Plus, it would give Baz time with JJ. Brantley doubted she needed all the drama, and he couldn’t deny he wasn’t eager to go to the hospital. He had nothing against them, but the level of stress everyone was under was palpable, and he didn’t want to add to it.
***
Slade was sitting in the chair inJJ’s hospital room when Baz came in. For the past few minutes, JJ had managed to close her eyes. That hadn’t been the case for the first hour they were there when she spent every second insisting she was fine and demanding to go home.
It was a good thing her eyes were closed because Slade had never seen anyone look as crazed as Baz did. There was a good chance Baz was going to need a bed and an IV if he didn’t get his blood pressure under control.
But the moment he saw JJ, an aura of calm blanketed him. Was he masking his panic? Or did seeing her simply ease all the chaos?
Either way, it was wild to see the transformation, and Slade was more than a little jealous of it. These two had found something many people never had the opportunity to find.
“I’ll be in the hall,” Slade whispered as he got to his feet.
Baz stepped toward him, holding out his hand. “Thanks, man.”
“Y’all are family,” he said, hugging him instead of a handshake. “Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t.”
Slade slipped out, closing the door behind him, leaving JJ and Baz alone.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Reese’s number as he headed down the hall, not wanting to disturb the other patients or the nurses who were working at the desk.
“How’s JJ?” Reese asked.
“She’s good. Her vitals are stable, and they said the babies are good. They’ve got her hooked up to a machine that’s checkin’ for contractions or somethin’. She hasn’t had any,” he tacked on, not wanting anyone to panic.
“That’s good.”
“Baz just got here,” he told him. “What would you like me to do?”
“Stay with them,” Brantley said, and it was then Slade realized he was on speaker.
“Will do.”
“I’ll head down there in a bit to relieve you,” Brantley said. “Then we’ll figure out a schedule for the rest of the team. I want them to have someone stationed with them until we find Molly and Sonny.”
“Understood.”
“Untiltheyfind Molly and Sonny. The police,” Reese corrected. “Not our case, remember?”
Brantley muttered something that Slade couldn’t make out.
“This isn’t our case, Slade,” Reese explained. “But we’ll keep someone on JJ and Baz until they’re found.”
“Got it.”
“Keep an eye out for them,” Brantley stated. “We don’t know what their game is.”
“Will do.”
The call disconnected, leaving Slade with more questions than answers. Evidently, Baz hadn’t been arrested. That or he’d gotten out on bail. No one had told him one way or the other, so he wasn’t sure what the situation was.
Since no one was around to ask, he decided to walk the hospital’s perimeter. As he did, he considered responding to Carson’s last text. The one asking whether he was available for dinner tonight.
When that text first came in, he’d wanted to tell the man he wasn’t interested, but he hadn’t. He was confused. Royally. Didn’t help that Atticus had weighed in, urging Slade to have dinner with Carson so they could figure their shit out.
What shit did they have to figure out? Was Atticus pushing for something with the three of them? Or did Atticus think it would be easier if they were on better terms than they were now? And why would it? Because Atticus was still seeing Carson?
