Casper by Kerri Ann

Author:Kerri Ann [Ann, Kerri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kingston Publishing Company
Published: 2022-11-21T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

China

Three days ago, I was in Laguna. Three. Days.

I was on a high. I was ecstatic.

No, I was feeling euphoric.

After sending pictures to Wyatt and Jamieson—who never answers or acknowledges me with anything more than a gruff ‘Good going, Doll’—I called Dad like I always do when we’re at different tracks.

“Hey, Daddy, I did it again!” Yelling into the phone, I could feel my cheeks aching from smiling. But he didn’t answer.

No one answered at first, but I could hear the noise of the track. It didn’t sound right.

“Hello? Daddy?”

“Doll, it’s Ben. Where are you?” Why was dad’s team leader answering his phone? Was he crying? Dad should have been off the track by now, celebrating.

“Ben? Why are you answering Dad’s phone? Is he celebrating?” We talked about it at length. If he won, Ben would have to answer because there wouldn’t be enough whiskey in the world to douse his happiness.

“Doll, you haven’t looked at the news, have you?”

That’s when my life changed. There was nothing I could do to fix it either.

Days passed. Hours, minutes, and seconds all blended into one moment. Because everything in my life changed in a split second.

I’d finally felt a bit of freedom, leaving for Laguna. I needed some space from family and their awkward deficiencies. For once, I was able to stretch my wings and enjoy the tiniest bit of independence. Now I wish for that selfish need to be rescinded. I want to have them all here. I’ll take all their faults and shortcomings gladly, without bitching. Thinking about it makes me heartsick.

Sure, the flight back from England after the TT race was horrible, as always. I watched Wyatt fall apart, and ached to see him get through another moment in the presence of our mother. I felt awful that he had to be sedated again. Every time she tears him down, I watch as their illness pulls them apart, because mentally, they can’t handle each other.

Now? Now I’m crushed, and I have to find a way out of this despair. I never thought this would happen. There’s always the chance it could, but…not him. Never him. Never my dad.

Jax was stoic, strong, and indestructible. He was everything to me. Even now, sitting in this charter plane, I feel the tears well again, threatening to destroy me.

I’d found out about Dad’s crash in a horrible way, and it was the last thing I wanted for my brother. Dad had always been his defensemen against Mother’s cutting words, against her biting venom, and now that buffer is gone. Even with him in remote India, I knew he was with a full television team. There’s no way they wouldn’t find out fast. News about death travels fast.

After I found out, I’d tried his phone, which went straight to voicemail. I tried to reach someone through the production team, but they couldn’t put me through. I yelled and screamed, but it did me no good. Not one of those idiots could help me.

I was on the first charter I could find.

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