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“Jaxson told us she was headed out that way,” Riley calls out. “But we were about to pull a full-on prison break if she couldn’t get to you.”

I glance over at the lawyer. “I don’t get the impression she takesnooften.”

Beckett grins at me. “You’d be correct on that assumption. If I’m thesheyou’re referring to.”

“How is Kennedy doing?”

“Restless. Mom’s hanging out with her at your place. It’s the furthest from the road and the best protected.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s alive. Restless I can deal with. Anything else would destroy me.

“Beckett is bringing you to an airfield where Elijah has a plane waiting. A buddy of his has a license, and he’ll bring you back here. Then we can go from there.”

“Thanks. Let her know I’ll be there soon.”

“Will do, brother.” I end the call and offer the phone back to Beckett, but she shakes her head.

“All yours, cowboy.”

“So what am I looking at going forward? With the arrest?”

“Nothing. They never pressed charges. There’s not even a record of you being brought in.”

“Then what was on that paper you handed him?”

“A fun little note letting him know that I’d own him and his boss if they didn’t let you out.”

“How so?”

“I have friends in high places,” she replies, clearly unwilling to share. The secrecy doesn’t bother me, though. Not when it got me out of what likely would’ve been an incredibly painful afternoon.

“Thanks for showing up.”

“Of course. There’s not a thing I wouldn’t do for Margot. She and I have been best friends since childhood, and seeing her happy with Jaxson after that ex of hers destroyed her makes me indebted to him too. That, and I hate bullies who think they’re above the law.”

CHAPTER 27

KENNEDY

Bradyn’s hardwood floors are going to have holes in them if I don’t stop pacing, and yet, even knowing that, I can’t make myself sit still. Elliot was here about an hour ago and told me that Bradyn had called and was boarding a private plane that will have him home by nightfall, but I’m still restless.

Especially because the sun has gone down and he’s still not here.

Please be okay.

Even the dull ache in my ankle can’t distract me from the fear gnawing at my chest. He should be here by now.

“Here, honey, drink this.” Ruth offers me a mug of steaming tea, and I take it. Not because I want to drink it but because I need to do something with my hands. “Sit,” she orders.

Again, I obey because I’m not sure what else there is to do except continue to pace. His home is beautifully cared for. Gleaming wooden floors, pale gray walls, accents of yellow and blue. Ruth told me it’s because Lani had her hand at helping all of her brothers decorate their homes so they wouldn’t look like college dorms.

It made me smile.

The first smile I’ve had since Bradyn shut that door between us.

“How do you do it?” I blurt.

“Do what, sweetie?” Ruth questions then takes a sip of her tea and sets aside her crochet project.

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