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Simon jerked free of her arm as they reached her car. “She’s my mum!” He opened the passenger door without another word, got in, and slammed it.
* * *
The moonlight came through the slits in the blinds, and Savannah stared at the pattern of light and dark across her legs. That was like life—it alternated between joy and pain. Today could have gone in a very bad direction, and she was grateful Hez had gotten there in time.
Simon’s deep breathing from the bedroom next door was a sweet reminder that God had taken care of them. Her nephew was safe, and she and Hez had weathered the storm together. More and more she felt the divorce paperwork she’d signed was the wrong direction to take. What would Hez say if she asked him to cancel it?
She rolled over and stared at the lit numbers on the clock. Just before midnight. Hez was a night owl, and she suspected he was awake thinking about the events too. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and shot a quick message to him.
You awake?
Instead of an answering text, the phone sounded. She swiped it on. “That was fast.”
“You okay? You’re up late.”
His deep voice soothed her agitation, and she sat on the edge of the bed. “I keep thinking about what might have happened if you hadn’t shown up. I don’t know where Simon and I would be right now if you hadn’t busted in. You brandished that tire iron like a sword.” Her chuckle ended in a hiccup she barely managed to keep from morphing to a sob. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“I didn’t either. I usually do battle with words. This was a new experience for me, but I was so afraid, Savannah.” He fell silent for a long moment. “I was scared I’d lost another child on my watch. It was like watching Ella’s death unfold all over again. I should have had Simon stay in the room with me, but I was absorbed in work like usual.”
When his voice wobbled, she rushed to reassure him. “Simon is old enough to play a game in another room. No one could have suspected he’d run off.”
“The school would beg to differ.” He chuckled, then exhaled. “I called Hope. She’s going to have the Major Crimes Unit take a look at the evidence. I could tell she was very interested in Erik and Beckett. This might be our break. I’ve been up working on a package for her. I want to get it to her tomorrow while it’s all fresh. I’m cautiously optimistic. She’s a good DA and can utilize the excellent investigators on the MCU team.”
“Does that mean we might get Jess out of jail?”
“Maybe. With the right breaks, we might have the real culprits in jail and Jess home by Christmas.”
“Oh, Hez, that would be wonderful!”
“Don’t get overly optimistic yet. There’s a lot of road to travel before then.” He cleared his throat. “I got your paperwork and filed it. You were gone to England when it came. I can leave as soon as Jess is free, and you’ll be able to resume your life as soon as the judge signs the divorce decree. Paperwork is pretty backed up in that courtroom, but the judge should get to this soon.”
Her tongue dried, and she clamped her lips shut. All she wanted to do was tell him she wanted to put the divorce papers in the shredder and have him move back in with her. She was beginning to think maybe he really wanted a divorce, and the thought made her heart shrivel.
“Savannah, you there?”
“I-I’m here. Listen, I’d better go.” She ended the call and held her head in her hands. She wasn’t ready for things to end.
She tried to lie back down, but her heart wouldn’t calm in her chest. All the what-ifs echoed in her head. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, and she thrashed in the bed for another thirty minutes before sitting up again.
What should I do, God? She stared at the ceiling while she prayed, and a whisper of an answer came. Truth. What was that verse in 1 John? “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” She still loved Hez, but she hadn’t told him or been truthful with him about so much. So what if she was afraid? That didn’t dictate how she should behave now.
A cool breeze touched her face, and she realized she didn’t hear Simon’s deep breathing. She went out of her bedroom to Simon’s door. The breeze grew stronger, and the curtains moved at the window by his bed. She moved farther into the darkened bedroom and touched the mound on his bed. It was all sheet, pillow and comforter. No boy. She pushed the curtains aside and found the window raised all the way to the top. A box from the closet had been pushed in front of the window.
Simon had escaped again. No wonder the school expelled him.
Her hands shaking, she called up the tracking app. Her eyes widened and she gasped. He was at Beckett’s house. How did Simon even know where that was? Had he somehow hacked into her contacts?
She shot him a text. Simon, get out of there now!
The message showed delivered, but he didn’t appear to have read it. Had Beckett already found him? She checked the app again, but Simon’s location no longer showed. She needed Hez. Before she could call him, she received an incoming call. The blood thundered through her veins, and she swallowed hard.
“Beckett?”
“Savannah, I have terrible news for you. I was about to call you and let you know that there was a boy in my yard, but before I could get to him, some very bad people in a black van grabbed him. I found his phone in the yard when you texted him just now. His name is Simon? I think I know where they’re taking him, but you need to come here as quickly as you can. Don’t call the police. That will just make things worse. Trust me and get here right away.”
Trust him? She’d rather trust Boo Radley with a raw steak. “I-I’m on my way.” She ended the call and rushed to her room to pull on clothes.
Chapter 36
