CHAPTER 22
Axel tugged his shirt back on as Brynn pulled on her sweats.
He still couldn’t quite believe what they’d just done backstage at the theater. At every turn, Brynn did the unexpected. That was a quality he’d always hated considering the way he grew up. But Brynn was different than his mom. Her actions were never selfish and neurotic, they were caring and quirky.
“I feel like Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy.” She was smiling from ear to ear as she sat on the bench and tied her tennis shoes.
Axel hadn’t seen the movie but he was pretty sure of the premise. “Isn’t that movie about her escaping her abusive husband?”
“Yes.” She stopped and held her finger up. “But that’s not the part I’m talking about. I’m referring to the scene where her new love interest, the small-town drama teacher, brings her backstage at the theater so she can try on clothes. After she plays dress up he puts on ‘Runaround Sue’ and they dance. Jess has always been obsessed with the final dance in Dirty Dancing, and while it’s a close runner up, as far as great theatrical dances go, that’s the one I imagine myself as the leading lady in.” Brynn let out a wistful sigh as she bent down to gather up some fallen material. “It’s the best ever.”
It seemed that Brynn’s spontaneous behavior was contagious because the next thing he knew, he had his phone in his hand and he was pulling up Spotify. Within seconds, the opening bars of the classic Dion song were filling the air.
Brynn popped up like a jack-in-the-box, which caused her hair to fall in her face, but her golden red locks couldn’t hide her huge grin. Axel had never been a great dancer, and he hadn’t seen the movie, but that didn’t stop him from pulling her into his arms and giving it his all. There was limited space but he still managed to dip and spin her out and then back to him. She never stopped giggling as pure delight radiated from her.
It was different than the first time they’d danced on the patio of Lanterns. This was more playful and lighthearted, unfortunately as the music came to an end Axel knew that the carefree atmosphere was going to end, too.
He needed to tell Brynn the truth. Whatever this was between them, it wasn’t just a one-time thing. And he couldn’t continue to keep her in the dark.
“Brynn,” Axel’s voice was strained as he stopped dancing but still kept holding the woman that he’d fallen in love with in his arms. “I need to tell you something.”
She hesitated, narrowing her eyes. “Okay.”
He could hear the trepidation in her tone, and as much as he wanted to assure her that everything would be fine, he had no idea how she would react to the information he needed to share with her.
He took a fortifying breath and started from the beginning. “When I came here, I had no idea that—”
His confession was interrupted by a ringtone. The moment it sounded, Brynn jumped out of his arms and rushed to her purse. When she pulled it out and looked at the screen she put her hand over her chest and let out a breath.
“Everything okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s not Ryder.”
“Oh.”
“Getting a call in the middle of the night is never good news, so I thought… but it’s not.” Her eyes squinted. “It’s a seven, seven, three area code.”
“Chicago.”
“Yeah, probably a wrong number.” She lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello.”
Axel watched Brynn carefully to see if he could get some clue as to who was on the other line.
“No, I’m not Mrs. Tiller.”
She had been, though, when she was married to Max.
“He’s my ex-husband.”
He was trying to decipher what the call was about by her tone and expression when his own phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Seth calling. Axel knew he had to take it because Brynn was right. No one called at two-thirty in the morning to give good news.
He answered it and Seth didn’t waste any time with small talk. “There’s been a development in the Wilson case. Law enforcement has received a tip on the possible location of the shooter. Local law enforcement has the area surrounded and the FBI is en route to the location. It looks like the threat could soon be neutralized.”
“I’ve spoken to our contact at WITSEC and if the threat is neutralized Wilson and his family will be released and his contract will be terminated.”
Axel glanced up and saw that Brynn was still on the phone.
This meant that Axel could be going home soon. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. With the job being over, there’d be no reason for him to stay in Whisper Lake. Not that he was sure there’d be a reason to once he told Brynn the truth.
“I’ll keep you updated real time,” Seth clipped before disconnecting the call.
Axel hung up at the same time Brynn did.
“Who was that?” she asked.
He almost said work, but realized there was no reason anyone would be calling him about restoration jobs at two-thirty in the morning. “A buddy I served with.” It was the truth. He had served with Sloan.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. What about you?” Axel motioned to the paper she was holding.
“Oh, I don’t know. Max was in an accident. He’s at St. Vincent’s. I’m not really sure how bad it is. I’m going to go pick up Ryder and head out there.”
“I’ll take you.”
“Oh no!” She shook her head vigorously. “You don’t have to do that.”
“You were so tired you sewed yourself into a dress. I’m taking you.”
Her cheek hollowed as she bit the inside of her mouth. He could see that she wanted to argue but she knew he was right.
“Okay,” she finally agreed and they started to head out of the theater. “I’m gonna call Ryder and let him know we’re coming.”
She lifted her phone to her ear then almost immediately put it down. “That’s weird, it went straight to voicemail.” She tried it again, but got the same result, so she left a message. When she hung up she said, “Let me try Ricky. His phone is always charged.”
After a few moments, she shook her head. “It rang but went to voicemail. I’ll try KJ.” She touched the screen on her phone and then held it to her ear. With a sigh, she pulled it away. “Straight to voicemail. I’ll call Ali.”
Brynn was on the call with her friend as they walked out of the theater and Axel locked up. When he turned back to her she had an odd look on her face as she stood next to his SUV. “He did? When? No, I’ve been working at the theater on the costumes for the show.” She smiled and a blush tainted her cheeks as he opened the passenger door for her. “No, that’s okay. Axel’s going to drive. K, I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She hung up as she climbed in. “We can go to the house. Ali went to get Ryder and the boys said he went home a couple of hours ago. I must’ve just missed him.”
Axel’s blood ran cold. He hadn’t gotten any alerts on his phone that someone had crossed the perimeter of her property line. He shut the door and walked around the back of his vehicle as he pulled up the surveillance app. No. Ryder had not gone home.
Fuck. The fugitive hadn’t been apprehended and was possibly still at large and now Ryder suspiciously left to go home and he wasn’t there. Before he panicked and called this in, he wanted to make sure that the kid hadn’t just snuck out to see his girlfriend.
Since Izzy was spending the night with her, he figured he’d call and see. Of course, it went straight to voicemail.
Shit. His mind was racing at what the best course of action would be. He didn’t want to unnecessarily freak out Brynn, but if Ryder was in danger, she needed to know.
Fiona’s house was only a block from the high school. He’d tell Brynn that he needed to stop by and tell Izzy that he was going to the city. If Fiona was there, he’d know that Ryder wasn’t with her and he’d have to call it in and tell Brynn. In the meantime, he texted Nate to track Ryder’s phone. Whether he snuck out with his girlfriend or not, they needed to find him.
He got in the truck and tried to sound as casual as possible. “Do you mind if I stop by and let Izzy know that I’m going into the city?”
“Sure, but you don’t want to just call her?”
“Her phone’s dead. Or off.”
“Of course it is.” Her hands flew up and she went on a rant about teenagers and their lack of responsibility when it came to devices.
He pulled up to the house and saw through the window that the television in the front room was on. At least he wouldn’t be waking anyone up. He was halfway up the driveway when Fiona opened the door and his heart plummeted. “Hi, Mr. Vaughn. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need to talk to Izzy?” He would tell his sister he was heading to the city and see if she could stay at Fiona’s until he got back. That would buy him some time to figure out what was going on.
“Isn’t she with you?”
“She’s not here?” His chest constricted.
“No. She left a couple of hours ago and said that she was going home. I told her my mom would take her but she said that she had a ride.”
His stomach tightened in fear. What the fuck was going on? Had Ryder and Izzy snuck off together? That made no sense.
“Okay, thanks.” He lifted his hand in a half wave and started back to the SUV. He wasn’t sure if the fact that the two of them were together made the situation better or worse. He pulled out his phone to call Seth when Nate’s name popped up on the screen.
“Where is he?” Axel asked as he answered it.
“He’s at Mercy Prep and so is Izzy.”
“He’s what?” Axel stopped.
“His phone was switched off so I overrode it and turned it back on remotely. When I saw where he was I ran Izzy’s, too.”
Confusion swam in Axel’s head. What in the hell were the kids doing there?
“The lines are open now if you want to call them. Seth’s up to speed and says that we can have a team there in minutes if we need to. It’s your call.”
He had no idea if he needed to have a team there. “I’ll call you back.”
He hung up and tried his sister. After three rings it went to voicemail.
Shit.
He looked up and saw Brynn sitting in the passenger seat. She was on the phone with someone. Axel was planning how he would tell her all of this, but when he got in the car, he realized he didn’t need to.
It’s Ryder, she mouthed to Axel.
“Wait a minute…you’re where?” The crease in her forehead deepened as her face scrunched in confusion. “What are you doing…just stay there.” She barked. “We’ll talk about it when I see you. Stay there and keep your phone on.”
She lowered her phone and shook her head.
“The kids are in the city. They went to Izzy’s school because I guess Tia, the girl that she was friends with there was really upset because of something that happened with the same girls that gave Izzy a bad time. She was saying some things that made Izzy scared she was going to hurt herself. So she texted Ryder that she was going to go to the city so he’d be able to tell me if you found out she was gone, but she thought it would give her enough time to get there. He didn’t want her to go by herself so he went with her.”
“But they’re safe? They’re okay?” Axel needed to hear that they were.
“Yes. They are.” Her head was down and she was typing in her phone. “You drive, I’m going to figure out who to call at the school to let them know that the kids are there and that we’re coming to get them.”
As Brynn looked up who to contact, Axel noticed the white on his knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel. Tonight had been a series of panic inducing situations. The second that Izzy and Ryder were home and safe, he was telling Brynn everything. Including how he felt about her.