Page 89 of Make Me Whole

I looked from Al to the police chief and then to Nick. When no one understood my questioning expression, I sighed exasperatedly and asked, “Do I answer it or not?”

“Yes, answer it,” Nick replied.

As I slid my finger upward on the green dot, the chief told me to put it on speaker. I really didn’t want to have a bunch of men listening in on the first conversation I had with Sky in three weeks, but my primary goal was to help the police get Eli away from her for good, so I did what I was told.

“Hello. Sky?”

There was a moment of silence. Then a sniff. “No. It’s me, Dad.”

“Dad?” Al whispered, a little stunned.

Despite the tension of the moment, I offered him an honest smile to go along with the proof that I had been honest about my intentions and connection with his daughter and granddaughter.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” she replied in a mousey voice that barely resembled the vivacious girl I’d grown to love. “But Mommy isn’t. You need to help her, Dad.”

My heart skipped a beat. I looked at Chief Jones who had brows raised to his hairline and widened eyes. “What happened to your mom?”

“I d–don’t know. We were in the kitchen when Eli arrived.”

That I was nowDadwhile her real father was simplyEliwas as noticeable as her distress.

Next to me, Al raised his brows as she continued, “He was screaming, so Mom told me to take my sandwich to my room, lock the door, and not open it until she said I could. She only does that when Eli hurts her, so instead of going upstairs, I came to the office to call you because I think he’s hurting her now. You have to come get us. We don’t want to stay here anymore.”

In a panic, I pushed my chair back and stood up. Ella’s sobbing killed me. The thought of that asshole hurting my woman or our baby made me downright murderous.

“Can you lock the office door?” I asked her. When she mumbled ayes, I told her to do that and wait for me. I hung up as I walked to the door with Al following close on my heels.

“You guys coming or what?” he barked at the chief, who yelled something in reply.

I paid no attention to his words as I bolted out the door. I honestly didn’t care whether they were coming with us or not. In fact, I hoped they weren’t as not having the police around would give me the chance to serve Eli justice with my fists.

“I know a shortcut there and you’re too pissed to drive. Give me the keys,” Al said, running next to me.

I tossed him the keys and made my way toward the passenger side. With both of us inside, Al turned on the engine and put the truck in reverse. As we started to move, the door behind me opened.

“I bet my cock one of you is going to do something that will make my life complicated, so I’m coming with,” Nick said as he climbed in the backseat.

“Aren’t they coming?” Al asked as we exited the lot.

“Yeah, but bureaucracy is a pain in the ass. Jones is yelling at folks to expedite the warrant and the team is getting ready. As I left, he said they should be at Eli’s house within ten minutes.”

Out of all the yapping they were doing, I only registered one thing.Ten goddamned, fucking minutes.I sure hoped Al’s shortcut was good because the normal drive from the Pine Creek station to Eli’s house was eight minutes, and I’d need way more than two minutes of rage before the police arrived.

Thanks to the ass-kicking gods, Al’s reckless driving, and cutting through a couple of parking lots, we arrived at Eli’s white Colonial home five minutes after my call with Ella ended. The truck was still moving when I jumped out and ran toward the house.

I was fully prepared to kick my way inside, but to my surprise the door was open. For a second, I wondered if Eli had left it that way in his anger or if Ella had disobeyed my order to stay locked in the office and opened it for me. I sincerely hoped it was option number one, but even if it wasn’t, that was a problem for another time. At that moment, I was just grateful that no one could add breaking and entering to the assault charges I was bound to receive.

I walked inside and followed the sounds of arguing voices toward what I assumed was the kitchen. The closer I got, the louder and clearer the voices became. I still couldn’t make out the words they were saying, but I could hear Eli laughing like a villain in a bad slasher movie and Skylar speaking through tears.

My heart pounded so hard it felt like my chest would explode at any moment. I ran through the large house, cursing my legs for moving so slow and time for moving too fast, until I arrived at the large living room that connected to the kitchen. When I got there, my racing heart stopped.

Eli stood between a fancy Sub-zero fridge and a large island with Sky kneeling at his feet. Her humiliation was awful, but the sight of him smiling as she weakly clawed at the hands he had around her neck while begging for her baby’s—our baby’s—life was shocking.

For a second, I just stood there with my heart at a standstill and my fisted hands shaking. But then, Sky wheezed, and it shook something crazy inside me.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” I barked, baring my teeth like an angry lion ready to pounce.

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