Page 135 of Deception

“What’s going on?” Clayton kept his tone even.

“I can’t do it.” Jake’s voice cracked.

“Yes, you can. Just take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”

He kept staring out the windshield, his shoulders tense. Clayton waited. “The dentist gave me oxycodone for a toothache...”

Clayton winced. A free relapse. That’s what addicts called being given legally prescribed drugs.

“I wasn’t going to take one, but the pain got so bad I had to do something. And now I want more.”

Clayton knew what it was like to be blindsided, and he drew on that. “I understand. Been there with the gambling. How long have you been drug free?”

“Ten months. Nine of it at a rehab.”

“It’s easier to stay clean when you’re in a safe place.”

Jake swallowed hard. “I know—it’s the only way I got clean in the first place.”

“Now you think you can do this on your own.”

Jake gave him a shrug. “Who else is going to do it?”

“You need to lean into God on this.” He scraped his hand over his jaw. “He’ll guide you, but you have to trust him to do it.”

Slowly Jake turned to Clayton. “You really believe that?”

“I know it’s true, or I’d be down at the casino right now. No one can do it for you. You have to trust that he’ll do what he says he’ll do—he won’t leave you.”

His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and Clayton glanced at his watch showing the incoming call.Brooke?

“I need to answer this.” He yanked his phone from his back pocket.

“Yeah, sure.”

He tapped the answer button. “What’s going on?”

“The fiancée’s name is Vivian Hawkins.”

No.“Madison and Dani are with her at the Old Jail now. Let me call Madison.”

“I’ve already tried. It goes to voicemail.”

He tried anyway and got the same result and redialed Brooke. His stomach churned. He should have known the threat wasn’t over—Steven hadn’t admitted to shooting Dani or being at the hospital. Vivian had been biding her time. “Meet me at the Old Jail.” He turned to Jake. “I’m not going to leave you by yourself, but I have an emergency so I’m taking you with me.”

They were a good fifteen minutes from the Old Jail. Clayton flipped on his siren and wipers before he threw the SUV into drive and punched the gas pedal. The Interceptor shot out of the parking lot with rain pounding the SUV.

He tossed his phone to Jake. “Call Chief Nelson’s cell phone and put him on speaker.” Nelson was soon on the line. “I believe Vivian Hawkins is holding Dani and Madison hostage at the Old Jail.”

74

The bottom fell out just as Dani and Madison reached the small porch, and Vivian Hawkins had the front door open, waiting for them. “I’m glad you made it before the storm hit.”

Thunder rattled the windows, and Madison glanced behind her. Rain was coming down in sheets. “I didn’t think it was supposed to storm until later.”

“Thunderstorms can pop up anytime around here in the spring. Come on in and look around.” She flinched when thunder boomed again. “I can’t get over how much you two look alike.”

They exchanged glances. “We hear that a lot lately,” Dani said.

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