Page 167 of Puck Me Secretly

“My mom is meeting me at the airport. She said she’s proud of me.”

“Max will be proud of you.”

“Will you give him a hug for me?”

“If I find him.”

“He’ll come back.”

It seemed like everyone believed he would. I wasn’t so sure. “You need anything for your flight?”

“I’m good.”

“Are you scared?”

She smiled the most serene smile. “The funny thing is, I’ve beenscared since this has happened, but today, for the first time, I woke up without fear. It’s like I’m being set free.”

“You’re an amazing woman.”

“Will you come and see me when the baby is born?”

“You can count on it.”

She hugged me again. “Take care of Max, okay?”

“I’m trying.”

From the airportI headed straight to the hospital. Dad wasn’t in his room. The nurse said they had taken him down for some tests and my mom had gone with him.

Max: Where are you?

My heart pounded as I stared down at that text.

Me: At the hospital. Where are you?

But no responding text came back. I slumped in the waiting room, willing my phone to beep. Hours passed while I flipped through old health magazines. My stomach growled. I debated going down to the cafeteria to get something to eat, but I didn’t want to miss my Dad coming back so I remained seated.

My heart jumped when my phone rang, but it sank again when I realized it was Brian.

“Talk to me.”

“The private investigator found a correlating payment between Baxter and the alleged victim.”

“I knew it. That fucker set Max up. Did you hand that over to the police?”

“It wasn’t legally obtained.”

“Dammit.”

“But she is still refusing to allow them to do a physical exam and refuses to hand over her clothes.”

“Because there was no assault.”

“Right? I’m going into court today to make a motion for thecharges against Max to be dropped.”

“Do you think it will work?”

“I’m going to damn well try.”

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