“You know I will. I’ll open a bottle of wine, and she can bitch about you while I ply her with enough alcohol that she won’t be able to drive. She’ll have to literally run if she wants to get away.”
In spite of the situation, Alyssa’s words made him smile. “Thanks. I’ll be as quick as I can.” Rylan disconnected and pulled up a number he hadn’t called in a year and a half. It rang twice.
“Hello? Ry?”
“Jake.”
“I didn’t expect—”
“Why is Renee at my house?” He cut his ex-friend off.
“She’s there! Ry, you have to call the police. Hang up and call the police. There’s an amber alert out for Maddox. Does she have him with her? Please tell me she has him with her.”
“What?” he yelled into the phone. “An amber alert?”
“I have primary custody. She’s supposed to only have supervised visits. On her last one, three weeks ago, she managed to convince the supervisor to let her take him to the change room at the mall on her own. No one has seen either of them since.”
“I. Shit. Jake.” Renee had kidnapped her own child? “What the fuck happened?”
“Can you please hang up and call the police to get them to your house. Don’t let her know you’re doing it. Oh god, is she listening? You can’t let her know. She’ll run again.”
“No. I’m not home. Someone else was there when Renee arrived. As far as I know, she and the boy are still there.” Fuck. What the hell had gone on since that night Renee had asked for a divorce and told him the baby in her belly wasn’t his? He’d wiped both his best friend and wife from his life the second Renee had walked out. “I’ll call you back.”
He hung up and immediately dialed the police department. He relayed what he knew to dispatch and asked if Grant Malone was on duty. Leaving his number for Grant to call him back, he dropped the phone in the console.
How had things gotten so crazy? One minute he was looking forward to going home to Mazey and the next he’s got his ex-wife and a kidnapped child in his house.
Shoving the key in the ignition, he cranked the motor and threw the truck in reverse. He needed to get home and make sure the boy was safe. Why he needed to keep the child safe from his own mother was beyond him, but when the dispatch operator had confirmed the amber alert on Maddox Conners, Rylan had known he’d do anything to protect him.
That included restraining his ex if he had to.
Or taking the child. Maybe he could sneak the child out of the house without alerting his ex-wife.
He ignored the speed limit, and the usual fifteen-minute drive took half that. Luckily, it was the middle of the day, and traffic was light.
The car in the driveway sent relief through his veins. If Renee had left, she hadn’t taken her car. If that even was her car. Now he had to work out how to play things.
Did he barge in and demand the boy?
Did he wait for the police to get here? Wait for Grant to call him back?
Or did he go inside and pretend like they were two old friends catching up?
The decision was made when the front door opened, and his ex-wife stepped through it, a smile on her face. He had no choice but to get out of the truck and go into the house now.
Taking a deep breath, he cleared his face of all emotion. Popping his door, he pocketed his phone after switching it to silent and headed up the path.
“Renee. This is a surprise.” He prayed his voice didn’t betray his disgust at seeing her.
“You look so good, Rylan. No limp at all.”
Ah, right, the last time they’d seen each other, he’d still been limping, using a walking stick. That was eighteen months ago.
“Come in, come in.” She waved him into his own house, and when she tried to kiss him, he dodged her and moved toward the stairs.
He wanted a good six feet between them at all times. He studied his ex-wife. She was different. She’d had some work done on her face, he couldn’t figure out what, but she didn’t quite look the same, and she was thinner, almost bony, gaunt. “What are you doing here, Renee?”
“To see you, of course,” she said, moving toward him. “I’ve got something for you.”
