Rushing the Goal (Assassins #8)(113)

When, really, Heidi had been the one who was the problem.

“That’s odd. Did you guys get into it again?”

“You can say that.”

“You guys need to stop all this fighting.”

“Yeah, well, he needs to work on that.”

“Or you do,” she said and Lucy paused.

Taking a cleansing breath, she snarled out, “Can you please have her call me?”

“I’ll try.”

Exactly. Clenching the phone in her hand, she opened her eyes to meet Benji’s gaze. “Thanks,” she snapped and then hung up, shaking her head. Opening Rick’s text conversation, she typed out a message quickly.

Lucy: You are a liar and you best hope my daughter is okay.

Rick: Be real, she’s fine. Wait, are you threatening me?

Before she could type back what she really wanted to say, Benji’s hand came over the screen and she gawked up at him. “Let it be. He is baiting you.”

“Fucking shit!” she yelled, moving her phone out and typing him back.

Lucy: Can I please talk to her?

Rick: She’s busy.

“Let it go. Hopefully, your dad can pull through,” Benji said, his voice stern as Lucy felt like she was completely losing it. “Come on, let’s go get some brunch and then we’ll go have dessert with Autumn and River.”

“I want to go home,” she said, looking up at him. He was blurry because of her tears.

“Which is why we’ll go out.”

“Benji, you don’t understand!” she yelled, shaking her phone at him. “I don’t know what is going on with my daughter because her dad is a jackass.” Sucking in a breath, she shook her head as she met his gaze. “I’m worried.”

“So am I,” he admitted. “But you’ve done everything you can. You dad will pull through, but I won’t let you sit at home and stew in your worry. You’ll drive yourself crazy.”

“So I’m supposed to act like it’s no big deal?”

“No. Not at all. I didn’t imply that either. I’m just saying that sitting at home stewing and thinking of everything that could go wrong is going to make it worse.” He paused as he looked at her with a serious expression. “Do you think he’d hurt her? If so, Lucy, I’ll drive you over there, bust in that house, get her, and go to jail. I don’t care.”

Her stomach hurt, but she was pretty sure Rick would never physically hurt her. He had never laid a hand on her before, only Lucy, but it scared her to the core that he could do it. He had never done that before, though. He always let her talk to Angie or let Angie call her. What if she was calling for Lucy? What if she needed her? Her heart hurt. Should she drive over there?

When her phone rang, she fumbled with it, not checking who it was before answering, “Hello?”

“Honey, it’s me,” her dad said, and her body went rigid.

“Yeah, what did you find out?”

“He doesn’t have to let you talk to her, and his lawyer pointed that out. I already knew this, though, and I said I’d send the cops over for a well-being check. The lawyer didn’t want that, so he put me on with Rick over conference. I told him to call you. He said he wouldn’t, that he was spending time with his daughter. I asked to speak with Angie. The lawyer said Rick didn’t have to do that, but he did. She got on the line, and I asked if she was okay. She said yes. I told her you were thinking about her and missing her a lot. She said she missed you and loved you, that she missed me, and that she hoped I could come to one of her games. I asked if she wanted to leave Rick’s house. But before she could answer, the lawyer hung up. So I don’t know. It’s a f*cking mess, and I’m gonna go ahead and get a court date, I think. Some things need to change.”

Lucy’s heart was in her stomach, and she was pretty sure she was about to throw up. She didn’t hear a lot of what he had said, except that Angie was okay. “So, she’s okay?”

“She sounded upset, but she wasn’t crying. I don’t know.”

“What do you think I should do? Should I go over there?”

“There is no point. He’ll call the cops, and then someone will get arrested, more likely you since you’d be on his property.”

Lucy looked down at the ground, sucking in a breath. “So just wait till tomorrow?”

“Yeah, talk to her tomorrow, and if you want to proceed, I’ll arrange for a date.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding slowly and feeling a little better. Not much, but at least she wasn’t about to lose her shit anymore. Clearing her throat, she said, “Thanks, Dad.”

“Anytime. Keep documenting, Lucy. Everything. We’ll get this fixed.”

“Okay.”

“And maybe you can get me that hockey schedule so I can come,” he said and Lucy froze. She could tell him to f*ck off, tell him to go to hell, but it wasn’t in her. He didn’t have to help her, especially with how hateful she had been since the divorce, but he was helping. He was there for her.

“Let me think about that.”

“Of course,” he said, and that surprised Lucy. She expected a fight. “Call me tomorrow.”

“I will.”

“Oh, are you dating someone?”