Until There Was You(63)

Then she jumped in her truck. Turned the key. He heard the click of a dead battery.

“I’ll drive,” he said, grinning.

“Shoot,” she said. “I need a jump.” She glanced dismissively at his car.

“My battery won’t have enough juice for a truck that size,” he said.

“I’m aware.” She pursed her lips, and he found that he really wanted to get that beer with her.

“How’s this?” he said. “I’ll come back tomorrow and jump it with the truck from the garage. I can drive you home tonight. Good enough?”

“Okay,” she said after a pause.

“Great,” he said, and as he opened the passenger door of his car for her, Liam found that he was smiling.

As he started the car, however, Liam glanced at the dashboard clock—crap. It was 9:20.

He’d missed Nicole’s call. “Hang on one second,” he said as Cordelia buckled herself in. He dug his phone out. No missed calls, no messages. He typed a quick note. Having fun? Text your dear old dad. Waited a beat— Nicole, like every teenager he knew, practically had her phone implanted in her palm. She’d answer back within seconds.

Except she didn’t. “Come on,” he muttered.

“Problem?” Cordelia asked.

“Um…not yet.” He’d call her. She hated when he called, but she’d missed their check-in, so she’d have to deal.

“Hi, you’ve reached Nicole Murphy’s voice mail! Sorry I’m not around, you know what to do.”

“Nicole, it’s your father. Call me,” he growled.

“‘Nicole, it’s your father,’” Cordelia mimicked in a low voice, smiling. “I bet she knows your voice by now.”

“It’s not funny,” he said. “She’s at a party. They said no boys were coming, but you know what? I bet there are boys.”

“Why don’t you call the parents?”

“Good idea.”

Unfortunately, the Carlisles seemed to have an unlisted number. Very suspicious. He should’ve asked for their number when he dropped Nicole off. He’d left his numbers, sure, and obviously Nicole had her own phone. Why hadn’t he asked for the Carlisles’ number? Furthermore, why hadn’t they offered it, when he was reciting his own? Huh? Because maybe they didn’t want him to know it, that’s why. That’s what you’d do if you were a drug dealer, right? And drug dealers relied on children getting hooked, and Nicole was in fact a child and therefore a potential client for a drug dealer, and even if that was a little far-fetched, you never knew.

“We’re just gonna swing by their house, okay? Just to check on them,” Liam said, the tires screeching as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Great. Another fun night stalking Liam’s daughter,” Cordelia muttered. “Can you let me out at the corner? I left something on the stove, I just remembered.”

He didn’t answer. Best-case scenario, Nicole was simply being a teenager, forgetting to check in with him, even if that rule was carved in stone, damn it. Worst-case scenario? Vodka. Ecstasy. Boys. Cars. Dismemberment and/or death.

They turned onto Lighthouse Avenue, where the Carlisles lived—okay, yes, they screeched onto Lighthouse Avenue. “For the love of Elvis, slow down,” Cordelia said, clutching the dashboard.

Liam didn’t answer, too busy sweating. The downstairs curtains of the house were drawn. On every window. That was not cool. In fact, it was really, really suspicious. He stared at the house, his hands clenched around the wheel.

“So…you going in?” Cordelia asked.

“What? No. I’m just… I’ll just check.”

“What do you mean, check?”

Liam opened the car door. “I’m going to…look. Because if they’re doing something illegal in there, I want proof.”

“Illegal? Liam, you’re… Come back!”

He barely heard her. If there were boys in there—and oh, if there were boys, Nicole would be in such trouble she would never see the stars again, because he’d ground her for the rest of her life. If it was worse—a bong, maybe (hell, every party he’d been to in high school had a bong), or worse, some kind of crack paraphernalia…

He felt a hand on his arm. “What are you doing, idiot?” Cordelia asked.

“I’m just gonna climb this tree and take a look.”

“Are you insane? You’re going to spy on a bunch of teenage girls? You want to talk illegal, Liam? Climb that tree, and I’ll call it in myself.”

“Well, I’m not just gonna knock on the front door and ask if they have any drugs in the house, am I?”

“Liam, your kid forgot to call you. Relax.”

“Right,” he snapped. “Relax. I don’t know those people, and yet my little girl is inside. And she’s all I have. I have to keep her safe.” There was that damn tightness in his chest again. He rubbed it with his fist, stopping when he saw Cordelia notice.

“Liam,” she said in a gentler voice. “She is safe. She’s at a sleepover. I’m sure it’s completely innocent. Let’s not have the choo-choo jump the tracks here.”

“Really?” he said. “She’s safe? Innocent? Then why didn’t she check in? Is she even in there? Why isn’t she answering her phone? Why do the Carlisles have an unlisted number? The curtains are pulled. Isn’t that what drug dealers do when they’re cutting up drugs?”