A loud, stuttering breath came over the line.
“Okay,” Ward murmured. “Now tell me again.”
Skylar sniffed. “I went to check in with my boss because he texted me to make sure I was okay and he asked me to come over and that usually means spending the night and sleeping with him and I know that sounds gross and wrong but that's the arrangement I have with him, but when I got here and he reached for me, I thought I was gonna be sick and I realized I can't do this anymore but I only have three more months to get through to save up enough for my surgery but I'm not gonna make it because all I want right now is to die because I feel so dirty and worthless–”
Ward winced. “Sky.”
“But then I ran away and got into my car, but my car wouldn't start, so I gave up and went right back up to Uncle Zeke's apartment, except I knew what that would mean and I knew I couldn't handle it so I didn't even knock on the door but I have to get out of here for good except I have no idea what to do and I can't think straight and–”
Ward flicked on a light, wincing at the sudden illumination, then grabbed his overnight bag, stuffing things into it. “Sky? Tell me exactly where you are.”
“Why?” he choked out.
“Because I'm coming to get you.”
Skylar wailed.
“Sky?” Ward rushed about the hotel room, snatching up his things while he listened to Skylar cry. “Baby? It's okay. Just tell me where you are. It's gonna be okay.”
“No, it's not,” Skylar choked out. “Because my plan was always to run away once this was all over and start over somewhere else, somewhere nobody knew me, and that meant leaving everything and everyone behind so I could have a clean break with my life, but now I'm stuck because I have no way to leave and–”
Ward stopped moving just as Skylar broke off with a fresh sob.Geez. Skylar was going to simply drop everything and run? Ward sank onto the end of the bed, feeling that confession like a punch to the gut. Almost like Kelly's rejection all over again.
Except Sky had called him. The boy could have simply disappeared without a word. Skylar wasn't helpless. He could have found a way. Instead, he'd called.
Ward wasn't sure if he was setting himself up for heartbreak, but there was no way he could simply abandon the boy. He had a feeling his life was about to radically change.
And he'd take it.
“Sky?” Ward murmured, standing back up and putting all the authority into his voice that he could muster. “Tell me where you are. Give me an address.”
“Um.” Skylar sniffed and hesitated for a long moment, then finally rattled off a street and an apartment number.
Ward snatched up a pen and quickly scribbled it all down. He could map it once he was off the phone. “Okay. Sky? I'm coming to get you.”
“Ward–”
“No arguing. Stay right where you are, and I'll be there. You hear me?”
Skylar sniffed, then fell silent for an achingly long moment. “Okay.”
“Okay. Good. Hang on, baby. Daddy's coming.”
Ward ended the call and raced through getting dressed and brushing his teeth. He gave the room a quick glance, making sure he hadn't missed anything, then hurried downstairs. Ward checked out of the room, got into his truck, and mapped the address Skylar had given him.
It wasn't too far. And it was in a nice part of town. Ward found a place to park just as the sun crested the horizon beyond the towering buildings that surrounded him. He saw the address he needed and stepped inside the lobby, feeling just as wholly out-of-place as he had the first night he'd come to this city.
But none of that mattered. He had to get to Sky.
Ward rode the elevator up to the fifteenth floor, then paused to look around. He started down the hallway in one direction, but the apartment numbers were all wrong. Ward turned around and retraced his steps.
Around a corner, Ward spotted a figure huddled on the floor.
Sky!
Ward rushed down the hallway. Skylar sat against the wall with his knees hugged tight to his chest. The door beside himwas open, and a man crouched there. Ward's entire body tensed. This must be Skylar's boss. He started picturing some grizzled, sleazy, stereotypical pimp in a purple coat and a fedora just as the man reached for Skylar.
The boy flinched.