Drew
Turnedout she’d been squatting in the woods about a mile from our compound. The police found her “campground,” which was essentially a few ratty blankets under a tree and a bag filled with magazine articles about us and our kids.
It was why no one could find her. She’d been literally in the middle of nowhere… close but not close enough that our security team noticed.
She had no identification but was later confirmed to be Irene W. Coleman. No one knew what the W stood for, but I could take a few guesses. None of them would be nice. The only reason she was identified was that an institution on the other side of the state recognized her (from the news) and called the police. She’d been a long-term patient there, then rehabilitated and released.
She’d only been out for six months. Three months ago, she stopped checking in with the outpatient therapist. Three months ago was also when the letters started coming.
We assumed she saw the photos of Andi and Travis and became fixated. I have no idea how she got across the state orwhy it was my kids she latched on to. I was just glad she was back in custody and getting the help she clearly needed.
Even knowing some of the details and understanding this woman clearly needed medication and supervision, I was still angry. How could I not be? These were my kids.
Oh, and if you’re wondering how she got onto our property… She climbed into Trav’s new Bronco while it was parked on the flatbed outside the gate. She must have hidden on the floorboards and gotten out when no one was looking. That also explained why the driver’s side was unlatched when Travis went to get in.
With the threat to our kids’ safety no longer in play and the police interviews concluded, things were finally quieting back down on the compound. All the kids were piling into the home theater for a family movie night with buckets of popcorn and too much candy.
“Trav,” I called, catching his eye from the recliner he was sprawled in and jerking my head in the direction of the door where Trent leaned in the frame.
It really should be illegal to be that sexy.
As if he knew my thoughts, he smirked, a promise of later glimmering in his hazel eyes.
“What’s going on?” Travis asked when he met us by the door.
“We never got to give you your birthday present,” Trent said, straightening off the jamb. If the massive bruise covering his shoulder from when he used himself as a human battering ram ached—like I knew it must have—he didn’t show it.
My heart stopped when I saw him challenge that four-wheeler. I’d managed to cover our daughter’s eyes, but I couldn’t force mine away. God, the risk he took. I understood why. Hell, I would have done it myself if I hadn’t been holding Andi. But I was, and all I could do was watch him put himself in harm’s way.
Thank fuck he was okay. That they all were.
Travis’s brows drew down. “You threw me a party. Plus, the cake, balloons, and you got me that black jacket I wanted.”
I scoffed. “That wasn’t your present.”
“It wasn’t?”
“Nope,” Trent replied, popping the P.
“What is it?” Travis asked, looking between us.
I grinned, excitement making my stomach flutter. “How about we go find out?”
“Now? I thought we were watching a movie.”
“They’re going to argue over what to watch for at least thirty minutes,” Trent mused.
It was true. No one could ever pick.
“Okay.”
“Go ahead,” Trent told us. “I’ll catch up.”
Trent went to tell our daughter (and everyone else) where we were headed and caught up to us on the back deck just as we started down the stairs.
The sun drooped heavy in the evening sky, its fiery streaks piercing through the rustling trees and making the horizon bleed gold and crimson. Our shadows stretched in front of us as we made our way across the grass to our house, three elongated forms in a line, the two on the ends a little wider and longer than the one in the middle.
Autumn hummed in the air while summer hushed completely as everything around us held its breath for the final moments of day before being claimed by night. I felt the precipice deeper tonight because I, too, was transitioning to a new season. Years ago, that would have scared me, adrenaline being almost an addiction and something I couldn’t really imagine myself without. But now, here, on the night before I told the world I was stepping away from racing, fear was the furthest thing from my mind.
