Page 66 of Heaven Help Me

The screech of tires down the street has me shifting behind my car and training my gun on the start of my driveway. A white truck bounces into my driveway going way too fast. I put my gun away and mumble something at my mother before hanging up on her.

If I’m going to piss her off, might as well do it fully.

Rhett and Silas spill out of the truck, doors left open as they race over to me. “What happened?”

I can barely get the words past my clenched jaw. I think I’m in shock. How is this happening? I already know the why. My mother is the why.

“Valentina’s been abducted by her former bodyguard, a guy named Fazio. Apparently, he’s already made contact with my mother, but she won’t let me get involved. Said she’s handling it.”

I watch their faces turn hard at the mention of Valentina being taken. There’s a beat of silence only broken by three grown men breathing heavy.

“Well, fuck that!” Silas snaps.

I nod. “Yeah, absolutely.”

My phone vibrates in my hand and I almost ignore it. But the sixth sense I haven’t had to rely on in decades tugs at me to pay attention. When I unlock my phone, I’m both horrified and glad I looked.

There’s a text from an unknown phone number. And they’ve sent a picture.

A picture of Papa blindfolded and tied to a chair in some sort of cabin. Next to him is Valentina, crumpled on the floor, her head lolling to one side.

I must speak or curse or emit the sound of a wounded animal because suddenly Silas is shoving me into the passenger seat of my car. Rhett has my phone, cursing up a storm as he rounds the hood for the driver’s side.

“I know this cabin,” he growls, sliding inside and handing me back my phone. I shut off the screen and pray I don’t have a heart attack. Feels like I might with how fast my heart is beating. My eyes slide shut and I try to keep in control of the situation.

Valentina.

Papa.

Fazio has taken the two people in this world I can’t live without.

He’s made a critical error.

“You drive to it, I’ll follow.” Silas is already jogging toward his truck. “Park a ways away and we’ll go on foot. Got my shotgun under the seat.”

My eyes spring open. “Hey. Wait.”

Silas turns to look at me. My best friend. The one who’s a dad and has another on the way. My gaze shifts to Rhett. He just became a dad a few weeks ago. I can’t let them barrel their way into danger.

“I’m going by myself. Tell me how to get to the cabin.” I grab the keys out of Rhett’s hand.

He grabs them right back. “No. We’re going with you, dumbass.”

I try to snatch the keys but he holds them over his head like we’re two fuckin’ years old and fighting over the same goddamn toy.

“Guys! You’re fathers! I won’t let you go into a dangerous situation! I can handle this.”

Silas chuckles but it’s nothing like his usual jovial laugh. “You’re just scared of Betsy if something happens to me. Which it won’t. We’re going with you. It’s what friends do.”

I grit my teeth so hard my gums ache. “Fine.”

Silas hops in the truck and Rhett fires up my Mercedes. I can’t stop them. Hell, I’d be right there running into a burning building to save these two losers if it came down to it. Silas is right. It’s what friends do. And the fact they’ll do this to save my father and the woman I love?

Means the world to me.

We race down the street and are soon whipping under a canopy of trees in a much more rural area. Rhett asks questions about our shared mission of getting my father and Valentina back safely. Questions I can’t answer. How many men? What type of weapons? Did your mother send her own men out already?

“The cabin looks like the abandoned ones out past where my papaw lives. Some guy owned them when we were kids, but let them fall into disrepair,” Rhett informs me. “City council discussed tearing them down, but so far, they haven’t done it. Perfect place to hold someone against their will. Not another house for several miles in all directions.”