Heavenly flinched, and dread settled in Beck’s chest. The kid had clearly spent years building up his resentment, painting Seth as the villain in a story he only half understood.
Heavenly looked at him with pity. “Is your mom still alive?”
“Of course.”
“Does she know where you are?”
The kid shrugged. “I doubt she cares. She’s got a new husband and a new baby. She doesn’t have time for a fuckup like me.”
There it was. Beck recognized the pain behind the casual dismissal. Hudson felt sidelined since his mother had moved forward, so he was throwing out insults before anyone could reject him, building walls before people got close enough to hurt him. Beck had used the same defense mechanisms for years after escaping the Chosen.
“You should call her,” Heavenly suggested. “Let her know you’re safe.”
Beck saw the nope all over the kid’s face. “Call her. We’re not harboring a minor without her permission.”
Hudson rolled his eyes but pulled out his phone and dialed. “Hey, Mom.” A pause, and even from across the room, Beck could hear a sharp female voice shooting rapid-fire questions that made Hudson hold the phone away from his ear. “Jesus, Mom. I’m fine. I’m in California.” Another pause. “Yeah. I’m safe, okay?” A longer pause. “Fuck. School can wait. I have something more important to take care of.” This pause was the longest yet as the woman on the other end of the phone screeched, then Hudson replied, “I came to meet Seth, okay?”
Beck winced as the woman’s voice rose to near-shrieking levels.
Heavenly stood and approached, her face full of sympathy. “Hudson, would you like me to talk to her?”
The kid looked relieved to hand over the phone. “Good luck.”
“Hello?” Heavenly’s voice was warm and soothing as she activated the speaker. “I’m Heavenly Young, a…friend of Seth’s. He’ll be home tomorrow. Hudson is welcome to stay with me and his doctor friend until then.”
“I’m Hudson’s mother, Laura Clarke. I can’t believe he flew across the country alone. Is he really okay? He’s been missing since this morning, and I was about to call the police.”
“He’s fine,” Heavenly assured her. “Probably tired from traveling, and we’re about to feed him Chinese. He has his own guest room. It’s quiet here. He’ll be safe until he and Seth can talk.”
Beck was impressed by how smoothly his little girl handled the conversation, setting the woman at ease while protecting Seth’s privacy.
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you,” Laura breathed. “If…if things don’t go well, will you make sure my son gets safely on a plane home?”
“We will,” Heavenly promised. “Let me give you my number so you can reach us, just in case.”
After exchanging contact information, Heavenly handed the phone back to Hudson, who shifted uncomfortably and disengaged the speaker. “It’s me. I don’t know when I’m coming home. We’ll talk later, okay?”
He ended the call and tossed the phone aside, clearly annoyed. “Happy now?”
His dismissive tone didn’t fool Beck. The kid was desperately trying to maintain his armor, but he was scared.
“Tell me about this invisible father of mine.” Hudson stuck out his chin. “What’s he really like?”
“He’s a good man,” Heavenly insisted. “I already told you he has four brothers. He grew up in New York. His mom is getting remarried next month, actually. His father was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty when Seth was sixteen. He stepped up and helped raise his younger brothers after that.”
Beck watched Hudson’s expression flicker at that information—surprise, maybe curiosity—but the kid quickly buried it under an indifferent expression.
“For a while, Seth was a cop, like his dad and grandfather,” Heavenly went on. “But he left the force and started his own private investigation business. He’s successful, honest, and he cares about people. Especially family.”
“Sounds like a real saint.” Hudson sneered. “If he’s so awesome, why did he kick his pregnant girlfriend to the curb?”
Beck’s jaw tightened until he could practically hear his teeth grinding. “What makes you think he did?”
“What other explanation is there? Mom gets pregnant, dad disappears. Typical shit.”
