Page 123 of Clinch'd

Chapter 45

Cooper

I don’t fucking know and it’s eating at my insides because the longer we wait the less likely we’ll get there in time.

It doesn’t fucking help that Minnie is sniffling in the seat which creates a different burn that I push away. Whether or not she’s injured should be the last thing on my mind but her puking all over the ground is a bad fucking sign and I’m not a damn monster.

Shaking my head, I look out over the trees on the other side of the highway. What can I do? Who do I know?

“What about your sister?” Minnie says quietly and I spin around.

“What about her?” I growl and she flinches. Once again, my chest clenches but I ignore it as she says, “Maybe if you call her? You said she might be on the inside, right?”

So, she doesn’t know I found Monroe, that’s good, I guess. It doesn’t solve this problem though because Monroe wasn’t anywhere near Castinetti. Thank fuck.

When Beast opens his mouth, I wave him off and say, “Not an option.”

Silence follows my statement and I eye Minnie. The pale cast to her face worries me. Does she have a concussion? Fuck me but it wasn’t my intention to hurt her. Why wasn’t she wearing her damn seatbelt?

Shit.

Stepping away, I gaze at the trees in the distance. I don’t know anyone on the inside because Hudson never spoke about that shit and knowing his boss isn’t taking this seriously only ratchets my rage.

If Minnie can’t get us inside, which I’m debating the truthfulness of, what other option do we have?

“Minnie?” Beast says and I glance at him. “What did they do to him?”

Minnie eyes me briefly before bowing her head. Quietly, she says, “He was beaten.”

Beaten? How badly, I want to ask, but the words are stuck in my throat.

“How bad?” Beast growls.

Minnie shakes her head and I clench my fingers into my palms to keep from shaking the information out of her. Although I admit, there’s still a pathetic part of me that wants to pull her close.

Fuck. This is so twisted.

“It was pretty bad,” she admits, and I freeze. Is he still alive? Will my mom have to bury another fucking child?

No! I refuse to let that happen. I failed her once before. I won’t do it again.

“Listen,” Minnie says, and I meet her cool stare. “I have an idea.”

“I thought you couldn’t get in?” I scoff and her eyes narrow.

“Ican’t.”

“Then who can?”

As much as I’d like to tell her to fuck right off because I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her, I bite my tongue when she says, “I need to make a call.”

Chapter 46

Minnie

Cooper is practically vibrating with tension beside me, and I know it’s because he’s struggling with whether he can trust me. Deep down, past the hurt and rage boiling in my heart, there’s a part of me that doesn’t blame him. Still, I’m fucking annoyed that he can’t see the bigger picture.

However, if I’ve learned anything about dealing with emotional people, it’s not to engage when they’re angry or afraid and Cooper fits both of those to a T.

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