Page 59 of Fueled Fury

35

Lainey

I couldn’t sit still any longer. I’d debated going to the ranch on and off all day. But I know Austin isn’t there and he wouldn’t have told them where he was going.

It took me an hour of debating on heading to this house once I finally figured out who to ask for help. If he told anyone, it’d be Uncle Waylon. He didn’t have anyone else he could turn to.

The thought tightens the knot in my stomach as I pull up to the guardhouse outside the iron gate surrounding the Hale estate. A guard walks over and asks my name.

“Lainey. I don’t have an appointment or anything, I just need to speak with Mr. Hale about his nephew.”

“Your last name?”

“McKay.”

He walks over, picks up the phone, holds it to his ear then walks back over to me.

“An escort will meet you at the front door.”

“An escort?”

He doesn’t answer as the gate opens, and I drive Lucy down the brick roadway.

Parking in front of the house, I walk up to the door and am about to knock when the door opens.

A lady answers the door, signaling me into the house, then she leads me to an elevator. “This way, Ms. McKay.”

I follow in silence as we ride it to the third floor and step off into a vast office.

A voice booms from across the room, “It’s about time you showed up.”

“Me?” I ask a man sitting behind a desk on the opposite side as I make my way over.

“Yep. You. Have a seat, Lainey McKay, and tell me exactly what I can do for you.”

He knows who I am. “Did Austin tell you about everything … about us?”

He nods. “I’m pretty up to speed.”

I’m not sure if that makes me happy or nervous. “Do you know where he is?”

“Yes.”

I raise my eyebrows. “But you’re not going to tell me. Are you?”

“Over the years, I’ve never interfered with Austin’s life unless he asked me to. And I’ve let him make the decisions on how he lives his life.”

“I need to know that he’s okay.”

“He doesn’t want to be found.”

A lump forms in my throat as I look down at my nails, picking at the chipping polish. “Please tell me where he is.”

“There’re times when I think he’s heading down the wrong path, but it’s his life.” Waylon looks over his shoulder at a painting of an older man, his father or grandfather, I’m assuming, before he turns back to me. “I always try to steer him down the best path. Which is why it was a struggle for me to watch him grow up with those dreadful parents.”

“I know. There’s no telling what he’s gone through. I knew they favored Eli, but not to the extent that Shirley showed me recently. And I think it wasn’t but a taste of what Austin’s been through. Why did you leave him there?”

“He chose to stay. I tried to get him out of their clutches when I realized how bad his home life had become, but he wouldn’t leave the ranch.”