Concealed Hearts (Hometown Jasper #4) - Nicky James Page 0,82
did nothing to kick us in gear. We pretended it didn’t exist.
I was convinced we’d silently decided that staying closeted and working through the challenges of hiding our relationship was the preferred solution. We could talk a tall tale, but neither one of us was the brave knight, ready to burst free and take on the world.
It was late on a Saturday night, while lying sweaty and naked next to Tomi, both of us catching our breath after making love, that my phone rang. The noise was muffled, and I lifted my head to listen, trying to figure out where it was coming from.
“Your pants pocket.”
I scanned the floor. “Where are my jeans? I left them—” I pointed to a spot on the ground and frowned. “I undressed right there. How did you—?”
“Over there.”
They were neatly folded on the chair in the corner. My jeans and T-shirt both.
As I crawled out of bed, my muscles complaining, I shook my head. “When did you fold them and put them up?”
“I’m magic like that.”
My phone stopped ringing before I located it, but as I pulled up the missed call, it rang again. It was my youngest and most inexperienced constable, Lucas. He was on call tonight, so hearing from him wasn’t shocking.
I checked the time as I hit connect. It was just shy of midnight.
“Hey, Lucas, what’s—”
“You need to get here now.” He was panting like he was running, and the wind cut into his voice, making it choppy and hard to hear.
My adrenaline spiked with his tone. “What’s going on, Lucas? Talk to me.”
Lucas was fresh out of the academy and new to the force. He hadn’t settled into the position yet and got anxious at the smallest complications. Jasper was a good place for him because I could offer him the guidance he needed. Mostly everything we did was low-key.
“I called John. He’s coming too, but he said you need to be there because you know him. You have to be fast. Ouch! Dammit!” It sounded like he’d stumbled. There was a clatter, and when he came back on the line, his voice was clearer, like he was holding the phone closer to his mouth. “Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck… I don’t know what to do. Chief… I don’t know what to do.”
His panic bled into me, and I dressed as fast as possible. Tomi, sensing something was wrong, flew out of bed and handed me articles of clothing, helping me get them on while I tried to calm Lucas down.
“Lucas. Focus. Where are you? What’s happening?”
“Shit… Oh, god.”
“Lucas!” I yelled, wanting to snap his attention back to me.
“The high school. The kid … he’s on the roof. Oh, fuck. He’s gonna jump. Chief, he’s on the edge. Oh, shit.”
“I’m on my way. Lucas, you need to take control of this situation until I get there. You can do this. Pull your shit together, you hear me? I’m coming.”
“Hurry. Please hurry.”
I had to hang up and call John. I hoped he was close and had more information. Lucas was losing it, and if the situation was as dire as he made it sound, I needed someone there immediately. I was at least eight minutes away.
I raced for the front door, Tomi tailing behind as John answered.
“I’m fucking racing as fast as I can.”
“Tell me you’re almost there,” I barked into the phone as I shoved my feet into my boots.
“Three minutes out. Jesus. I think it’s the Felix kid. I couldn’t get a name out of Lucas, but that’s what it sounded like.”
My stomach dropped as I grabbed my keys. “Have you called anyone else?”
“Harriet. But she needed to wait for her mother to get there to watch her daughter. She’s coming.”
Before racing out the door, I pecked Tomi’s cheek. I didn’t have time to fill him in.
I told myself the kids were simply playing on the roof. It had happened plenty in the past. The high school was three stories high, and it wasn’t unheard of for kids to find a way up top to goof around. But Lucas wouldn’t have been that panicked if that were the case.
“He’s on the edge.”
I raced so fast down the gravel service road, I kicked up rocks in my wake and fishtailed once, almost losing control. My old Jeep bounced and jerked me around, but I didn’t take my foot off the gas. When I hit the county road into town, I broke every speed limit, racing to the high school.