Page 58 of Best of Me

“What?” Nate jolts at my outburst.

Without answering him, I dial Darryl. “Duke,” he answers. “How are you?”

I skip right over the pleasantries. “Where’s Nancy?”

“She went to visit Val.”

Fuck.“When? How long ago did she leave?”

“Son, what’s with all—”

“When did she leave?” I yell into the phone, garnering a weird look from Nate.

“About twenty minutes ago.”

I pull the phone away from my ear and check the timestamp on her text—twenty minutes ago. “I need you to listen to me. Mallory is at Val’s grave right now.”

Darryl sucks in a sharp breath. “Oh, no. No, she can’t—Nancy will…Duke, she can’t be there when Nancy gets there.”

I mouth the wordstationto Nate, hoping like hell he understands what I’m telling him. I have to warn Mallory. I have to protect her. “Call her. Distract her. Delay her. Now!” I end the call and immediately dial Mallory. It rings and rings until her voice mail picks up. I call her again and again, my panic increasing with each unanswered call.

I hear Nate talking to someone on his phone, but my brain doesn’t have the capacity to make sense of his words; the only thing I can focus on is Mallory. I don’t know the extent of her mother’s abuse, but I know it was enough to send her running the first chance she got and the thought of her facing her all alone eats me up inside. I should be there with her, at her side.

Nate pulls into the station lot, pulling up right next to my truck. “Xavier is coming in to cover you. Go get your girl.”

Gratitude for the man next to me—my best friend, my partner—overwhelms me. “Thank you.”

“Go! Update me when you can.” Nate doesn’t have to tell me twice; I’m out of the cruiser, in my truck, and on my way to Orchard Grove in the blink of an eye.

As a cop, there’s nothing I hate more than going into a situation blind, unfortunately it’s part of the job. But with Mallory, not knowing if she’s okay—it’s wretched.

The pounding rain makes the drive take longer than it should and with every swish of my wiper blades, my worry intensifies. My body is rigid with tension and my grip on the wheel is so tight my fingers ache; I’m pretty sure I don’t take a full breath until the cemetery gates come into view.

I pull up behind Darryl’s car, my body instantly on high alert. As Valorie’s plot comes into my view and the scene unfolds before me—Darryl restraining a screaming, rabid Nancy and my girl cowering on the cold, wet ground sobbing—I’m enraged and heart-stricken all at once.How…how could anyone spew the kind of hate Nancy is at their own child? And how was I so blind to the kind of woman she really is? She’s not a grieving mother; she’s a monster using her loss as an excuse for behavior.

Flying past Darryl and Nancy, I head straight for Mallory, dropping to my knees next to her. I move to wrap her in my arms but she whimpers and shoves me away. “No!” Her voice is small and shaky.

“Shh, Cricket, it’s me.” I try and pull her to me again; this time she allows it, clinging to me.

“D-Duke?” She presses her face into my chest and I hold her trembling body closer.

“I’m here. You’re safe, baby. I’ve got you.”

She all but melts into me with her arms around my neck and her fingers clutching the collar of my shirt as I run a soothing hand up and down her back, all the while whispering words of comfort.

A loud clap of thunder fills the air and Mallory jolts in my arms as if someone’s struck her. “Hold onto me, I’m gonna stand, okay?” She gives an almost imperceptible nod and I rise to my feet, never once letting her go.

I stalk past her parents, sending a dark look their way as I pass. I place her in the passenger seat of her car, but when I try and step back, she clings to me, whimpering against my chest. The sound more heartbreaking than anything I’ve ever heard. “Shh, baby. I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ve gotta let you go to start the car; you’re freezing and I need to turn the heat on. Okay?”

“Oh-oh-okay,” she stutters out, her teeth chattering. Ever so slowly, she releases me, allowing me to come around to the driver’s side to start the car. I crank the heat, redirecting all of the vents to face her before turning on the seat heater.

“I’ve got a jacket in my truck. I’m gonna grab it for you, okay?”

She whispers her consent and I dash to my truck to retrieve it. I shove it under my shirt in an effort to keep it dry. After wrapping her in it, I reassure her that she’s safe and that I’ll protect her at all cost. “I’ll be right back, okay?” She nods, but I’m not so sure she actually hears me.

I lock the doors to her car with the fob I pocketed from the cupholder, and make my way to Darryl and Nancy. She’s still spewing hate like an erupting volcano, but she quiets when I approach before turning her fury on me.

“How?” she shrieks. “How could you?”

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