Page 25 of Wilder
After a moment’s pause, Wilder nods, raking a hand through his hair. “Back to the house?” His keen eyes are locked on Echo. I’m positive he wants to say something, comfort her, but he’s trying not to make a big deal of it since Chase is right here with us.
Echo finally looks up and reaches out, tugging on Chase’s tiny athletic shoe. “You hungry, buddy?”
His head pops up off Royal’s chest so fucking fast it’s comical. “Yeah!”
We take off along the path that brought us here, Chase riding on Royal’s shoulders, and Echo between Wilder and me. The little guy might not be tired, but the girl beside me is dragging her feet. I eye Wilder over her head, and he nods, understanding me perfectly.
“How about I make dinner tonight? Is that okay?”
Echo peers up at him. “I can help.”
“Okay, we’ll discuss it when we get back. Hey, Chase?” he asks, grabbing the little man’s attention. “You like noodles in a cheesy sauce?”
He looks at Echo, like he doesn’t know the answer, which cracks me up. Echo grins at her little boy’s confusion. “You do like cheesy noodles, yes. I bet Wilder knows how to make them yummy.”
“Widah fix me dinna?” Chase blinks up at him with a surprised grin.
Wilder nods. “I sure will. I’m the noodle master.” Winking playfully, he tousles Chase’s sweaty head.
I laugh, unable to even stop myself. “Can’t wait to see what Widah can whip up.”
Wilder shoots me a dirty look and flips me the bird where Chase can’t see it, but a moment later, his body goes stiff. I follow the path his eyes are taking. They’ve latched onto a dark-colored van. Clearing his throat, he catches my eye and gives a subtle jerk of his head as he continues to watch the vehicle as it slowly moves past us, creeping along in the opposite direction.
“Am I crazy or is that the third or fourth time we’ve seen that van?” Royal’s voice is calm, but his eyes are wary as he turns his head toward us. Lifting Chase over his head, he turns his son to face him. “Hold on like a monkey, okay, little man?”
Chase giggles and does as he’s asked, like it’s a game. His stubby arms tuck around Royal’s neck and his legs cling. If I weren’t so nervous about that fucking skeevy-looking van, I’d say it was a cute moment for them.
“What’s going on?” Echo sucks in a breath through clenched teeth, her eyes wildly shooting from Royal with Chase and to the surrounding area before they dart to Wilder’s twitching jaw, then to me.
I smile to reassure her, but it comes out half-sick with worry. I don’t even fool myself into thinking everything is hunky-dory.“Just being cautious, let’s keep walking.” I put an arm around her waist, and not a lightly slung one, either, as is my usual. I’ve got a grip on her. Wilder has created something of a barricade in front of both Chase and Echo. Maybe we’re being fucking ridiculous and overprotective, but each of us got the same awful feeling, because now that I’m thinking about it, I’d wondered at least three times how that van hadn’t found somewhere to park yet. They’d been back and forth, watching—and not in a good way—for probably the last fifteen minutes.
“Fuck this,” Royal hisses under his breath. Then louder, “We aren’t sitting ducks. Come on.” He steps off the path and directly into the woods, ushering Echo in front of him. “You know the way. Go, baby. If it comes down to it,run.”
She turns, nodding, her face completely leached of blood. She’s wide-eyed and terrified, but there’s also a composure to her as her gaze lands on Chase. “You really think—?” Her brows lift.
Wilder gives a noncommittal shrug, but the set of his jaw says it all. “Go. We’re right behind you.”
Making our way through the wooded area, we carefully pick our way past branches and twigs. Every odd noise makes Echo jerk, and she’s constantly checking to make sure Royal has Chase. He does, and the little man seems to think this is a grand adventure. Good. We don’t need him scared.
I scan the area with Wilder following at my back. But there’s nothing. No one. Not that I expected some devious killer to hop out of the van and chase us through the woods like in some slasher film. There’s no telling what the real crazies will do to others, though. I’ve studied plenty of it.
We cautiously emerge from the woods a few dozen yards from the Madden house. Wilder eases past the rest of us and steps out first, looking up and down the road. “Coast is clear. I see nothing.”
“The—” Royal grimaces, glancing at his son before he drops the f-bomb we all expected. It lingers there on his lips, like he wants to curse a blue streak, but he holds it in. “Chase, let’s go see your Aunt Kara, okay? Where is she?”
The little guy nods, turning to point to his house. “Yet’s go.”
An hour later,we’re still on high alert. Who knows if that van was anything at all, but our reaction to a potential threat shows how recent events have affected us. I don’t fucking like it, especially since Echo seemed nervous that whoever was in that van could be the person responsible for the break-in. Personally, I think every bit is connected and the shithead who taunted Royal over the phone that he’d kill Echo is one and the same as Freya and Zane’s killer.
I’ve gotta put it outta my head for a minute, but I know it’s about to come back up. There are things we didn’t get to talk about earlier before Chase woke up. My insides twist. I know they’re going to ask. I can’t imagine they’re going to let something like my bare ass getting railed by an older woman or amazingly clear shots of my fourteen-year-old dick slipping into that bitch’s cunt are something that we’re going to gloss over. Especially with that fucking note about Echo being my type.
I point to the array of ingredients on the counter as Wilder literally whistles while he works. “You cook sometimes at SIN, but not like this.” He’s expertly slicing chicken he’s cooked, to be added later to the large pan on the cooktop.
He glances up, his gaze softening as it lands on me first, then Echo. “What can I say, I like catering to people I like. And it’s a fuck ton easier to do without fifteen other frat dudes underfoot.”
Seated on one of the kitchen island stools, Echo continues to chop peppers, intermittently eyeing all the ingredients. “Um. Wilder? For Chase, could you?—”
His eyes flick up to hers. “Separate out some of the pasta with the cheese sauce before I add everything else? Already on it. Don’t worry.” He makes this obnoxiously cute kissy face at her. “I’ve got this.”
