Christine Maxwell stood on the porch, appearing frantic and teary-eyed.
“What did Marcus do now?” I asked, assuming her crying had something to do with her teenage son even though she had seven other kids besides Marcus.
She flicked strands of her ash-blond hair off her forehead. “Is Marcus here, by chance? I tried to call you.”
Maybe shutting off my phone wasn’t such a good idea if people were going to show up on my doorstep instead.
I waved her in. “I haven’t seen Marcus since the cookout at my parents’ house last week.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. The kid wasn’t even my son. He wasn’t living with me anymore either. Yet he still had a way of driving me insane. Given how rebellious he was, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was passed out drunk somewhere. He’d started drinking when he was living with me, but I thought he was on the straight and narrow since his mom had returned from Georgia and bought a house for the family.
Christine folded her arms across her chest as she climbed over the threshold and into the foyer. “His bed hasn’t been slept in. Maiken and Ethan are out looking. Jasper doesn’t know anything. Marcus’s girlfriend, Sloane, hasn’t seen him either.”
Lacey’s footsteps echoed as her bare feet slapped on the wood floor. “What’s going on?”
“I can’t find Marcus,” Christine said, on the verge of tears. “He’s been out of control lately, angry at the world. I’m afraid he’s drinking again.”
I shoved my fingers through my hair, hating that I was right about the drinking. My brothers and I hadn’t turned to liquor when our sister had died. But we had gotten into one too many fights, to the point that Kody had ended up in a coma.
Lacey hugged Christine. “I’m so sorry. Have you checked with the Ashford police?”
Christine nodded. “They don’t have any record of him, and it’s too soon to file a missing person’s report.” She broke down in tears. “I just don’t know how to help him. He stopped seeing his psychiatrist.”
Fuck.The morning had started off with mind-blowing sex, but as the minutes ticked by, the day was going to shit.
“Kade will help look for Marcus,” Lacey said, giving me her puppy-dog look. “Right, honey?” Her tone could melt butter.
What was I saying? Her tone was melting me in every possible way.
“Of course,” I said, gritting my teeth as I silently shouted cuss words in my head.
She ushered Christine into the kitchen.
And just like that, I was back to wrangling in a teenager if I could find him.
“Lacey, can we talk a second?” I asked.
She backtracked while Christine went ahead of her.
When we were alone, Lacey planted her hands on my chest. “We can talk later. Right now, go find Marcus.”
A growl barreled out of my chest. How the hell would I find the boy? The cops didn’t have any record of him.
Chapter 4
Kade
Ten minutes later, I was in my truck on my way to Sloane’s house. I figured I would start there. Christine had checked with Sloane, but my gut was telling me the girl was covering for Marcus. I didn’t know her that well, but she and Marcus had been tied at the hip since she’d shown up at the beginning of his freshman year, which was about ten months ago.
As I turned out of my driveway, my phone rang. Kody’s name flashed across the dashboard.
“Bro, you better get down to the club.”
I laughed, mainly out of frustration. If anyone knew not to bother me during Lacey’s time at home, it was Kody. So something major must have happened. “Did someone break in?”
“Um… You could say that.”
I rolled my window down to let in fresh morning air, even though humidity was thick. “Did you call the cops?”
