Page 171 of Saving the Halfback

Ethan

Monday

Iknew she wasn’t only mine, but I couldn’t let her go. I held Bailey tight to me all night, unable to get any rest. Chase slept on the other side of her. They had been on the phone with Lachlan and Nolan, the three guys trying to distract her, but I couldn’t get into it.

She had gone through so much pain. I’d avoided Bailey, thinking she was over here, living her best life. All those times I could’ve done something…if only I had been here. The police had taken the computer, but Lachlan and I had seen enough of the videos. Videos, so many of them. Physical and verbal abuse, he attacked her time and time again. And instead of getting help, instead of telling someone, she deleted the evidence. She covered it up. All because we had isolated ourselves, in turn isolating her, and she would rather be battered than alone.

B.

I squeezed my eyes tight, pulling her body flush with mine and burying my face into her hair. I took a deep breath in, letting her scent calming the pain in my chest.

What have I done?

I opened my eyes to see Chase staring at us. I raised my head, so I could see him better. “What do we do?” he whispered.

I settled my head back on my pillow. “Listen to John, let the police handle it for now.” It wasn’t what I wanted to do, it wasn’t what any of the other guys wanted to do, hell, it wasn’t even what John wanted to do. But a few points had been made by the officers, who, by the way, were also the officers who had “interrogated” me about my father. It was clear some back-door deals had been made.

It was because of those deals we had to lay low, why we couldn’t slip into the night and make Ed disappear. The family couldn’t risk any more exposure at the moment.

The door to the bedroom opened, and Lachlan and Nolan walked in, both looking as if they’d gotten as much asleep as I had. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked, keeping my tone low, so as not to wake her.

They both took a seat at the end of the bed. “Mom says Bailey isn’t going to school today,” Lachlan whispered.

“We didn’t want to leave without her.” Nolan shrugged.

I nodded.

“So, now what? We can’t go anywhere. We can’t go after Ed.” Chase sighed.

“They’ll likely have him in custody by the end of the day,” Nolan said. “I say we just hang out and keep her distracted.”

“I vote at least one of us will always be with her,” Lachlan said, his eyes lingering on her sleeping face. “Always. Even after he rots in prison, PTSD is a bitch to get through on your own, and it hits when you don’t expect it.”

Bailey turned her head into the pillow, rubbing her face and making the cutest little mewling sound. We all froze at first, afraid we had woken her up, but she settled back into sleep.

“Fuck, she’s adorable,” Lachlan breathed.

I looked up at each of them, three lovestruck dope heads wearing ghosts of a smile while they stared at her.They’re so wrapped around her finger, it’s embarrassing,I thought tomyself as I held her close, burying my face back into her hair so I could breathe in her scent once more.

We all sat around in Bailey’s room until she woke up. She seemed a little more herself, even joking around. We sent Coach a quick message, so he wouldn’t have a heart attack with five players missing. During breakfast, no one mentioned Ed, the events that took place yesterday, or what was happening today. We spent the morning finishing barn chores and helping John.

The tractor had a hydraulic leak in it. I didn’t know anything about tractor maintenance, but Nolan and I cracked open the manual and got to work figuring it out. I tried to convince Bailey to go for a ride on Titan, but she quietly declined.

We were inside, eating lunch, when John started swearing from the kitchen. We all stopped talking to listen, but it was Bailey who got up, walking over to hear what was happening. We all followed her immediately. Truth was, all day, at least one of us had been within arm’s reach of her.

“Unacceptable, it really is,” John was saying into his cell. “No, I want the name of the officer that was assigned, and I want to review all security footage. There is no reason why it has come to this.” John hung up the phone to face all of us. Shelly worried at her necklace.

John took a deep breath, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. “Ed left the hospital.”

Bailey’s eyebrows pulled down. “But they said they were taking him right into custody. Didn’t they?” she asked. Her body swayed, but Chase was right behind her, pulling her back so she could lean against him.

“They had a lot of evidence on the laptop to charge him with crimes against you. To help build a case, the officer decided DNA samples were needed. Ed was served with a warrant for his DNA. He was able to provide it, however he managed to slip out beforethe officers placed him in custody.” John swore. “He should’ve been in handcuffs before they did anything.”

“So, now what?” Bailey asked. “We just sit and wait? He knows now that I told everyone.”

John looked to his wife. “They are sending an officer to watch the property until Ed is found. There are search teams looking for him now. They mentioned pulling police from other counties.”

Shelly nodded. “So, for now, we just sit tight.”

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