“Because that’s his son, and he won’t stop looking for him. That will be inviting him to our doorstep.”
“Just get here safe, damn it.”
He slammed the phone down. I stared at him, eyes wide. I couldn’t hear her side, but his part was telling enough.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“She thinks Ravik knows that you’re alive. When Paxton was high, he said something about you being kidnapped, but you were fine.”
“Oh no.”
“They tried to play it off like he was high and just talking crazy, but Ravik has been calling people and asking questions,” he said.
“What is she going to do?”
“She’s gonna head here. I need to leave, I’ll be back,” he said.
He didn’t wait for an answer before he was out the door. I sat down in the chair, unsure what to do. I continued petting Lucy. She didn’t know it, but she was comforting me more than I was her.
Quinn had let me know a week ago that Paxton was in a dark place. He’d been using heroin. I wanted to leave that day, but Quinn talked me out of it. It wouldn’t do anybody any good if we showed up without a plan. He assured me that Benji promised to check in over there and try to talk my mother into putting him in rehab. I told Quinn that if something didn’t happen, we had to go back for Aspen. If my mother were drunk, and he was high, she wasn’t safe there.
A couple of days ago, another friend of Quinn’s called and let him know that they were able to convince my mother to admit him into rehab. Paxton must have said something before he got to rehab—at least that's what I hoped.
When he walked in a few hours later, he was anxious. He walked with heavy steps. He paced in front of the phone for a while before he started grabbing food out of the fridge. Lucy started to root on my chest again, indicating she was hungry. I made her a bottle and stood in the kitchen feeding her. Each feeding got better and better. The phone rang, and before the second ring, he grabbed it.
“Callie?”
“Okay. Okay. Good. Titi Lina is expecting you. It will be late when you arrive, but she said to go inside and sleep on the couch.”
“Well, you could come here, but there isn’t really a road name or address.”
“I’ll be there in the morning, and we’ll all talk.”
“I love ya. Be safe.”
He hung up and sighed loudly.
“Sounds like she’s safe?” I asked.
“Thus far,” he said.
“So… what’s the story on the Civic?” I asked.
“Um… I may have unknowingly raced a sheriff… and beat him. Then he chased me through the town and the mountains. Ravik ordered me to get rid of it and burn it… I loved that car. So I told him I did… Now you know I didn’t,” he said before letting out a loud laugh.
“That was you!” I said.
“That made the news and the newspaper? Yes, yes, it was,” he said.
“So, you painted it and kept it in storage this whole time?”
“Yeah… something like that,” he said.
He picked up the phone and dialed out.
“Hey, Titi,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah. I talked to her, and she’s on her way to your house.”
