“It’s confirmed then? They have her name?” Dax asks.
“Yes. They think she’s seen the list. Or at least they’re willing to risk finding out.”
Dax makes a low growling sound in the back of his throat. “They’ll make her vanish. She’s low risk.”This sounds serious. I knew it was serious but hearing these two talking about me vanishing like it’s nothing…normal even…that cements it for me.
“I know. We’ll keep her close, and when they come for her, we’ll take them down.”
Sleep is like tar. It drags me back again and again to the deepest part of the pit and does its level best to swallow me up. It’s not an unpleasant feeling. I’m warm, surrounded, and safe, but there’s something shaking me. It’s encouraging me to escape the blackness and the forgetting. I try not to listen, reaching out to embrace oblivion and inviting it to pull me under, but the urgency trembles and nudges, causing prickles of awareness to wake me.
I’m shaking. No…I’m vibrating.
The phone!
I roll away from the warm mass of bed covers and yank my phone out of the leg pocket. There are two missed calls. I’m just about to see who from when I remember TJ has my other phone. Are they in trouble, or is he just playing? Please let him be playing.
As I’m about to dial him back, the phone almost leaps from my hands as it vibrates again. A mass on the bed moves, rolling away with a huff.
“TJ?”
“Juju. Daddy’s being bad again.”
“What? Did Daddy find you? Where’s Mummy?”
“She’s crying, Juju. He’s making her cry really loud.” He means screaming. Fuck. What happened? Where the hell is Carlo? Is she even with Carlo? Did I get it all wrong?
“Are Casey and AJ with you? Are you in the safe space?” We built a fort in their closet years ago so that they had a place to hide when Dad was rampaging. I can only hope they all made it there before calling me.
“We are in our room. AJ is shaking, but Casey is at Daddy Ca-lo’s house.” Daddy Carlo? How well do the boys know him? A loud crack echoes down the line, punctuated by a muffled thump.
“Are you okay?”
TJ’s voice trembles as he fights to get the words out. “Y…yes. Hurry Juju.” It must be bad. Mum fucked up big time going back there tonight. I can’t even understand why she’d go home.
“Okay. I’m on my way. Stay hidden.” I cut the call and search the room for my backpack and shoes. My stained sneakers are neatly positioned at the bottom of the bed. It takes me another crucial second to realise I’m still at the hospital. Dax is most definitely the lump on the bed and Aiden naps in an uncomfortable-looking armchair across from us, next to the door.
Do I wake them and ask for yet another favour? No. Dad will only escalate if I bring either of these men to his door again. If I can slip in and get the kids out…or play a distraction for a few minutes…Damn it, I’m as good as dead if I walk back in there unarmed, but Mum’s as good as dead if I don’t. Fuck! I don’t have time to think now. I need to move.
Shoes on, keys and wallet silently fished from my backpack, and phone in my pocket. I sneak toward the door, creeping over Aiden’s outstretched feet.
“I don’t think so, Tiger.”
Shit! “Aiden, I need air. I’m just going to stalk the corridor for a bit of thinking space, okay? My head’s a freaking mess.”
“Five minutes, Jules. I want to see you back in bed in fiveminutes.”
“Ten at least.”
“Fine. Go.”
Ten minutes isn’t much of a head start, but if I can make it to the taxi rank on the hospital forecourt, then maybe I can get the hell out of here before Aiden comes hunting. Maybe I should just tell him? I could do with the backup; someone threatening to stop Dad in his tracks.
Am I making a mistake going alone?Yes. Obviously.
Do I really want to involve Dax or Aiden?No.All that talk of recruitment has me worried. What if I cause them so much trouble, they eventually decide not to give me a choice? If my debts grow large enough with them, they could just demand I work for them. And someone like me is only ever going to amount to bait.
I have no one else to call, though.
But Mum does.
