Stay with Me (Wait for You, #3)(57)

“Yes,” I whispered, not about to nod this time.

Mack laughed darkly, and then he was off me, walking across the parking lot all casual, like he hadn’t just threatened me with nasty things or held a knife to my throat. He got into an SUV and drove off.

Then I moved.

Knees weak, I put one foot in front of the other and went back into the bar in a daze. I walked right past the bar, and I thought I heard someone call my name, but I kept walking. I went into the office and sat on the first available place to sit. The leather made a funny sound as I dropped down on the couch. Hands shaking, I placed them against my clammy forehead, and forced myself to take several deep breaths.

This was so not good.

“Calla?” Roxy called from the door. Like an idiot, I hadn’t closed it. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t lift my head or say a word, because I was pretty sure if I did either I would literally lose my shit. All I did was shake my head, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good shake or a bad shake.

Roxy didn’t speak again, and I squeezed my eyes shut. What in the hell was I going to do now? I had no idea where my mom was or where to even start looking for her, and I had this horrible sinking feeling a message was going to get delivered, because I’d never been able to find my mom in the past when she disappeared, so now wouldn’t be any different.

Maybe I really should’ve left like Jax and Clyde had told me to do in the beginning.

“Calla?” This time it was Jax’s voice and he was closer than Roxy had been. I could tell he was right in front of me at head level with mine. He had to be kneeling, because the boy was Godzilla sized. “What’s going on?”

When I didn’t respond immediately, because I was trying to figure out what the hell I could say, I felt his hands circle my wrists and he gently pulled them back from my face. I was right. He was squatting in front of me, and his striking face was pinched with concern.

He moved onto his knees as he let go of one of my hands and cupped my right cheek. “Talk to me, honey. You’re really starting to worry me.”

That much was true. His eyes were darker than normal and his jaw was set in a hard line. Our eyes met, and I knew what I had to do.

I was so not keeping my mouth shut.

Screw that.

Keeping my mouth shut was absolutely the dumbest thing to do because I could not handle this mess on my own. I knew that. There was no way. “Mack was here. He was outside when I went out there. I guess he’d been waiting for me.”

Jax took a deep breath as his gaze sharpened and his shoulders hunched. “He approached you.”

“Yeah,” I said in a dry laugh.

His features hardened, telling me he did not think the laugh was funny. It wasn’t.

“He said that I needed to find my mom. That her being missing was my problem. And he said that if Mom didn’t show up by Thursday, it really was going to be my problem.” As I spoke, Jax’s face literally locked down. No emotion. Nothing. His expression was bland, but it was as cold as an arctic blast. “He said that I would become a message that they would send to Mom.”

There was a slight tremble in his hand and then Jax dropped it as he rose quickly. He took a step back. A muscle throbbed along his jaw.

“I don’t want to be a message,” I said, my voice small. “I really don’t want to be the kind of message he was talking about.”

He stared at me a moment and then understanding flickered across his face, and the whole atmosphere of the room changed. Tension poured like the rain had earlier. “I’m going to find that son of a bitch and f*cking kill him.”

Whoa.

I stood, raising my hands. “Okay. I don’t think that would be the appropriate response.”

“He threatened you?” he shot back.

“Well, yeah, but . . .”

“He threatened with what I f*cking think he did?” Although I didn’t confirm that, and it was a good thing I didn’t share that Mack thought it would also be a perfect message to send Jax, he still got it. “And he threatened you on my f*cking ground?”

I wasn’t sure how this was his ground, but whatever. “Jax . . .”

“Did he touch you?” he asked, and I sucked in a breath.

I shook my head. “No. Not really.”

“Not really?” His voice was low, hitting a pitch that was beyond calm.

Nick was suddenly in the doorway. “Is everything okay?”

“Not now,” Jax spit those two words out in a way that would’ve sent me running in the opposite direction, but Nick stayed, his gaze bouncing between us, obviously reading that something was going down. “Calla.”

Maybe telling Jax wasn’t a good idea. I probably should’ve just gone straight to the police, because he was looking like he wanted to give some good old-fashioned redneck justice. I swallowed hard. “Mack had a knife.”

“Shit,” muttered Nick.

Jax stiffened, like his back went ramrod straight. “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I whispered. “All he did was threaten me. He said he was . . .” I glanced at Nick, but he was like Jax, alert and ready. I lowered my voice. “He said he would even out my face if I screamed.”

There was a moment of silence and then Jax absolutely exploded. Like a bottle rocket. “Son of a bitch!” he shouted, and I jumped a good couple of inches off the floor. “I am gonna kill that motherf*cker.”