alone, and it makes sense for him to take me instead of waiting for Mason or Tucker.”

“Ready?” Levi asked sharply.

“Text us if you need anything,” Jenna said as I followed Levi outside.

As he started his mom’s car, I said, “We’re going to—”

“I know where we’re going.”

I waited until he pulled out of the parking lot to ask the question. “How do you know where my mom lives?”

He shifted in his seat like I’d asked something that made him uncomfortable. Suddenly, a conversation with Sue came back to me.

“You’re the one who’s been helping your mom check in on mine.” I made it a statement rather than a question.

“Yeah. So what?” His tone was harsh, but for the first time, I could hear something underneath it. Something much softer than I’d ever thought could come from Levi.

“Thank you.” I didn’t make a big deal about it, knowing it would bother him, but those two words didn’t seem like enough. Despite all of the shit between Mom and me, I didn’t ever want her to not be okay.

Neither of us spoke for the rest of the ride, but something had shifted between us and I didn’t know what it meant. When we pulled up in front of the house, we had to park on the road because the driveway had two cop cars filling it. Bracing myself for the chaos that was Trudy Hayes, I hurried up the driveway toward the front door and the cop standing next to it.

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