Page 43 of Cursed Fox

Jimmy pulled his phone out of his pocket and his fingers flew across the screen. "Done."

A few seconds later it dinged with a response. "Fred said he will deliver them himself first thing in the morning."

I knew there was a reason I liked the guy so much.

"Okay, thanks. I think once I read them all at the same time, things will make a little more sense."

"I'm not so sure." Jimmy sat further back on the couch. "A lot of them are just the ramblings of an unhappy man."

"You mean an unhappy father," I clarified, but Jimmy frowned.

"I haven't thought of him as my father since the day he left us. He lost that right. If it is him, I hope like hell someone takes care of him."

I had a feeling I knew what he meant by take care of. I was now regretting all the times I let him spend at my office with Wes and the guys.

"You don't talk like that. The last thing people need to hear is you wishing your father was dead."

I knew that smirk. "I never said dead, Mom. That was all you."

Damn my kid for being so smart. I needed to change the subject. "What did the team doctors say about your injury?"

"Pretty much the same thing the doctors at the hospital said. I'm looking at a minimum of nine months before I can play again, and that's if everything goes right. If I'm lucky, I'll be ready in time for training camp. If not, definitely by the start of the regular season."

I chewed on my lower lip. "Any more talk of trades?"

As much as I wanted my son closer, he loved playing for the Pioneers. And I could bet he wanted another shot at proving he was the player they first scouted.

"Nah. I don’t think they want the negative publicity. It would look bad if they got rid of someone who got hit by a car while being gunned down."

I didn't care what reason they gave as long as they kept him on until his contract was up.

"Well, I think it's time for bed. We've kept you up long enough."

Jimmy refused to let me or Lex help him up, so I had to sit back and watch him struggle a little. "Goodnight, Mom. Night, Lex," he said once he was standing and his crutches were under his arms.

I waited until Jimmy was down the hall before I looked back at Lex.

"You're sleeping in bed with me tonight. Don't give me lip. I promise to get up if I hear you have a nightmare, but I refuse to sleep alone. Not when I feel like my whole world is about to blow up."

For once, Lex didn't argue.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Lex

"What do you mean you can't find him? I thought you could find anyone. We even gave you the state he's located in."

My phone call with Nolen was getting more frustrating by the second.

"I can if the person uses a digital footprint, but Thomas has gone off the grid. No cell phones, no credit cards, the bank took his house, and he no longer has a job. It's like the man decided to drop off the face of the earth after losing everything," Nolen explained.

"Are we sure he's not dead," I asked.

If only we could be so lucky.

"No death certificate on record, and no one reported missing or in hospitals matching his description. Well, the one I got off his license anyway. I asked the local police department to keep me in the loop, but so far nothing."

Thomas really had fallen off the face of the earth.

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