Stay with Me (Wait for You, #3)(114)

“Oh.” I folded my arms as I stared up at him, thankful I wasn’t thinking about how good-looking he was like last time. Crap. Now I was thinking that. The man could work a suit. Looking away, I wanted to kick myself in the teeth. “I left my phone in his truck.”

“How’s he doing?” he asked.

Taking a deep breath, I refocused. “He was awake for a little while, so I got to talk to him.” I hated what I said next. “He’s really weak, though, and I know he’s in pain, but he’ll . . . he’ll pull through.”

“He’s a tough guy. I’ve got to believe he’ll get through this, too.”

I nodded, folding my arms against the hospital chill. “Detective Anders—”

“Call me Colton.”

Colton? His name was Colton? I’d gone all my life not knowing someone named that, and I thought it fit him, a rugged and sexy name. “Colton, were you just checking on Clyde or . . .”

“A little of that, and I wanted to check in with you and let you know that we’re still working hard on everything.”

“So there’s no bad news?”

A sympathetic look crossed his face. “No, Calla, there’s really no news at this point. We haven’t been able to locate anyone who matches the description you provided us in criminal records and Mack is still lying low, but that’s a good thing. That last part, that is.”

I frowned. “How so?”

He looked around, then motioned to the waiting room with a jerk of his chin. “Let’s take this in there.”

Ruh-roh.

I walked through the door he held open and sat in the first chair. As he unbuttoned his suit jacket, he sat across from me. “We’ve been putting in a lot of visits to Isaiah. We’ve got nothing leading back to him, no surprise there, and even though he keeps his hands clean, we know those hands are all over this shit, you follow me?”

Mysterious Isaiah strikes again. “Okay.”

“He doesn’t like screwups or loose ends. Mack right now is both of those things and he’s bringing the heat down on Isaiah, plus Isaiah can’t be too happy about the drugs going missing,” he explained, eyes fixed on me. “Mack’s got it coming from both ends with Isaiah. He’s in the same boat as . . .”

“As my mother?”

He didn’t break eye contact. “Yes. I hate saying that to you, but yes.”

Running my hands over my jeans, I sighed. There was nothing I could say to that. Nothing at all.

“If you hear from your mom, you need to let us know,” he continued. “I know that’ll be hard, but it’s not safe for her. We are literally the lesser of two evils. You get what I’m saying?”

Unsure if I could do that, turn my mom over to the police, I shifted my gaze away. I knew it would be the right thing to do if Mom happened to pop back up and even though I wanted to say I could, it would be different if that situation arose.

Detective Anders stood, and I figured the conversation was over. He stopped at the door, head tilted. “You have a good thing going here, right?”

Thinking that was an odd thing to say, all I did was nod.

“Then take to heart what I said about your mother, Calla. I know she’s blood. I know you love her. And I know these things are hard, but don’t let her take these good things away from you.”

Detective Anders’s words lingered with me the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. I tried not to think about it when Jax and I left to grab a late lunch at a small diner in town or as we spent the evening chilling in his living room. It was a lot to deal with—everything—and it was exhausting, both mentally and emotionally.

It was near eight in the evening and I’d just gorged myself on a pack of Twizzlers. On the way back from tossing the package in the trash, I smoothed my hand through my hair even though it probably still looked like a hot mess and then headed around the couch.

From where Jax sat, he leaned forward and settled his hands on my hips as I went to walk past him, to take the seat next to him. Apparently that wasn’t happening. “I think I’m going to pull out of Dennis’s bachelor party.”

God, I’d totally forgotten that was tomorrow night. “Why?”

One shoulder rose as he rubbed his hands up and down my hips. “With everything going on with Clyde and with you, I think the last thing I need to be doing is sitting in a strip club.”

“I’m pretty sure with everything that’s been going on, you could use the break. Just don’t go into any of the private rooms,” I joked.

“Thursday nights are kind of busy, hon, and I don’t feel—”

“We have the bar and the kitchen handled. And I promise not to get kidnapped or anything crazy.”

An eyebrow arched. “You promise?”

“Totes-ma-goats.”

He smirked. “I don’t think that’s something you necessarily have control over.”

“If I stay behind the bar, I think I’ll be fine. Plus Nick will be there. And you already have him coming in on Thursday to cover you. We’ll be fine.”

“You sure are fine.”

I sighed. “Jax.”

With a wicked grin on his lips, he pulled me into his lap and I went to him, straddling his thighs. I liked this. A lot. But he wasn’t going to distract me. “Go. Okay. I’ll be at the bar and you’ll come get me before we close. I’ll be fine.”