Page 17 of One Knight Stand

“Good. The sooner the better.”

ANGEL SINCLAIR

I sat stiffly in the front seat of Jax’s car, trying not to cry. My stomach was churning with anxiety, and I clutched my cell in my hand as if that would encourage my mom to phone me back.

“Thanks for driving me, Jax. I’m sorry to take you from class, and even if you’re not sorry to miss it, you’d probably rather be doing something else like studying or partying, so I appreciate it.”

I was rambling, but I couldn’t stop myself. It was better than playing one horrible scenario after the next in my head.

Jax glanced at me, his green eyes lingering on my face, his long fingers tapping the steering wheel. “If I’d rather have been doing something else, Red, I wouldn’t be here.”

He was an enigma to me. Goodness and danger rolled into one. He wasn’t hard on the eyes, either. Dark hair, keen intelligence, and a killer smile. An old soul in a teenage body. Maybe that made me an old soul, too, since I recognized it.

I switched the phone to my right hand and wiped the sweat from my left hand on my jeans. “Well, thank you anyway. I just can’t imagine why my mom isn’t answering her phone.”

“Maybe she overslept.”

“For hours? I don’t think so.”

“Maybe her phone was stolen, or she’s visiting with a friend and forgot it. Or maybe she’s at her boyfriend’s house and lost track of time.”

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend!” I protested.

“Why not?” Jax replied. “I thought you said your dad split when you were a toddler.”

“He did, but…never mind, it’s complicated. And now he’s alive, and I don’t know what’s going on with that.”

Jax didn’t say anything, but the tapping of his fingers on the steering wheel continued. “So, maybe she’s with him?”

“No!” Just the thought of that was shocking. “She’d never have deserted me and Gwen or just stopped going to her job. Plus, she doesn’t even know he’s alive.”

“You sure about that?”

Was I? The truth was, I didn’t know for sure. But I was absolutely certain my mother would never purposefully disappear the way my dad had done fourteen years ago. She’d seen the toll it had taken on all of us.

“I’m sure,” I replied.

He considered and then asked, “Do you think this is connected to your attempted kidnapping, and to your dad’s sudden reappearance?”

That was exactly what I thought. I just hadn’t wanted to voice it aloud. But now that Jax had, I needed to unpack it.

“I think it might.” My throat was painfully tight.

He must have heard the fear in my voice, because he reached over and took my hand. I expected a quick squeeze of reassurance before he released it, but he didn’t let go. My gaze rose to his face, questioning what it meant, but his eyes were on the road and hidden behind sunglasses. He didn’t offer any clarification, and I didn’t ask.

“Let’s just assume it’s nothing serious until we get to your place,” he said. “All this worrying might be for nothing.”

We fell silent, but he didn’t let go of my hand for a long time. It was the first time I’d ever held hands with a boy, and it felt natural and comfortable. It reassured me in a way I didn’t expect.

Jax drove expertly and safely, somehow avoiding any speed traps. We arrived at my mom’s apartment complex in just over two and a half hours. In my opinion, Jax’s driving was a million times safer than Frankie’s.

Jax had barely pulled into a parking slot before I unfastened my seat belt and hopped out.

“Hey, wait up,” Jax called, jumping out of the car and hustling after me. I skipped the elevator, taking the stairs and jogging up them quickly. I was surprised at how easy it seemed after several weeks of fitness training at UTOP.

I dashed out of the stairwell and down the corridor to our apartment. “Mom?” I called out as I inserted my key into the lock. I heard several yaps and then fierce barking on the other side.

“Mr. Toodles!” I exclaimed. “He’s inside.”

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