Hold (Gentry Boys, #5)(67)

“Would you have done it?” I asked. I’d looked in the other direction and spoken so softly I wasn’t sure anyone could have heard me.

But the sound of the wind had ceased and the radio was silent so they heard. A car suddenly sped past on the two lane road and then raced off into the night. It made me think about recklessness and the fragility of a good life.

“No,” Cord finally answered. “No, I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger. It crossed my mind. In spite of all the distance we’ve traveled I still have days where there’s nothing I’d like better than to see his blood in a puddle.” He swallowed and relaxed his hands. “But there’s no way I would risk my family for revenge. I wouldn’t have killed him. I just wanted him to know that his claim to us had ended.”

I was relieved to hear it. When I straightened up I could see the subdued lights of downtown Emblem, and beyond it the more garish lights of the prison, surrounded by barbed wire.

Chase opened his window and pitched the empty gun deep into the unseen brush on the side of the road. I imagined some roaming rattlesnake finding our discarded trash, curling its long body around the metal and dragging the thing deep into the bleak desolation it inhabited.

“Boys,” Chase leaned over. “We should get out of here.”

I nodded and started back to my truck. “Meet you at the med center.”

Once I was back on the road the buzz of the phone in my back pocket made me jump. Even though I had a thing about using phones behind the wheel it was a good time to make one exception. Truly was worried. I imagined her sitting at home with her black hair running riot over her shoulders as our son slept in her arms. I hated texting and anyway I wanted to hear her voice so I dialed, unsurprised when she picked up on the first ring.

“Are you coming home soon?” she asked, her voice high and hopeful. “We miss you.”

“Yeah, honey,” I smiled. “I’m coming home real soon.”

Nothing in this world could keep me from it.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR


CHASE



Of course we wanted to drive out of Emblem real bad by this point but we still had to figure out what to do with the boy. As we coasted back into town with Creed right on our tail I briefed Cord on Tracy Gentry’s declaration that she was quitting motherhood.

“Shit,” Cord cursed, running a hand through his hair like he did when he was especially agitated. “Con just saw his girl killed and his brother hauled off to prison. Now his mother’s giving him the boot.”

“We can try to figure that out later. But for now he needs a place to stay and he needs someone to watch out for him.”

Cord nodded. “We’ve got that extra bedroom so that’ll work for at least a few days. I’ll have to check with Say but I’m sure she wouldn’t have a problem with it.” He paused. “He’s going to need a lot of hand holding for a while.”

“I’m willing,” I said quickly. “It would be no problem to bring him along to the day camp. Maybe being around some other kids who’ve also been knocked around by life will make him feel a little less lonely.”

As I said it I thought about Conway’s tears, about the anguish in his voice as he sobbed on my shoulder. I thought about how in a few minutes here we were going to have to break the news that he wasn’t welcome in own home anymore.

Fuck.

I punched the steering wheel and Cord looked at me with alarm.

“Fleeting burst of fury,” I explained, shaking my hand out. I hadn’t really hit the steering wheel that hard. “It’s okay now.”

But inside I was seething. Kids should be given a chance. Kids like Conway and dozens of others I’d met through the center and assistant teaching, some of whom have been homeless, abused, neglected. They shouldn’t be discarded, forgotten, written off as if their destinies were already decided.

“What about Stone?” Cord asked.

Stone was of course out of our reach for now. Even though he’d f*cked up in more ways than one he was undoubtedly feeling every ounce of that torment today. There was nothing to be gained by cursing him further. And anyway life had taught me that things weren’t always what they seemed to be. Maybe someday he’d be willing to tell his story. Maybe it wasn’t as awful as it seemed. Or maybe it was.

“I guess there’s nothing we can do except wait to see what he’s being charged with.”

Cord stretched. “You think the gossip’s true? That those two are really Uncle Chrome’s kids?”

I’d heard all the rumors. That despite being married to our father’s cousin, Tracy was a trashy party type who jumped from one Gentry bed to another. Con and Stone might be Chrome’s kids. Hell, they might even be Benton’s kids. It was all rather mixed up and sordid.

“Who knows,” I shrugged.

“Guess it doesn’t matter.”

“No, it doesn’t. They’re family either way.”

I pulled into the parking lot of the Emblem Medical Center and glanced at my watch, shocked to find that it wasn’t even past nine o’clock. The day had seemed endless and before I saw the hour I was absolutely sure it must have ended by now.

Creed swung into the spot right beside me while Cord took a minute to neaten up the interior of the tow truck, which had been ruffled around a bit when I’d slammed on the brakes outside Benton’s front door. Carson was obviously used to messily cramming things in wherever they could fit so finally Cord just collected everything and shoved it in the glove box.