Page 31 of Nothing to This (Nothing to… #8)

“We’re going to work it out and we’re going to take our time.

” JD’s calmer nature was a welcome contrast to Baxter’s mania.

He smiled and rubbed her arms again. One spot took her back in an automatic flinch and his smile fell.

“Siren?” Examining her arm, holding her elbow, he raised it a little. “Where did you get the marks?”

She could lie and say they came from a ride, though carousel horses weren’t exactly known for being violent.

“I—”

“Jamison!”

Recognizing the urgency in Brenna’s voice, she pushed past JD. Brenna never used her brother’s name like that. Never.

The moment her friend came into view, she wished for the previous bliss. Something had happened. Something bad. What?

Hurrying toward Brenna, she grabbed her the minute she was within reach. “What?” she demanded. “What is it?”

Brenna tore her eyes away to look over her head at her brother who clutched her shoulders, sandwiching her between the siblings.

Her friend swallowed hard. “We can’t find Sky.”

For a moment, the planet disappeared. In freefall into nothingness, life became—her body weakened and her knees almost gave. A spear of numbing terror shot through her so fast JD had to hold her up.

“What do you mean?” JD asked. “Where was she? Who was she with?”

With his arm around her, he started moving, pulling her along between him and Brenna, keeping quick pace.

“They wanted burgers and to go on the carousel again. I went to get the burgers, Mom and Lotta stayed with them when they went on the horses. When I got back, Mom was talking to the people running the ride. Lotta was with Kye who fell on the metal platform. His knee was bleeding, I asked where Sky was and… she was gone.”

The word rushed bile to her throat. The lights and music that appealed before now seemed sickening, taunting. It all faded away in the hubbub of panicked people gathering around the brightly painted horses.

The crowds broke apart to gawk at her group.

Whatever. Let them. All she could feel was the agony of her red-faced son wailing in the arms of his grandmother.

Breaking into a run to get to him, his distress fueled her pace.

She had to be there. Now. Fast. Faster. Marjorie didn’t hesitate to give him up when she snatched him close, squeezing him to her.

A fresh set of tears streamed from Kye’s eyes. She clutched his head close to her mouth and rocked with him.

“I’ve got you, baby,” she whispered against him. “Momma’s here. Momma’s here.”

“I’m sorry, Mommy,” Kye howled.

Angling his face to her throat, she drove her fingers into his hair, kissing and soothing him. “You did nothing wrong, my sweet prince, nothing.”

All around, nothing registered yet she absorbed everything. Her daughter was the only person she wanted to see, but it wouldn’t happen. Something in her just knew. The sheer number of people now aware of what was going on meant the vicinity was guaranteed to be Sky-free.

“I want everything shut down,” a stern voice called from behind her: JD. “Search everywhere. The cops are on their way and security is holding everyone here. No car leaves the lot.”

Whipping around in his direction, JD had a serious look on his face as he spoke to Greg, Jim, and the security man who was supposed to have kept them safe. That wasn’t enough. Nothing was enough.

Eliminating space between them, she came up behind him.

“JD,” she said, her voice hard despite the tremor of adrenaline in it.

His focus was hers. “I want the best.” Anger, fear, and desperation drove her, but determination had never been more resolute.

She blinked at the security guy for only a second, then matched her eyes to JD’s.

“Empty your goddamn bank account and get your family the best.”

He looked only for another second before turning to Greg. “Call S.I.S.,” he said.

“He doesn’t—”

“He’s a father. Tell him what’s going on. He’ll be in a chopper and on the ground inside thirty minutes… and he owes me one.” The security guy was next in his sights. “Contain these people, brief the cops. You will be paid, but you’ll defer to the new team.”

Kye sniffled and whimpered, his sobs had lost some of their power. Though he was angled away from her, she picked up JD’s hand and guided it to their son’s hair. He turned slowly, but she buried her face in their boy, her fingers intertwined between JD’s on Kye’s head.

“Daddy’s here,” she whispered to her baby. “Daddy’s with us.”

“Ry,” JD murmured, full of his own pain.

Maybe it was the need in his voice or how it emanated from within him. Whatever it was, she stepped in close, sliding an arm around him, pulling him to her and welcoming his arms when they came around her to hold her close, squeezing Kye between them.

Neither she nor JD could break right now. Sky needed them to be strong. Kye couldn’t see their fear. The adults needed these few seconds to reassure each other that they weren’t alone, that they were united.

The sirens wailed in, forcing them to break apart, though they only went far enough to find each other’s eyes.

If Sky had been injured, she would be somewhere nearby, and would’ve been seen or heard. Her daughter’s healthy lungs would’ve assured that. What were the other options? That her little girl had wandered off or someone had taken her. Someone who could intend harm.

“I have to talk to the police,” JD said, bowing to kiss Kye’s head.

With his eyes closed, he pressed for longer than usual, then forced himself to turn away.

A sudden thought made her grab for him. “Baxter was here,” she said, with a flourish of hope. “He was mad, maybe…”

JD’s jaw ticked and he nodded once. He came back to tunnel his fingers in her hair and yanked her close to kiss her hairline.

“I’ll kill the bastard, you know I will,” he growled against her and pulled back like he sought approval.

“Only if you find him before I do,” she said. If she found the person responsible for hurting their family, she’d relish every second of pain she’d cause them. “If they want money—”

“I’ll pay every cent. To hell with negotiation.”

“I know,” she said. Their staring out wasn’t about winning anymore, it was a manifestation of their bond and the strength of their certainty. “Bring back our baby girl, Daddy.”

“I promise you, Momma,” he said, touching the edge of her jaw. “I promise.”

She kissed the heel of his hand just a fraction of a second before he spun around and started toward the cops spreading through the field.

Sky was in trouble. Her knees buckled and she collapsed with her son safe in her arms. She barely felt Brenna and Marjorie close in around her. All she could focus on as she sang into Kye’s hair was the column of JD’s formidable form in the middle of the fray.

If anyone could bring her baby back to her, it would be him. She’d be there at his side if it wasn’t for Kye’s need. Their boy would feel his sister’s absence, probably more than anyone else; the pair had never been parted, never.

She’d settle Kye for as long as she could, but if Sky wasn’t back in her arms soon, she’d start taking the city apart, brick by brick if necessary.