Until Lilly (Until, #3)(75)
“The last time she was here I thought I was going to get some, but she carried on about your daughter and wife—who, by the way, is a hot piece.” I want to punch him in the face, but don’t let it show.
“She is hot, right?” Nico asks, and I swing my head to him. What the f*ck?
“Fuck yeah, she is. I mean, Jules is good looking, but that bitch is smoking.”
“I agree,” Nico says, and the guy smiles at him. “So what else did Jules want?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t really listening; I was trying to get laid, you know?” Nico nods and he shifts, his head going back like he’s thinking. “All I remember is her saying that the girl was a mistake on her part, and that she should have been smarter—whatever the f*ck that means.” He digs his hand into his front pocket, pulling out a pack of smokes, offering one to Nico, then to me. We both shake our heads no. He puts one in his mouth, lighting it and taking a drag. “I really don’t remember anything else.” He shrugs, taking another drag before tossing the still-lit cigarette into the yard. My brain is in overdrive; she told him Ashlyn was a mistake on her part. I know deep down she is the reason Lilly got pregnant, but there is no way to prove it. I know that if confronted, she would deny it.
“Do you know where she might be?” Nico asks him.
“Jules?” he asks, and Nico nods. “I don’t know, at her house? Or with her f*cked up aunt maybe?”
“Why are you here?” he finally asks the question he should have asked a long time ago.
“My son and daughter are missing,” I tell him honestly. He looks between Nico and me, then backs up.
“Hey, I have nothing to do with that.”
“We didn’t say you did, but we need to know if you have any idea where Jules might be,” Nico says, and the guy looks nervous.
“You think that Jules has something to do with it?” he asks.
“We’re not sure right now; the only thing we know for sure is that Jules has disappeared, and so have my kids.”
“Dude, that’s f*cked up.” He shakes his head. My phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket, looking at the caller ID. I have no clue who it is.
“Hello?”
“Hello, sir,” an older woman says.
“Can I help you?” I ask impatiently. I don’t have time for this shit right now.
“Yes, I’m calling you because a little boy showed up on my property about five minutes ago. He says that his sister was taken by his mom, and that I needed to call his dad.” My hand that’s not holding the phone goes to my chest where my necklace lays. I put pressure on it, the metal against my skin reminding me that my family will be back together soon.
“Where are you?” I ask, jumping off the porch and heading to my truck. I get in and slam my door at the same time as Nico. She quickly rattles off her address. “Let me talk to my son, please.”
“Dad!” Jax cries. “Mom took Ashlyn. I had to go with her to keep her safe, but she took her into a house, and there was a lot of shouting, Dad. So I ran as fast as I could until I found somewhere to call you.”
“You did good, dude. I’m so proud of you. But I need you to be brave for a little while longer, okay?”
“Okay, Dad.” I hear him sniffle, and I fight not to crack my phone.
“I love you, Jax, and I will be there soon,” I tell him, clenching my teeth. A drive that would normally take forty-five minutes takes twenty. My dad gets ahead of us on the highway in his squad car, leading a long line of cars and trucks. The old lady Jax is with explains that he had ran through a cornfield that is on the back of her property, and that no one else lives close enough to her that would know we are on their trail. When we arrive at the location where Jax is, we all get out of our vehicles just as Jax comes flying out of the house, right into my arms.
“I got you,” I tell him, picking him up. He wraps himself around me, his body shaking. “You’re safe, bud, but I need you to tell me where your sister is.” He nods into my shoulder then starts talking, his body shaking so hard that I have to sit down with him. He tells me that he and Ashlyn were playing hide-and-seek and that he knew where she was hiding because she always hides in the same place. He says he went around the side of the house, seeing someone dressed in black carrying Ashlyn away. He was going to go into the house to get me, but they were almost to the truck by the time he thought about it. Then he says when the person placed Ashlyn in the truck, he climbed into the back and laid down to hide. When the truck finally stopped, he peeked over the edge, seeing his mom carrying Ashlyn into a house. He didn’t know what to do when he heard yelling coming from the house, so he ran to try to find someone to call me. I hold him close, rocking him back-and-forth the same way I used to when he was a baby. My dad, brothers, and a couple other officers listen. It only takes him a couple of minutes to tell us what had happened, but I know that it’s a couple minutes too long. “Listen, little dude, you’re going to stay here and I’m going to go with Grandpa so that I can get your sister and we can go home,” I tell him. I stand and carry him over to my truck. Asher takes him from me, talking gently to him as I head over to my dad.
“Look, I shouldn’t even let you come with us, but I know that I won’t be able to stop you, and Ashlyn is going to need you when we get her out of there.” My jaw clenches, but I hold my tongue. Right now, he isn’t my dad, he is a cop, and I know the difference. “We’re going to head across the field the same way Jax came. When we get there, I need you to stay out of sight with Nico until I give you the go-ahead.”