Page 35 of Fall Back
“You headed over to your woman’s place?” Walker’s question pulls me from my spiraling thoughts.
“Of course,” I tell him.
The thought of being able to crawl into bed with my little criminal puts a smile on my face. Walker laughs, but I have no doubt he’s feeling the same way about going home. The only difference is that since he’s with my sister, I would never mention it.
“Good,” there’s a hint of a tease in his voice. “You’ve been in a grumpy fucking mood all day. Hopefully, Carson can help you out with that.”
I shove his shoulder gently as he starts to laugh and flip me off.
“I’m glad we didn’t get a bunch of calls of kids doing stupid shit on the edge of town. Those calls have been annoying as fuck,” I grumble.
Walker grins from ear to ear while he singsongs, “Kids will be kids.”
“Kids will be stupid,” I shoot back at him. “Back when I was their age, we did stupid shit, but we kept it quiet because we didn’t want the cops to come out and investigate. Kids today have no sense of self-preservation.”
“So, you’d rather them do stupid things under the cover of darkness instead of us getting the call? Like it wouldn’t be dangerous as hell?”
“Yeah,” I scoff, “at least then they would learn how to fly under the radar. It’s an important lesson.”
“You’re ridiculous,” he chuckles. “Please go see Carson.”
Just as I’m about to tell him where to shove it, my phone rings. The sound is loud in the silence of the night, and we sharea look as my heart starts to pound in my chest. When I pull my phone from my pocket to find Carson’s name on the screen, my breathing becomes shallow.
“Carson?” My voice is shaking as I answer. “Are you okay?”
Her words are whispered almost too softly for me to hear. “Jared, there’s someone in the house.”
Walker makes a phone motion with his hand, and I pull it away from my ear and put it on speaker phone. I look into my friend’s eyes as I grit out through my teeth, “What do you mean someone is in the house?”
“Something woke me up,” I can tell by the way she’s speaking that she’s barely moving her lips to form words. “I thought it was nothing at first, but then I heard the floor creak. I thought it might be you, but then I wasn’t sure.”
“Okay,” I breathe out. “I’m coming, my little criminal.”
Walker motions toward our cars and we start heading that way. I know he’s going to be right behind me, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Fear grips my heart in a way I’ve never experienced before.
“Can you get to the bathroom?”
Carson whimpers and breathes, “I think so.”
“Okay.” I climb into my truck and as I slam the door, I hear Walker start up his vehicle. We share a look and then we peeling out of the parking lot and head toward Carson’s house. “Get to the bathroom and lock yourself in. Make yourself as small as possible in the tub.”
“Jared,” her voice breaks, “I’m scared. I need to say something,” she pauses for a moment and I’m not sure if it’sbecause she’s trying to find some courage or if she’s listening out for whoever is in the house.
My heart lurches because I have a feeling I know what she’s going to say. As much as I want to hear it, I don’t want her to share out of fear.
“You’re going to say it when I see you in just a few minutes. I’m on my way,” I reassure her.
“Okay,” her voice wobbles. I hear her padding across the floor, every step measured and quiet. A few heartbeats later she murmurs, “I’m in the bathtub.”
“Good girl,” I try to keep my voice level but it’s a struggle.
I have no doubt about who is in the house. Dave didn’t heed my warning and has the guts to break into her house. It pisses me off. I should have insisted that she stay at my place, but my woman is stubborn as hell.
I allowed her to be in danger. I’ll let Noel and the rest of the guys kick my ass for it later.
Right now, I just need to get to her.
When she sucks in a breath, but doesn’t say anything, fear like I’ve never known it wraps around my heart. Is he close? Is he right outside the door?
