Seconds later, we’re all in the kitchen, Christine cooking while we come up with a game plan for places to go and swapping numbers so we’re in contact with each other.
We’re going to bring Nash home to his family. Where he belongs.
*
We’ve been searchingall day.
Tasha stayed at the house with Sadie while the rest of us have broken up into pairs to look for him. Colton and I went to his friends’ houses first. Unfortunately, neither of them had heard from him, but their worry about him was obvious, their parents’ too. I didn’t know what to say when they offered to look for him as well, other than thanking them and telling them how much it means to me. When we called his coach, he was worried and willing to do whatever he could to help as well, praising Nash for how good he is for the team.
No one has seen him though.
“I feel like we’ve searched everywhere,” I tell Colton. Every park, basketball court, anything sports related we can think of, malls, fucking anything. “It’ll be dark soon.”
“We’ll find him. I refuse to entertain anything else,” he says, and I nod, staring out the window of the passenger seat of my SUV while he drives.
“He didn’t trust me to protect him. He didn’t think I could keep him safe.”
“He trusts you. He left Sadie with you, and that tells you all you need to know,” he counters.
“Then he didn’t think I loved him as much to take care of him as I would her. I don’t know which is worse. I just know I failed him. I don’t want to fail him again.” It’ll kill me to fail him again.
“You’re not perfect. I know that’s hard for you sometimes, but you can’t be perfect. You’ll make mistakes, shit will happen, but you love these kids. You would do anything for them, and they both know it. Nash is just young and scared, but you’re giving them a life they never would have had without you. That’s not a small thing.”
I lean my temple against the cold window. “Thank you, Sir.” I need that right now, want to feel the way only Colton can make me feel. “I want to believe you, but it’s hard.”
“I know, baby.” He reaches over and places a hand on my thigh. “You’re doing so fucking good, and I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say, then, “What if he’s cold? I’m not sure how warm that jacket is I got him, and…” I sit up straighter when I see the high school in the distance.
He found friends there.
He got basketball there.
He belongs there. How could I not have thought of that before?
“Go to the school,” I tell him, picturing the pure fucking joy on Nash’s face when he played in his first game there, and every game that followed.
“Shit. Good idea.” The SUV accelerates, then screeches to a stop in front of the building. The parking lot is nearly empty. It’s the first day of winter break, so I don’t know what I expected—tons of cars and open doors?
We jump out of the car and run toward the front doors. They’re locked, of course.
“Let’s go around to the gym,” he says, and we jog that way, breath looking like smoke in the cold evening. I can’t handle the thought of him being outside at night in this.
Those doors are locked too. I pull on them, bang and kick them, like I can break them down, like I somehow know he’s there when he’s probably not because I failed him and he’s gone because he didn’t know how much I love him.
“Fuck!” I scream, beating my hands on the door, Colton’s arms coming around me, holding mine down, his lips against my nape.
“Shh. It’s okay. You’ll hurt yourself. You can’t bust down the doors like this. Maybe we can call the cops and they can get someone here to let us in.”
I press my head against the glass, and that’s when I see…a janitor. “Someone’s in there.” I pull out of Colton’s hold, banging on the door again, trying to get his attention. Colton does the same, but I can see the guy is wearing headphones.
It takes a minute of us waving our arms, but eventually, his gaze catches on ours and he frowns, like he’s not sure what he should do. We’re not making a good case for ourselves with the way we’re acting out here, but he unlocks the door and pushes it open just a little. “Can I help you folks?”
“Hello. I’m Professor James Valentine from Peyton University. I have custody of my younger brother, and he goes here. He’s missing right now. He ran away, and I just… He’s on the basketball team. He loves it, and I don’t know, it probably sounds crazy, but I really think he might be in here. He’s probably not, but I have to look.”
“I’m real sorry about your brother, but I’m not supposed to let anyone in.”
“I know. I get that. I understand that. I don’t know whatelse to do.” My voice breaks, but I force the words out. “I have to find him. We won’t do anything we’re not supposed to, I swear. It can just be me if that makes you feel better. I just…he’s my brother and I love him. We need him home, with us.”
