Raff
Higher – Chris Stapleton
The second my tires hit town limits; all I can think about is getting home.
Not just home— no, I need to get to Jo.
Justice.
I should’ve checked in. Should’ve sent something, even if it was just a text. But between the club business and the miles stretching behind me, I let time slip. Figured she’d understand.
Now, as I pull up outside her house, that familiar porch light is off, her car nowhere in sight. I begin to worry.
I cut the engine, park in my garage, and drop my bag inside. Maybe she’s out on an errand.
So I wait.
Minutes turn into an hour.
Then another.
No headlights. No sound of Justice’s laughter spilling through the door.
Nothing.
I exhale, jaw tight.
There is no way she moved on.
I call; it goes straight to voicemail. I run the cameras back and can’t figure out where she went. Everything looks okay.
I slam the bottle down on the kitchen table. The burn of the whiskey does nothing to cut through the frustration clawing up my chest. Where is she? What happened?
The alcohol was supposed to help.
Drink. Forget. Move on.
She didn’t call me. She cut me off.
My phone rings and I answer seeing its Honey.
“Don’t freak out,” she says automatically.
Which means I go into a tailspin and freak right the fuck out. “Where are they, Honey?”
“Safe.”
“Tiffany, don’t fuckin’ do this to me.”
“She got some calls at work yesterday. I put her up in a hotel, safe for tonight. I didn’t know you would be back. She has a burner phone because I told her to keep her phone at the office and turned off so no one could track them.”
Relief and anger wash over me at the same time. “What kind of calls?”
“Got Grinder lookin’ into it. Hang up calls. She got spooked. Sara got her from work, they left her car there. Then we took a car from here after picking up Justice and took her out of town to a hotel under a different name.”
“How do I get to her?”
“Calm it down neanderthal. She is safe and you can see her tomorrow. Grinder says someone is watching her, but they can’t pin it down. He’s locked down still doing his computer thing with Miles. You go to her now, you risk exposing them. Sara is going to come here, switch cars, go pick them up. Justice will go to school like normal and she’s going to go to work. Then she’s home with you.”
