Final Strike by Vanessa M. Knight

Author:Vanessa M. Knight [Knight, Vanessa M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vanessa M. Knight

Ben stood in the doorway, trying to keep his anger bubbling under the surface. Not letting it out. Not letting Julie see it. She stared at the floor as if it kicked her puppy. Right now, he felt like he’d been kicked. He could only imagine how she felt.

That video. He’d watched the tail end, as Cody watched Dale. That look of pure adoration on his little face. The kid wanted his dad. Bad enough to run after him. Bad enough to miss school. Probably. That didn’t explain why Dale had taken Cody.

It didn’t explain anything.

“Why don’t you take a shower?” Allison suggested to Julie. “I’ll come get you if we hear anything.”

Julie’s eyes closed—like she wanted to think of a reason not to go. But in the end, her eyes opened and she nodded before she left the room. No fight. No argument. As if she was beaten.

That killed him.

“She’s not herself.” Allison sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

“There’s nothing we can do.” Adam put an arm around her shoulders. “All we can do is what we’ve been doing. Helping with the search. Being here when she needs us. An APB went out an hour ago. Hopefully, we’ll get a hit soon.”

“But what if we don’t?” Allison’s eyes filled with tears and a hiccup stuttered out of her throat.

Adam squeezed her shoulder. “We can’t think like that.”

“I know, but he’s just a kid. He shouldn’t be out there on his own. Or worse…”

Ben couldn’t even begin to think like that or he’d spiral into a blubbering mess and they didn’t have time for that. Not now. Not when there was still hope that they’d find him.

“I just can’t sit still. We need to be out there looking.” Allison dropped her face into her hands, tears rolling down and pooling at her chin.

“We have people out there,” Adam said into her hair. “The best thing for us to do is man the phones. If we leave, Julie will be here alone.”

Ben left the room. Not because all the touchy-feely was making him uncomfortable—although it was. Not because he hated watching Allison cry—although he did. He walked away because Allison was falling apart and had Adam to pick up the pieces. This was Julie’s son, and who was there for her? Ben. That’s who. And no matter what Adam said, she wasn’t alone. Never.

Standing in the living room wasn’t doing any good. He made his way upstairs and listened at the door of the room where she was staying. No sound. No swish of water. No sounds of Julie in the room. He knocked on the door.

Nothing.

“Julie, it’s Ben.” He knocked again, and then tried the knob. Locked. He sighed—praying she’d open the door and he wouldn’t have to kick the thing open. It looked easy in movies, but he had a feeling that the solid oak doors would take a kick from The Rock and not just someone—himself, for example—who worked out on a semi-regular basis.

Ben knocked on the door, again.

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