Page 51 of Rent Free

I didn’t stop and think about anything else—not the feud we had between us, not the unsaid things that needed to be said, not anything—and headed right for him.

The next ten minutes felt like a blur as I listened to him explain what had happened to the baby—to his son. I then had to listen to the fucked up mess that the police officer explained.

And the moment he told me his name…

One day your Forest will come, baby.

Right before my mom had passed away, we’d been watching Forest Gump.

I’d told her how sweet it was that Forest was so devoted to Jenny.

She’d grabbed my hand and told me all about how, if I found the right man, that he would treat me the exact same way.

I’d always seen my dad and mom interact like that. I’d seen my dad bend over backward to make my mom smile. I’d seen my mom, with my dad’s head in her lap, running her fingers through his hair.

And hearing that the boy’s name was Forest…

“That’s a cute name,” I replied wistfully.

“Was in the car for twenty-seven minutes according to the cameras,” he replied after flashing me a small grin. “Social worker was contacted. She should be here…”

“She’s here,” Atlas croaked. “In with him now.”

“Good,” Officer Augilar said.

“Thank you for looking into it,” Atlas offered the officer his hand.

“Wish I didn’t have to, bruh,” Officer Aguilar admitted. “Kids are the worst calls.”

Seconds later he was taking off, and we returned our attention to Emory Cline, his ex-girlfriend, getting arrested.

She was screeching loudly, her anger palpable.

And suspiciously, Sage was no longer anywhere to be seen.

I glanced around, trying to spot the familiar blonde hair, to no avail.

“She’s gone,” I murmured more to myself than to the man standing beside me.

There was a long pause, and then Atlas said, “So she is.”

I started to move toward the exit, trying to find her before she snuck out, and spotted the bob of her blonde hair before she could make it out of the back hallway.

I took off at a sprint, heading toward my backstabbing sister.

Usually, I might’ve just left this alone.

I mean, it wasn’t my responsibility to help people see the manipulative ways of my sister. They were pretty obvious once you opened your eyes and saw.

It broke my heart that Atlas hadn’t been willing to listen before. That maybe he could’ve seen this coming had he just trusted my instincts.

Though, there was no way that he could’ve seen the entire situation coming. It wasn’t like my sister had been the one pregnant with his child.

But she had known about the child.

I was sure she only knew because she was looking for a way to manipulate Atlas at a later date if he didn’t do what she wanted him to.

“Sage!” I snapped as I caught up to her, catching her arm.

---