AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dad?” Trent asks with a tremor in his voice.
“What, T?” I turn my head to him, wanting him to see the torment in my eyes.
More tears gather in his eyes and spill down his cheeks. “I-is she going t-to be okay?”
I take a deep breath before answering. “I don’t know, son. It all depends if they can get it out of her system fast enough.”
I watch as his face crumples. I want to gather him in my arms to reassure him, but I can’t. Why is he acting this way when he put Mia in the hospital in the first place?
“Why, T?” I ask him quietly.
“Why what, Dad?” he asks in return. Fuck if we’re going to play this game. He knows damn well what.
Forcing myself to stay calm, I look him right in the eye and say, “I know what you did. I know you put something in Mia’s food.”
The anguish and fear I see in his eyes almost breaks me, and I have to fortify my resolve. I need to get to the truth.
“Because I was scared,” he whispers, so low I barely hear him. “They said they would hurt you and me.”
What the fuck?
“Who, Trent?” I ask him calmly, when I’m anything but calm. I want to rave, rant, and punch something. Who in the fuck has the balls to threaten my son? Somewhere in the back of my mind I already know who. It’s the only explanation. I would have never thought that Tessa would threaten our son, and it makes me sick to my stomach to think I never knew how sick and twisted she is and that T’s been living with her for years. How can a father not know his son has been in danger?
Trent doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. His expression says he’s scared to. I reach over and grab his shoulder. “Trent, son, I need you to tell me who threatened you. I promise nothing will happen to either of us.”
Relief floods through me when I see T come to his decision to trust me. He says the one word that has me boiling with rage.
“Mom,” he says quietly, and then shocks me with the next name. “And Shady.”
My head rears back. What in the fuck does Shady have to do with this? I never even knew Shady and Tessa really knew each other. Yes, there were some parties when we were younger where we all happened to be at the same time, but Shady is four years older than us and normally didn’t hang out with the younger crowd.
“Are you sure it’s Shady?” I need to make sure he’s right and not mistaken.
“Yeah, Dad. He’s been coming around for a few years now. He really scares me.”
“What did they say to you?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“They just said they wanted me to do some things for them. I didn’t want to, Dad. I swear I didn’t. They said if I didn’t, they would hurt you and me.”
Shame laces his teary voice, and I can’t hold back anymore. Knowing Trent didn’t want to hurt Mia, that he was only doing it to protect himself and me, lifts a huge weight off my chest. Also knowing that we now know the person who’s been helping Tessa eases some of my worry. At least we know who we’re looking for.
I pull T into my arms and squeeze him tight. The fear he must have felt guts me. I should have protected him better. I should have made sure he knew without a doubt that he could come to me with something like this. No child should ever fear for his life, and it pisses me off that my child did.
“I’m so sorry, Dad. I didn’t want to hurt Mia, but I was so scared,” he cries against my shoulder.
My heart squeezes at the anguish in his voice. “I know, T. It’s okay.” I pull back from him and meet his frightened gaze. “Everything is going to be okay. I understand why you did what you did, and so will Mia and everyone else. When was the last time you talked to your mom?”
“Yesterday, while you were out in the barn taking care of the horses. She made me go to the kitchen and look under the sink for chemicals. I named off some kind of bug spray, and that’s what she told me to put in Mia’s food.”
“So she’s contacted you since she disappeared? Has she told you where she is?”
I hate to involve T even more in this because she’s his mother, and I know he loves her. But I have no choice. She needs to be found. I’m hoping that once Shady gets called in, he’ll turn on her and tell us where she is.
“I’ve talked to her a couple of times,” he says, looking down at his lap. I know he feels bad for the part that he played. I also know he wouldn’t have if he felt like he had another choice. “She hasn’t said where she is though.”
A noise off to the left has me turning my head. Jaxon and Bailey come rushing in. When they spot us, they quickly head in our direction. Bailey’s face loses all color when she sees my and T’s expressions, thinking the worst.
I get up to meet them and let them know Mia is in the back getting tests and treatment.
