Raiden (The Kent Brothers #2) - A.M. Hargrove Page 0,59
possibly be as angry as I was. “You’re wrong. This time I did, because the situation left me no choice.”
“Fine. Then tell me why.”
“How many times are we going around this block? I can’t tell you why.”
“So you don’t know where your wife is and you can’t tell me why you don’t know and you’re fine with this? This is bullshit. The Drex I know would never settle for this. You’re hiding something.”
He slammed his fist on the counter. “Hell yes, I’m fucking hiding something from you, just as Gem is hiding her location from me. Raiden, you’re an intelligent guy. Figure it out. Put the pieces together. If they’ve gone away and I’m not worried, what does that tell you?”
“They’re safe.”
“Exactly. So go with it, man. Will you drop this damn barrage of questions? I’m not now, nor am I ever, going to disclose anything to you.”
“Will you tell me something else?”
His head whipped up and down. “Only if I can.”
“What’s going on with the O’Brien case?”
“The less you know, the safer you are.”
I raised up my hands and walked out of his place without another word. How was I going to deal with the fact that no one would disclose Scottie’s whereabouts to me? I had never been this frustrated in my life. The woman I cared deeply for had left without a trace. It was an impossible thing to handle.
It didn’t take over fifteen minutes to get home, and that was only because I’d stopped along the way for some coffee. But they treated me to another shock when I walked inside. Suitcases were stacked by the door and everyone was bustling around.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Cruze shouted. “I’ve been calling you for over an hour.”
“I was at Drex’s and then came home. What’s going on?”
Acer ran down the stairs carrying some baby stuff, and Isla was behind him with Olivia. Mom was asking her something, but my attention went back to Cruze.
“Go pack. We’re leaving. ASAP. They’ve found us.”
This was utterly ridiculous. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m done running.”
Cruze stared at me as though he would punch my lights out. “No, you’re not. I don’t care if I have to knock you out with a cast-iron skillet, and drag you out of here by your hair, you’re leaving. Go pack.”
“I will not.”
Mom came over and wanted to know what was going on. I told her.
“Raiden Kent, get your butt packed now if you know what’s good for you.”
“Mom—”
She frowned, pointed to the stairs, and said, “Now! If you think I will mourn your dead body because of your bull-headed foolishness, then you have another thing coming. Go pack, or I swear I’ll do it for you.”
Dad joined us and asked what the problem was. When Mom explained, his nostrils flared as he glowered at me. “I didn’t think we raised such a dumbass.” Then he stomped off. My father had called me many things while I was growing up, and even as an adult, but he’d never called me that.
I marched up the stairs and packed my clothes. Resentment flooded my veins, but then realization hit over how idiotic I behaved. They were trying to save my life, and I was acting like a dumbass. What had gotten into me lately? Scottie Sullivan, that was what. I’d give up my life for her.
We loaded up the vehicles, and it was then I asked where we were going.
“A hotel for the night,” Acer said. “We need to find a safer place than that, but until then, we have to stay somewhere.”
My fingers burrowed through my hair. “This moving around shit has to end. We’re like a group of vagabonds.”
“Until they apprehend O’Brien, it won’t,” Acer said, slamming the back of the SUV shut.
“What about that mission they went on?”
“Isla isn’t saying much.”
“Are you saying it didn’t work?” Sarcasm seeped out of every pore of mine.
His voice rose. “No! That’s not what I said at all. What’s wrong with you? Stop being such an asshole.”
The tension in my neck was almost unbearable, and a vise grip clenched around my head. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m frustrated with the situation.”
“Raiden, if you haven’t noticed, we all are. Try doing this with an eleven-month-old. It sucks and scares the shit out of me.”
It was quite an ordeal for them to move. Every time they did, it wasn’t just packing a bag. They had all that baby equipment to gather up too.