Page 113 of Sing Me Home
I felt sick to my very soul, realizing how stupid I’d been. Allowing my pride to get in the way. Letting Cash think I wasn’t going on tour with him, not thanking him for what he’d done, not spending the entire evening with him after the race, singing together on the deck, followed by at least an hour of kissing until my lips were sore before reluctantly heading home to bed.
“Well, well, well,” a deep, familiar voice sneered behind us. “Sheisalive. Looks like old Lorne dog wasn’t lying after all.”
I’m so sorry, Lorne mouthed.
thirty-six
Cash
The circular driveway of my parents’ house was packed with side-by-sides. As usual before one of Dad’s tours, the Duprees and Bishops had gathered to see him off. Everyone except Charlie and, strangely, Bowen.
I stood on my lawn, fighting the disappointment. She really wasn’t coming. Not even to hug me goodbye.
Theo’s face twisted with empathy. “I don’t know. Her bag’s all packed in her room, ready to go.”
“She must’ve changed her mind.” Liam tossed a football to Griffin.
James’s lips pressed together. “You don’t say.”
Eyes dead and dull, Griff caught it and lobbed it half-heartedly back to Liam.
The two tour buses were running, waiting on me and Dad to board. Just like always, my younger cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents were in the house, listening to The Lecture—the same one Mom gave every time Dad left on tour.
“Don’t you even think of looking at another woman,” Mom was probably saying right about now. “Do you hear me, Ford? If some hussy sneaks into your bed after a show, you better walk yourself right back off that bus or out of that hotel room. Or so help me, I will leave your sorry, cheating behind and take your children and all your money with me.” Next, my dad would pull her into his arms. “It’s not even a temptation, baby. I could never be satisfied by anyone but you.” Then he’d give her a kiss that would last her until she flew out to our show in Oakland in a few weeks.
I wished Charlie was here for me to kiss.
James jammed his hands into his pockets. “Do you want me and Theo to drive down to the house and see if she’s running late?”
“Let’s give her a couple more minutes.” I really wanted her to show up on her own. Not go hunting her down, begging her to come. I looked at my watch and saw a notification. I tapped the screen. Make that five notifications—that Charlie’s heart rate was up above 150 bpm. “What the…?”
James stepped over to me and read the message. “That can’t be good. Do you think she went for a run?”
My watch buzzed with an incoming audio message. I pressed play. But she didn’t say anything. The puppies barked in the background. “She must be at the barn.” My stomach clenched. What was she doing at the barn when I was about to leave? For a second, I thought she’d sent this by accident, but then someone started talking.
“Enough of this!” a man shouted. There was a loud bang that sounded awfully like a gunshot.
“Who’s that?” Theo said, coming closer.
“You just put a hole in the ceiling!” Bowen barked on the message.
The three of us shared a look.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” the mystery man said. “I need to be back in Sin City by tomorrow night.” More puppy barking.
“Why are y’all huddled around Cash’s watch?” Liam asked.
“Be quiet!” Theo hissed.
Liam and Griffin jogged over.
“The rules are simple, Charlie,” the man said. That meant those bullets weren’t aimed at her. “We’re not leaving here without the twenty-five thousand he owes. Don’t care how you get it, but get it, you will. And you’ll do it quietly, without alarming anyone. You do that and no one gets hurt. You have thirty minutes or Lorne-o-graphic here gets the?—”
“Lorne,” Theo and I breathed at the same time.
“Get’s the what?” Griffin whispered.
“Shhh,” I ordered. We all tipped our heads, listening for more.
