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“Oh my God.”
“What the fuck?”
“Helen, you weren’t joking.”
“Good morning, baby,” Mom chokes out. “Sit, I’ll get you some breakfast.”
“I already did.” Michael grins. “Dropped it off to them a little earlier, and he was wrapped around her like a cobra.”
“Aw,” Samantha coos.
Kaleb laughs. “I knew you’d become all cuddly and shit once you finally got laid.”
“Knock it off,” my father warns, his tone sharp as he slaps the back of Kaleb’s head.
Tilting my head, I take in his expression. My usually playful father is dead serious. His face is pale as he blinks the moisture back. “Well”—he clears his throat—“you just bring that little lady down whenever you’re ready, son.”
I nod my thanks.
“And no one go bothering them. Samantha, I’m talking to you.”
My sister grins, rolling her eyes. When it’s clear he wants an answer, she gives in quickly, “Fine, fine, I won’t interrupt their love fest.”
Wanting to get back to Charlotte, I head to the coffee pot and quickly pour two cups, conscious of already having been gone from her longer than I had hoped. She better not have even thought of touching that door.
I have barely finished pouring the second cup before a knock on the door sounds.
I freeze.
My hand stops midway to the coffee station, and my heart lodges in my throat. No one from town would come here unless it was an emergency . . . Like five dead trespassers at my family’s campsite kind of emergency.
I try to calm myself down. It’s not even been twelve hours, so the chances they’ve already been found are slim. I hear Sheriff McCallister greet my father.
Fuck. I’m going to have to kill the goddamn sheriff before I’ve had my morning coffee.
Like he can hear my thoughts, Michael gives me a small discreet shake of his head and a look that says calm the fuck down.
No one is taking my Charlotte; I don’t care who I have to kill.
Standing, he joins me at the kitchen doorway, and together, we watch as our parents greet McCallister and his deputy.
“Sorry to bother you folks on a Saturday.” McCallister apologizes, taking his hat off as he enters the house. His second-in-command follows him in. “You all know Deputy Cooper.”
My father nods, shaking their hands.
“Would you boys like some coffee?” my mother offers.
Her words make my lips twitch as my father went to school with the sheriff. There is nothing boyish about him.
Kaleb nudges his way into the room from behind us, leaning his bulky body back on the wall beside me. “You take the sheriff, and Michael and I will take down Cooper before he gets a shot off.”
My head snaps to him. “What?!”
He shrugs. “I’ve never heard you speak before or seen you smile.” His face pulls into a deep frown. “Michael isn’t the only one that’d do anything for you,” Kaleb reminds me with a pointed look.
Our whispers go unnoticed as everyone but the three of us sit on the large sofas.
My eyes drift to the staircase, and adrenaline runs through me at the thought of what may come.
