Page 47 of Hold on Tight

And, Haley’s expression clearly added,your chance not to piss me off epically.

“My son is in trouble, Haley.”

Her voice was surprisingly strong and steady, and Haley’s glare wavered.

“I’ve said it before, Mira, but I mean it this time. This is the last time this can happen. Or you’re fired.” Haley turned and headed back into the conference room.

Mira stood for a moment, as if caught mid-decision, but of course, there was no decision. When it came to Sam, there had never been a choice for her.

She headed out to her car, dialing Cindy as she went. “I’m on my way.”

Chapter 14

The twenty minutes between when he answered Mira’s phone call and when the cab pulled up in front of her house were the longest of Jake’s life, and that was saying something, because being a good soldier was all about waiting.

There was a cop car out front. Jake scouted around the outside of the house, trying to get the lay of the land. He couldn’t see anything obviously amiss, and he couldn’t hear anything from inside.

He pounded on the front door, which was opened by a uniformed officer, round-faced, middle-aged. “I’m—”

He’d been about to say, “I’m Sam’s dad,” but that would have been a whole long, complicated thing. Where the officer would ask Sam, “Is this guy your dad?” and Sam would say no, and then there would be suspicion and complication and explaining.

“Jake Taylor. I take care of Sam sometimes.”

The police officer gave him a look, and Jake sighed. “You can call Sam’s mom,” he said.

The cop accepted Jake’s outstretched phone, radioed to the station for the number Mira had given them, and called her. Jake couldn’t hear much of the conversation, only the timbre of Mira’s voice spiking out of the cell phone periodically. He itched all over to get inside to Sam, but he waited patiently. Being a hothead wasn’t going to make this go any faster.

The cop nodded a few times, hung up the phone, and opened the door wide to admit Jake. “Officer Fredricksen,” he said as Jake went by, and Jake acknowledged the intro with a nod.

Sam and the girl were in the living room. This time Jake knew to anticipate the impact and braced himself against the door frame, so he kept his balance when Sam hurtled himself into his arms. Sam was crying. “Where’s my mom?” he asked. “Where’s my mom?”

“She’s on her way,” Jake said.

“There was a guy—”

“Shh. I know, bud.” His heart thudded in his chest, rattling his ribs like something in a cage, too big for the space. “He’s gone.”

“The police came and took him away and I wanted them to leave, too, but they wouldn’t until you got here—”

“You’re okay now. I’m here.”

His chest ached. Bad. He wrapped the boy tighter and felt his sobs start to calm to hiccups. It hurt in Jake’s jaw, and ears, too, as if those sobs had gotten into his head.

“Thank you,” Jake said to the tear-streaked babysitter over Sam’s head. “You can go home now. I’m sorry this happened to you.”

She hesitated.

He pulled out his wallet and handed her two twenties. “Get some rest.”

She was sniffling. “Should I come back tomorrow?”

“No,” Jake said. “No, we’re all set.”

“Should I ask Mira?”

“I’ll have her give you a call and you can talk to her about it, okay?”

She looked like she wanted to protest, but she didn’t have it in her. She was too young to be in this kind of situation, too young to be in charge of a seven-year-old all day, and too young to have an ex-boyfriend who was such a jerk. He felt sorry for her. But he also wanted her out of there.

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