“I don’t have time for this shit,” Mav snapped, then he stepped forward. He stopped abruptly when I threw the box cutter at his feet.
“He’s safe,” I growled. “But he’s not okay. Far from it.”
Mav stared at the box cutter in confusion.
“He’s using that to cut his own fucking skin so he can escape all the shit inside him that he can’t deal with,” I bit out. Mav swallowed hard and then looked at Memphis before returning his attention to me. He began shaking his head, but I cut him off before he could speak.
“Believe it,” I snapped. “I saw the scars myself. You were supposed to be taking care of him!”
Mav’s expression hardened and this time when he came at me, Memphis had to step in front of him and force him back. “And where the fuck were you, Jace?” Mav yelled. “Not even one fucking phone call to see how he was doing?”
“You know why I couldn’t do that,” I retorted as the guilt cascaded through me.
“Yeah, I know why,” Mav ground out. I knew he wasn’t talking about Caleb’s attachment to me as having been the issue that had kept me away. He hadn’t said the words, but he knew the real reason I’d stayed away. And it wasn’t just because of the bullshit I’d spouted to Caleb the night before about wanting to protect him. I’d been protecting myself too.
I forced a deep breath of air into my lungs and then looked at Memphis and said, “Who’s the guy?”
Mav had calmed enough that he wasn’t trying to get past Memphis anymore.
“His name is Richard Jennings. He’s the headmaster at the prep school Caleb was attending. He doesn’t have a record… not even a parking ticket,” Memphis said. “He led a perfectly boring, quiet life until yesterday afternoon.”
“I doubt that,” I bit out. “Caleb wasn’t gunning for him because he assigned too much homework,” I said snidely. I paused and asked, “Did the cops track Caleb back to Seattle yet?”
“That’s the funny thing,” Memphis murmured. “Caleb’s name never came up in the investigation.”
“What?” I asked, completely taken aback.
“Daisy got her hands on the initial police reports. Jennings says he didn’t recognize the kid who tried to mug him.”
“That’s impossible,” I said. “I heard the guy say Caleb’s name. Why wouldn’t he tell the cops—” I stopped suddenly as my mind put two and two together.
“He said the guy wouldn’t tell the cops who he was,” I murmured, more to myself than anything else. I looked up at Memphis and Mav, expecting to find them watching me with confusion, but their eyes weren’t on me.
I followed their gazes to see Caleb standing on the porch of the cabin. He was leaning against one of the half-rotted posts, his arms wrapped around his slim body. I turned and went to him. Pain slashed through my belly when he took a step back from me as I reached for him.
“Go back inside,” I said. “It’s too cold out here.”
Caleb’s eyes shifted to Mav. “Eli?” he asked.
“Hanging in there,” Mav said. “He’s worried about you.”
Caleb was quiet for a moment before saying, “Did Jace’s name come up in the investigation?”
“No,” Memphis said before I could tell Caleb it didn’t matter. “There’s no video footage of the incident. The one security camera with a view of the front of the Jennings’ house wasn’t working.”
Caleb looked at me. “So Jace can go back to the way things were, right?”
Irritation went through me as he threw my words back in my face. I didn’t miss the fact that he didn’t say anything about himself going back to the way things had been.
Caleb held my gaze for several long seconds, but unlike in the past, I couldn’t tell any of what he was thinking. He finally tore his eyes from mine to look at Mav. “Tell Eli I’m sorry. For everything.But I’m not coming back with you.” He let his gaze slide back to mine. “I’m not going with anyone,” he said, his voice low.
I was about to protest when a flash of red on Caleb’s shirt caught my eye. “Down!” I screamed as I lunged at Caleb, knocking him backwards. I had no hope of cushioning his fall as my heavier body landed on his. The soft popping sounds over my head had me wrapping myself tighter around Caleb as he gasped for air beneath me. A split second later, gunfire erupted all around us. I rolled with Caleb so we were somewhat blocked by the porch railing.
“Caleb, are you hit?” I asked as I began running my hands over his body. “Are you hit?” I practically shouted in his face.
He coughed and gasped, then began shaking his head. Since I knew I’d probably knocked the wind out of him, I didn’t wait for him to confirm that he was okay with words. Instead, I grabbed my gun from where it was tucked in my waistband and turned to survey the scene.
Memphis and Mav had taken cover behind their car. They were shooting in opposite directions, so I quickly scanned our surroundings. I could still hear the distinctive popping sounds, a sure sign our attackers were using suppressors on their guns. There was no way to tell how many shooters there were, but I guessed there were at least five based on the volume of shots being fired. I forced myself to focus on the woods around us and finally zeroed in on what I was looking for. I raised my gun, slowly blew out my breath and pulled the trigger. The man who’d been about to take a shot at Memphis and Mav crumpled soundlessly to the ground.
