Page 34 of Hero: Claimed

“Got a fuckin’ call last night after Doc got home. We were right in the middle of f—”

“Fun activities,” Caitlin cuts in and darts her eyes to Jade.

Duke clears his throat. “Fun activities,” he repeats, “when the phone rang. Someone broke into her office. We got Frankie and Scotch to watch the kids ‘cuz they’re next door and headed down the mountain. All the fucker took was a stack of prescription pads.”

“It’s not like he can fill it out like the old days. You have to provide an I.D. and give a signature. Stealing prescription pads used to be something that addicts would do, but they can’t now, not without getting arrested right away. How foolhardy can you get?”

“What fun activities, Daddy?” Jade’s attention perks up. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Caitlin and Hannah both bite their bottom lips to fight back laughter. I don’t because my eyes dart to movement off to the side. Blaze, with his head hung, slips back down the hallway, leaving his half-eaten bowl of oatmeal where he was sitting.

Even discussing an event like a break in, the group of them minus Blaze still manage to laugh by making inappropriate comments that go over the head of Jade, whom I have a feeling will learn the meanings behind those comments sooner than the average kid her age.

I remain quiet, forcing oatmeal down my throat and gulping down hot coffee in order to not have to join in because I know I have to tell Levi now and I can’t do it in front of Duke. Levi and Blue are Blaze’s best friends. Maybe they can get through to Blaze or at the very least get him to a place where he can let me help. It’s not like I haven’t had experience in dealing with addicts, although my dad was a lost cause. By the time I’d grown old enough to help him out, he’d been so far in it there was no coming back.

I couldn’t save my dad. I’m saving Blaze. Let’s hope it doesn’t kill us while trying.

14.

Levi

Brin takes our bowls and mugs, washing them out, then setting them in the drainer. She’s been awful quiet since Duke and Caity walked in and I don’t like it. It reminds me of how she was when we first got together.

Once she finishes the dishes, I snag her by the hand, walking to the door, waving at the rest over my head. “Check ya later,” I call out. “Thanks for the food, Hannah.” Then I lead Brinley to my truck and help her up inside.

I wait until we’re through the gate before the silence becomes too much to take. We’re not going back to that shit. “What?”

“Sorry?” she asks.

“Don’tsorryme. You haven’t said a word since we walked out of the kitchen with our food,” I say. Her eyes grow huge, like she thought I didn’t notice. “Yeah, bird, I notice everything about you. After the morning we had, you think your silence isn’t gonna ring louder than the bells of a cathedral?”

“Bells of a cathedral?” she asks, and she’s not being funny or subversive that I can tell. But just in case…

“Yeah, woman, bells of a fucking cathedral. Now spill. What’s got you so clammed up?”

She sighs, the sad kind. “I think… well… I think Blaze stole the prescription pads.”

“Why the fuck would you think that?” I have to rein in my volume, teetering on that line between talking and yelling, leaning more toward the yell.

“Never mind. Do you think you’ll be out in time today to take me to the store?”

“Don’t do that, bird. I asked you a question.”

She nods. “Yeah, a question you don’t really want an answer to.”

Shit. I reach over to take her hand and bring it back to rest on my knee. “I’ll cool it. Promise. Please, baby, talk to me.”

She exhales deeper than a sigh this time. I don’t know what to call it, but she does it. “Didn’t you notice him slink out of the room when Duke brought it up?”

My brows draw together as I think back. “No. I didn’t notice.”

“Well, he did. And yesterday—fuck.”

Fuck?Brinley rarely swears. “Go on, bird.”

“I was going to ask him to take me to the store. When I pushed open his door, he had a spoon and a lighter in his hands.”

“Doesn’t mean anything,” I reply defensively. Dammit, he’s one of my best friends. Wouldn’t I have noticed if he was into shit like that?

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