Page 54 of The Claiming Series: Collection 1
Fuck!
I must’ve been in a black spot when she called. The reception in some parts of town is sketchy at the best of times, let alone with a storm rolling in.
I dial the voicemail and listen.
Drayton? It’s Daisy. I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to call. Mom has locked me out of the house, and it’s freezing. I’m going to?—
The message cuts off. Daisy sounds shaken up. I try to call her number, but it goes straight to voicemail. I turn the cruiser around and gun it toward Daisy’s house. The journey should take fifteen minutes, but I’m there in half that. I pull onto the driveway and climb out of the cruiser, my hand resting on the gun in my hip holster. The front door is ajar with the safety chain on.
I peer through the gap. “This is Sheriff Saunders! Anyone home? Chloe? Daisy?”
“She’s not here!” a voice shouts back.
A woman shuffles up the hallway toward the door, an almost empty bottle of vodka dangling from her hand. She’s a drunken mess, her hair in disarray and her clothes stained. Dear God, is this Chloe, Daisy’s mom?
“Are you Chloe Jenkins?” I ask through the small opening.
“Thas me. In the flesh,” she slurs, coming right up to the door. She squints as she tries to focus on me. She has blonde hair like Daisy, but there’s very little else to identify them as mother and daughter.
“Chloe, where’s Daisy?” I ask urgently.
She laughs again. “How the fuck should I know? Gave her a few home truths, and she fucked off, jus’ like I knew she would. Jus’ like everyone does ‘ventually.”
I’m not going to get any sense from Chloe. I bite my tongue, knowing it won’t do any good to get angry with her.
Shit! Where the hell is Daisy? It’s fucking freezing out here, and the snow is coming down thick and fast now. She could be lying in a ditch somewhere, dying of hypothermia.
“I’m going to do a sweep of the perimeter, Chloe. See if I can find her,” I tell her. The door shuts in my face.
Cursing up a storm, I stalk back to the cruiser. I pull my flashlight from the glove box and slowly make my way around the perimeter of the house. As I walk around the far side of the property, I spot a small red Chevy, partially covered in snow. Shining the light inside, I see what looks like a bundle of blankets on the backseat, but as the flashlight hits them, I see a face peeking back at me.
“Daisy?”
All the air leaves my lungs in a rush of relief. My clever girl found a place totake shelter.
I throw the door open the second she unlocks it, almost tearing it off its hinges in my haste to get to her. With a sob, Daisy throws herself into my arms, and I breathe a sigh of relief as she buries her face in my neck. A jolt of emotion rushes through me as I pull her close, so powerful it almost knocks me off my feet.
“Th-thank God! I’m s-so c-cold!” she whimpers, burrowing closer against me. She’s frozen, her body shuddering as she clings to me.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” I say, carrying her to my cruiser and opening the passenger door. Stooping down, I go to place her inside, but she refuses to release me.
“Baby, you need to let me go. I have to get you warm,” I murmur, smoothing a hand over her curls which are stiff with the cold. I don’t want to let her go either, but she's at risk of hypothermia if I don’t warm her up soon.
“I d-didn’t know where else to go, s-so I got in the car. Seemed like the safest p-place,” she says through chattering teeth. She lifts tear-drenched eyes to mine. “I-I can’t do it anymore, Drayton. I can’t h-help her.”
“Don’t worry about that now, baby. Let’s concentrate on getting you warm,” I say, keeping my voice calm and steady. Whatever occurred between Daisy and her mom tonight must’ve happened minutes after I left her, dammit!
Daisy finally releases me, and I buckle her in. I turn the engine on and make sure the vents are facing her. Her head drops back, her eyes fluttering closed, and something squeezes in the region of my heart. God, she’s beautiful, even when she’s distraught and vulnerable like this. She doesn’t know it yet, but she won’t be dealing with shit like this on her own anymore, not so long as I’m drawing breath.
There’s nothing more I can do for Chloe. She’s as safe as she can be in her house, and my priority now is getting Daisy back to my place. It makes sense to take her there as it isn't far from town and much closer than the nearest hospital. It sits on its own piece of land surrounded by trees, giving me total privacy. The location is perfect for me—quiet, but not so far out of town that I can't get there fast if needed.
Daisy shivers uncontrollably during the drive, but she doesn’t make a sound, which worries me. Exposure can be fatal. As soon as I pull up on the driveway, I’m out of the cruiser. I open the front door andquickly turn up the thermostat before returning to gather Daisy up in my arms.
“Too heavy,” she mumbles in protest, but I shush her, dropping a kiss on her forehead. She’s a precious weight in my arms.
I head straight upstairs and lay her down on my bed. She’s still icy cold from her time in her car. She was only there for an hour or so, but that’s an hour too long in these arctic temperatures. I need to get her out of her clothes and warm her up, and there’s only one way I can think of to do that quickly and effectively.
I’m surprised to see the tremble of my hands as I slide off her boots. It’s been a long time since I was nervous. Usually, I’m calm and collected, even in the most stressful of situations. I’ve killed men, for fuck’s sake, stared down the barrel of a gun, and survived a bomb blast. But the idea of stripping Daisy out of her clothes has me tied up in knots.
