Page 96 of Hit the Ground
I knifed upright, bringing the phone to my ear. “Jesse? You okay?”
“Dad?” The tremble in his voice put me on red alert. “Uh…sorry, I don’t know if I should have called you…”
I did my level best to stay calm, even though my insides were screaming. “What’s going on, bud?”
“Something weird is happening. Kent’s here, and I think something’s wrong.”
I shot to my feet, my fingers shoved in my hair. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” I could almost hear him shaking his head. Probably pacing around his room too. “He…I was sleeping, and something loud outside woke me up. Then I heard him and Mom talking. I think she was crying. I went to check, and Kent was kind of all…bloody.”
Shit. What the hell was going on?
“Okay. Stay in your room. I’m in town at Alice’s. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
He made a choked sound, and it was a shot to my gut. “You don’t have to come,” he whispered.
I had to clear the panic from my throat before I could speak again. “You need me?”
After a short pause, he answered, “Yeah.”
“I’m coming. Hold tight, bud.”
I threw down my phone and searched for my clothes in the dark. I was coming up empty, about ready to head over in my briefs, when a light flicked on. Alice was already skirting the bed, a bundle of clothes in her arms.
“Here.” She thrust my jeans and T-shirt at me. “Give me two minutes, and I’ll be ready.”
“No, darlin’, go back to sleep.” I yanked my shirt over my head. “I can handle this.”
She shook her head as she darted around the room, slipping on her discarded sundress and shoving her feet into a pair of flip-flops. She was fully dressed, her phone in her hand, before I’d gotten my jeans zipped up.
“Is Jesse okay?”
“Think so, but something’s going on in that house he doesn’t need to be a part of.” I took her by the waist and rolled my forehead along hers. “I’m going to pick him up and take him home.”
“Okay. I’m coming too.” She said it so firmly there was no room for argument. There was no time either. I needed to get to my boy and see with my own two eyes he was okay.
“All right.” I held the back of her head, making sure she was hearing me. “But no matter what, you’re staying in the truck.”
“I’ll do what you need me to.”
It wasn’t an agreement, but it was as good as I was going to get right now.
It took exactly three minutes to drive from Alice’s house to Shelby’s. As much as I liked living out on the ranch, I was thanking my lucky stars I’d been in town. I didn’t know if I could have handled a thirty-minute drive to get to Jesse. As it was, my heart was damn near ready to explode.
I had my phone to my ear as I strode up the walk to the front door. Jesse answered on the first ring.
“Dad?”
“I’m here, buddy. If it’s safe to come out of your room, open the front door for me.”
“Okay,” he whispered. “I’m coming right now. But…I think Mom’s pretty upset. Be prepared.”
My shoulders locked tight around my ears, but I did my best to keep the tension out of my voice. The last thing he needed was both his parents going haywire. I’d be his rock, even if it killed me.
“I’m good, bud. Now come let me in. I’ll take care of the rest.”
It was a point in Shelby’s favor I couldn’t hear any yelling or crashing coming from inside. As I peered through the sidelights beside the door, all I could see was her neat-as-a-pin living room, illuminated only by a hall and kitchen light.
