“Ms. Greyson, this is Sandy DeLorenzo, the secretary at Bishop Warner Elementary,” the woman said.
“Yes, what’s wrong? Is Aiden okay?”
“We hope so. We’re calling because he didn’t show up for school today,” she replied. “As you know, our school’s policy is that if a student is going to be absent, we must receive notice at the beginning of the day.”
“Oh, God.” I hung up on the woman without thinking and started dialing Ace’s cell phone. He was supposed to drop Aiden off at school. I left him in charge.
His phone went straight to voicemail.
I grabbed my keys and bag from the locker in the employee room in the back. “Reese, there's a situation at Aiden’s school. I have to go,” I said in a rush as I passed her and the front desk.
“Okay…” I heard her say as I breezed through the door, but I didn’t stick around to let her finish.
I was already on edge from Vincent Reyes’ visit. What if he’d already done something to Aiden, and he dropped by my job to see what money he could get before I found out?
“No,” I said as I drove back to Ace’s house. Ace would’ve called me if there was an emergency with Aiden.
But what if something happened to Ace, too? What if they were injured or lying in a ditch somewhere?
I pressed my foot on the gas harder, surpassing the speed limit on the way back home. I tried redialing Ace’s number, but it kept going to voicemail.
When I turned into Ace’s subdivision, I sighed a little in relief when I spotted his truck parked out front. I pulled into the driveway behind it and hopped out of my car.
My legs carried me quicker than they ever had to the front door. I burst through the door, my heart beating in my ears. As soon as I stepped over the threshold, Aiden’s enthusiastic laughter invaded my awareness.
I let the sound carry me to the living room. I stopped short when I found Aiden and Ace rolling around on the floor, surrounded by what looked like a makeshift fort of pillows and couch cushions.
“What the hell?” I blurted out.
They froze.
“What is this?” I asked, looking between both of them as they remained on the floor.
“We’re playing a war game, Mama. Look at this cool fort Mr. Ace built,” Aiden said excitedly.
I was too caught off-guard to even respond to Aiden. Instead, I gave Ace a pointed look.
“I tried to call you.”
“Shoot,” he said as he stood up. He pulled his cell from the pocket of his jeans. “I forgot to take it off of silent. Sorry. Did you need something?”
“Did I need…” I blinked at him like he was half-crazy. “The school called.”
“Oh yeah, about that,” Ace said as he looked back at Aiden.
“Mr. Ace let me stay home from school today,” Aiden said with enthusiasm.
“Did he?” I glared at Ace. “Can I speak to you outside?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. I spun on my heels and walked right back out the front door I’d just entered.
I walked far enough away from the front of the house to give myself some breathing room and to hopefully prevent Aiden from hearing me yell. I was livid.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and paced back and forth in an attempt to calm myself down.
Ace came up behind me. Only when I looked up did I realize that I’d walked out to the street.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked with my arms wide, unable to stop myself from raising my voice.
Ace’s head whirled backward and he held up his hands. “Look, I know I should’ve called you and let you know that we played hooky today.”
