Hour of Need (Scarlet Falls #1)(38)

“I doubt that,” Grant said, but he wasn’t looking forward to delivering this bit of news to a woman who owned a shotgun.

Barely fifteen seconds passed before Ellie opened the door. She took in the scene in one sweep of her gaze. Her eyes went from worried to pissed in the span of one blink. She stepped back and gestured to the interior of the house. “Let’s do this inside.”

Yeah. There was nothing warm and fuzzy about Ellie tonight.

Taylor hesitated. His feet turned as if he was going to bolt, but Grant caught him by the collar. “No, you don’t.”

He guided Taylor to follow Ellie into the kitchen.

In pajama bottoms and an oversize T-shirt, she paced the kitchen. Anger pressed the blood from her lips. Her hair was tousled, her eyes shadowed with stress and fatigue that seemed too ingrained to be caused entirely by one night’s activities. As much as Grant wanted to know what was keeping Ellie awake, first they had to deal with the disaster in front of them. One clusterf*ck at a time.

Ellie stopped and faced her daughter. “Would you like to explain why you were outside with this boy at midnight?”

“We were going out,” Julia mumbled.

“So he didn’t kidnap you from your bed?” Ellie asked in a wry tone.

Julia shook her head.

Still holding Taylor’s wallet, Grant opened it. The bright kitchen light revealed Taylor’s young age. Picking up a pen and a grocery store receipt on the kitchen table, Grant copied the boy’s name and address from the driver’s license.

“Do you want to keep him?” he asked Ellie.

Ellie looked over the license. “So you’re Taylor. You’re over eighteen. Did you know Julia isn’t sixteen yet? I could call the police.”

“You can’t!” Red splotches colored Julia’s pale cheeks. “It was all my idea.”

Sweat beaded on the boy’s forehead. He shoved shaking hands into his front pockets.

“Do you really think this is a police matter?” Grant almost kicked himself for asking when Ellie turned angry-mother eyes on him. Why was he getting involved? Because the kid was terrified and really, what had he done? If a pretty young girl agrees to sneak out, the average teenage boy isn’t going to put much thought into his actions.

With one hand on the small of her back, Ellie exhaled with force and rubbed an eyebrow. “No. Not really.”

Grant handed the identification back to the boy. He glanced at Julia, who retreated into the far corner of the kitchen. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the floor. Pissy teenage attitude mixed with I-am-in-big-trouble on her face.

Grant escorted Taylor to the door before Ellie changed her mind. “Here’s a piece of advice. Don’t do this again. It’s stupid.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t make me regret this.” Grant set him free.

“No, sir.” The kid bolted through the opening, half running toward a car parked a few houses up the street. Grant went back into the kitchen.

“I can’t believe you were sneaking out.” Astonishment filled Ellie’s tone.

“You never let me do anything.” Julia’s response exploded with long-built resentment. “None of my friends take the bus. They all get rides. I’m the only sophomore not allowed to date.”

“You can date boys your own age. Taylor is too old for you. Do you know how dangerous it is to go out in the middle of the night without anyone knowing where you’ll be or what time you’ll be home?” Ellie’s voice cracked. “If something happened to you, I wouldn’t even know where to look.”

“Taylor is the only boy I like. If you just took the time to get to know him, I wouldn’t have to sneak out at night,” Julia retorted.

Sensing the conversation was just getting started, Grant cleared his throat. “I’m going to leave.”

“Thank you, Grant,” Ellie said.

“You’re welcome. I’ll let myself out.” Grant left the house, feeling old and crappy. He remembered what it was like to get into trouble, though he hadn’t experienced much teenage wildness, not with his father disabled. But this wasn’t Grant’s first disciplinary action. As an officer, he had plenty of young recruits who couldn’t resist the occasional lure of stupidity. But none of them were a fifteen-year-old girl making a sad, you-ruined-my-whole-life face at him.

But Ellie was exactly right. Julia had to understand the risk she was going to take that night. The thought of her out there, alone, with a boy Ellie didn’t know, going who knew where, gave Grant a cramp in the center of his gut. Considering everything that was going on in the neighborhood, he didn’t blame Ellie for keeping her daughter close. And, after spending these past few days with full-time care of Carson and Faith, Grant could imagine far too clearly the soul-clenching terror a parent felt when a child went missing—and the despair when she didn’t come home.

As he crossed the lawn, snowflakes drifted from the clouded sky. Heat enveloped him as he went into the house. Carson’s and Hannah’s voices, along with Faith’s cries, poured down the hall. Everyone was up. Again. Grant shook his head. These kids never slept. A few white flakes fell from his hair onto the doormat. He toed off his wet shoes.

Chaos. Total chaos. Life in Afghanistan was less insane.