Page 89 of Defending Casey

Chapter 15

Casey didn’t knowwhat to make of her current situation. Hale’s father had actually gone to the kitchen and brewed tea for Nora. His father. The same man who had demanded that she break Hale’s heart so he’d walk away. The same man who’d apparently kept all of her letters in a box, keeping them away from Hale.

Now, he’d not only given the box to Hale, but he was treating Nora like… like a grandfather might. Her daughter seemed to take it all in stride with her grandfather. She’d tried the tea and managed to get half a cup down before the taste made her turn it away, but she seemed more curious about her grandfather than anything else.

But she was also keeping a cautious eye on Brian as he came into her field of vision.

Brian didn’t seem at all concerned with what he’d done. He walked the perimeter of the house, peeking out the different windows, but his demeanor was just like it had been weeks before.

That’s what had Casey worried more than anything else. How he could go from smiling, acting like a caring friend to beating her father unconscious.

Worry stabbed her in the heart. God, please let him just be unconscious.

#

Hale’s phonerang and even though it wasn’t the ring for Casey’s phone, it didn’t stop his heart from smacking hard against his ribs with savage hope for just this moment.

He answered it with a swipe of his finger. “Clint?”

Hale could hear the excited conversations around his teammate, but he was still able to hear the update.

“Her dad was beat up. This wasn’t just a smash and grab, Hondo. Whoever went after Casey’s dad wanted to hurt him. We’re talking rage.”

“Is he conscious? Did he say anything?”

“He’s just starting to come around. They’re getting ready to transport him to the hospital.”

Clint was silent for a moment and Hale braced himself for what he’d hear next.

“There’s no security footage. We’ve got nothing to tell us what happened here and if your girls were taken from here.”

“Okay.” It was anything but okay, but what else could he say?

A rise in volume on Clint’s end sent a chill up Hale’s spine.

“Looks like they’ve got him stabilized enough to move. Hondo? You want me to go with them?”

“Yeah,” his answer at first was almost lost in a whisper, “yeah, stay with them. If he says anything… anything, I want to know what it is.”

“No problem, man. Keep sharp. We’ll get them home.”

#

Casey saton the couch with Nora curled up against her side. She smoothed her hand up and down her daughter’s arm as she had done hundreds of times before, a soothing gesture that made both of them feel better when things were tough.

Nora yawned and then remembered to cover her mouth only after she’d finished. “Do you really drink that tea all the time?”

Sitting nearby in a matching armchair, Hale’s father’s normally downturned mouth lifted a little at the corners. “Why? You don’t like it?”

Nora shuddered against Casey’s side. “It makes my mouth taste like… like… yuck.”

Thomas Foster, curmudgeon and paternal mess, let out a deep and craggy chuckle. “That’s exactly what it tastes like.”

Nora looked up at Casey for a second before turning back to her grandfather. “Then why do you drink it?”

He seemed to ponder the question for a moment before answering. “It’s better than those chalky pills at the store when I’ve a need for it. Sometimes, things that are good for you aren’t the sweetest things to swallow.”

Casey heard the words and Nora’s little giggle in response, but her mind had sent her back in time when that same man raged at her. How he’d dug into her heart and ripped it out of her chest, accusing her of holding Hale back from greatness. Telling her, no, demanding that she give him up if she really cared for him.

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