I was speechless. Utterly speechless. The last time I’d seen the woman standing in front of me, she’d pressed the muzzle of a double barrel shotgun against my chest and said, “You broke my babies heart. It’s only fair I break yours too.” That was six years ago.

Guess she had time to cool off.

“Ask me, and I’ll tell you.”

“Where is she, Grandmama?”

Tears filled her eyes, and her chin trembled. She looked so much older than I remembered. Had missing Maddie done that? “I need you to fix this, Hendrix.” The first tear slid free. “I need you to fix my grandbaby. Every time the phone rings…” Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a lace handkerchief. “Every time it rings I’m afraid to answer it.” She covered her eyes with the white lace. “Cause I’m afraid somebodies calling to tell me my baby is gone and that she ain’t coming back.” She sobbed, her entire frame shaking from the force of her tears. “I’m an old woman. I don’t know how much time I’ve got left on this earth. And I can’t leave things like this.” The shaking continued. Unable to stand it anymore, I moved towards her and wrapped my arms around her small frame. She clutched my shirt and cried against my chest. “I swore I wouldn’t do this. Promised myself, I wouldn’t ask you for help. Not after what you’ve done. But I don’t have no other choice.” She pounded on my chest with her tiny balled up fists. “I’ve lost so much time with her. I need my grandbaby,” she choked on a sob, “I need my grandbaby to come back home!”

I pressed my nose to the crown of her head and kissed her hair. “I need her to come back home too.” She gripped my shirt tighter. If I hadn’t been standing in the middle of Keith’s office, I would have teared up. Wasn’t any way I was showing vulnerability in front of that asshole though.

Minutes passed before Grandmama pulled out of my arms. When she did, she used her handkerchief to wipe away the tear tracks stamped all over her cheeks. Looking up at me, she placed both of her palms against my cheeks and said, “Bring my girl home, Hendrix Cole. You do that, and I’ll be grateful to you until the day I die.”

“Just tell me where she is.” My voice was quiet. Calm.

She closed her eyes.

Time ticked by.

When she opened her eyes again, the tears had been replaced with fire, and the feisty Grandmama I’d always known was back. “Under one condition.”

Wait a minute. “What?”

Squaring her shoulders, Grandmama lifted her chin in the air and looked me in the eyes. “I want you to answer one question.”

I shook my head in exasperation. “Then ask!”

“Are you an alcoholic?”

My answer was harsh. “No.” Her stare was harsher. She knew I was full of shit.

Keith didn’t hesitate to throw me under the bus. “He has a running tab down at The Watering Hole, mama. What’s that tell ya?”

Grandmama shook her head in disgust. “You want me to tell you where Maddie is?”

Grinding my back teeth together, I growled. “Yes.”

She stepped back and clasped her hands together in front of her. “Then you quit drinking and go to AA meetings.” Keith snorted, and it took everything in me not to shove my good fist through the wall. This was fucking blackmail! “They have them down at the church and the town center every night.” I opened my mouth to argue, but she cut me off. “You go to the meetings and stay sober for thirty days, and then I’ll tell you where she is.”

My right hand twitched. “Don’t even think about punching another one of my walls!”

My head snapped to the left. “How about I punch your face instead?”

Grandmama pinched my chest—hard. “There will be no physical violence unless I’m the one doling it out. Now…” she paused and ran her hands down the front of her floral dress, smoothing out the fabric. “Are you going to step up and be the man that I know you can be? Or are you going to stay on this path of destruction until you turn into your father?”

I squared my shoulders, tightened my fists, and set my jaw. “I’m not going to turn into my Pop.”

Grandmama didn’t look convinced. “If you don’t do something sooner rather than later, you sure will.” She stepped closer, closing the gap between us. “Now tell me, Hendrix. Are you going to stop drinking and start going to meetings, so you can fix this mess and bring my granddaughter home? Or do I need to call someone else?” She smiled, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. She was up to something. “From what I was told this morning, it seems that Ida Jacob’s youngest grandson Ty has taken quite an interest in my girl. Maybe he could—”

My blood pressure went through the roof, and the vein in my temple nearly exploded. “If that son of a bitch gets anywhere near Maddie I’ll kill him!” I grabbed the chair beside me and threw it. It bounced off the floor and slid into the wall. More busted plaster. More cloudy debris. Too bad I didn’t give a fuck. The county could take the cost of the damage out of my paycheck.

Keith cursed, and Grandmama placed her hands on her hips before speaking. “I’m gonna ask you one more time, Hendrix…”

I didn’t let her finish. “Yes! I’ll go to the damn meetings!”

She nodded once. “Good.” Chest heaving, I fought for breath. Ty mother fucking Jacobs. I couldn’t believe it. Actually, I could. He’d always been a little weasel. “And when thirty days is up, if you’ve kept your word, I’ll tell you where she is.” She clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “But if you don’t, then I’ll be making a phone call to Ty myself.”

That wasn’t happening.

Pulling my keys from my pocket, I walked out of the room but stopped in my tracks when Keith called out my name. “Hendrix! Where are you going?”

Without looking back at him, I replied, “To check in for my shift at 24.” I took a breath, fighting for calm. “Then I’m going to find a fucking AA meeting.”

I didn’t wait for him to respond before walking out the door.

Ty fucking Jacobs.

I was going to kill him!