Page 41 of Safe (King’s Heart #1)

Landon

The door clanks closed behind me. It’s loud and unmistakable. The sound of being locked in. Just like she is.

Gwen bounces excitedly beside me as we find three empty seats. Danny sits in one of them with a long, irritated sigh, but I know it’s a front. He’s been looking forward to this—even if he refuses to admit that to anyone. Despite his tough exterior, Danny has always been sensitive on the inside.

The waiting room is as depressing as this whole experience.

We’re enclosed by four tan walls lined with mismatched waiting chairs that have made black scuffs against the flecked linoleum.

Flickering fluorescent lights cast an unsettling glow on all the glum faces around us, also waiting to see someone on the other side.

I don’t even have my phone to distract me while we wait. Everything was taken away from me when we went through security. I try to just zone out, filling my brain with nothing until they call for us.

But it doesn’t quite work. I flick my eyes at my brother and sister again, hoping I’m not royally fucking them up by bringing them out here to see her.

The last time she was arrested, they were too little to come—but I wasn’t. Some obscure aunt that I don’t remember the name of took me to see her, and even though I hated seeing her locked away, I did really enjoy just seeing her at all.

I hope they feel the same.

All I want is the best for my family. They’re all I have in this world.

Well, maybe now I have someone else too.

“Landon Moore?” a bored voice calls out.

I jerk my head in the direction of the guard, raising my hand awkwardly. “Yeah. Yep. That’s-that’s us.”

I grab Gwen’s hand and guide Danny to walk next to us as the guard beckons for us to follow him.

We go through another heavily locked door and down a hallway until we’re shuffled into a small room with a long counter and chairs, set in front of a partition of glass and a corded phone.

It’s another few minutes before we see her emerge through the door on the other side.

She’s wearing an orange jumpsuit that’s way too big for her small frame, and her face somehow looks better than when she was on the outside.

Maybe she’s gotten more sleep since she’s been in here. Not having to work all night.

A gruff male guard stands at her side, a hand wrapped around Mom’s elbow while her wrists are shackled in front of her.

Once they reach the seat in front of the glass, Mom holds up the cuffs and the guard unlocks them, placing them on his belt and walking to the back corner of the room where he turns and glares at us.

“One hour,” he barks in her direction.

She nods and picks up the phone, while I do the same and hand it to Gwen to speak with her first.

Gwen begins spouting any and every thought that’s come into her head since Mom’s been gone. And even though Danny hasn’t gotten the chance to speak to her yet, his face has a happiness that I don’t often get to see in him.

I smile to myself while watching their interactions, content that I made the right decision bringing them here with me.

Before I know it, it’s my turn, and I give her a dumb little wave when I take the phone from Danny.

“Hey, Mom. You look really good.”

She laughs softly as tears fill her eyes. “Oh, yeah. The food actually isn’t too bad this time around. And I actually have the time to eat and sleep so…” She lets her voice trail off.

“Well, it looks great on you. You look healthy.”

“Thank you, baby. And thank you for everything you’ve been doing for your brother and sister. I miss you guys like crazy.”

I shake my head. “Thanks, Mom, but it’s nothing. I mean, I’m still going to school, and Simmons is the one who takes care of them on a day to day basis.”

She nods and furrows her brow. “I know. I know. Where is he, by the way? I thought I’d get to thank him in person.”

I jerk my thumb over my shoulder. “Oh, he drove us up and is waiting out in his car. He said he wanted us to have our space to see you.”

She sighs wistfully, looking up at the ceiling. “What did we do to deserve that man in our life?”

“I couldn’t tell ya,” I say with a shrug.

“Okay, baby, well, tell me about you. What’s new?”

“Um…” I take a moment to think of all the things I could fill her in on, but only one thing flashes through my mind.

GRANT. GRANT. GRANT. GRANT.

“Oh. I have some schools interested in me for a scholarship next year. We have a few more games with scouts so I’m hoping to secure something soon.”

“That’s so amazing, honey,” she exclaims.

I nod and look down at the counter sheepishly, drumming my fingers for something to do. “Yeah, so that’s good.”

“It is,” she says forcibly. “I’m so proud of you, Landon. You worked so hard for all of these opportunities. What about school? Met any new friends there?”

I’m filled with a sudden bout of courage, and then my mouth opens and says what it wants. “Actually, yeah. Do you remember Grant? Grant Caldwell from that house that you cleaned?”

All the happiness drains from her face, replaced with a deep frown. “Oh, yes. Of course I remember him. Poor soul. Is he doing okay now?”

I scrutinize her face. It’s filled with such concern. I feel a little unnerved by the potency of it. Doesn’t feel like a necessary amount.

“Um, yeah. Him. He’s my roommate.”

“Oh.” There’s a hint of surprise in her tone, but still that underlying current of concern. “How nice.”

I try to push past the feeling. “Yeah. We had a rocky start but now we’re cool. Maybe more than cool.”

“Good, baby,” she says absently, looking through me—her mind a million miles away.

“Mom.”

“Yes?”

“Are you listening?”

She sighs. It’s a heavy, depressed sound. “I just—” She casts her eyes quickly toward Gwen and Danny who have started playing an intense game of slap hands and are paying us no attention.

She still lowers her voice a bit. “I just always worried about him. That’s a big regret of mine.

I should’ve said something, but I didn’t really know what to do, or who to talk to.

I’m glad he seems to be better. I was pretty much fired as soon as I found out what he was doing. And then I had to go back to?—”

I shut my eyes tightly, shaking my head a bit. “Wait. Wait. Back up. What? Found out what who was doing?”

“Grant.”

There’s a pregnant pause between us, filled with anxiety. The thick, sticky kind that feels like it’s pulling me down to the ground.

I don’t say anything, waiting for her to explain further.

“Remember how he was in the hospital every so often?”

I nod my head.

“Well, one day while I was working, Mr. Caldwell had just come back from one of the stays and just kind of unloaded all the information on me. We had never really talked before besides saying hello to each other, so it was kind of weird, but I just thought he was stressed or something. Said that Grant kept getting sick. Vomiting. So much that he would have to take him to the Emergency Room for dehydration.”

Those memories of hearing his retching across the vast house come rushing back, making me feel nauseous and agitated.

She continues. “They ran lots of tests. Could never really figure out what was wrong with him. Thought it might be anxiety or something. But it just kept happening. He’d be fine and then boom—throwing up for days.”

“Ten minutes,” the guard barks again.

Mom smiles and waves a hand in his direction, which he does not return.

I start to speak with more urgency, knowing we’re running out of time. “Okay. He was sick. But what do you mean? What was Grant doing?”

She does that same sigh again—even heavier this time. “He was doing it to himself.”

I scrunch my brow. “Who was?”

“Grant. He was making himself sick.”

My breath rushes out of me. “What—I mean—how do you know?”

“It was one of the times you weren’t with me. I walked into the bathroom to clean it, and he was leaning over the toilet with… you know…”

She mimes sticking two fingers in her mouth.

I try to take a second to think of what to say, but my mind is spinning. The only thing that pops out is, “What?”

She shrugs, shaking her head like it’s such a shame. “I was in such shock. I think I might’ve asked what he was doing, I can’t even really remember. It was so long ago. But he just yelled at me to get out and slammed the door in my face.”

“You didn’t tell Mr. Nate?”

She purses her lips, looking down in her lap. “No. I can’t really explain it, but I just wasn’t sure if he should be the person to tell, or if I should’ve called someone else. But like I said, I didn’t get a chance. My very next shift was when I got fired.”

Because Grant framed you for stealing.

Is that why he did that? To make sure no one knew what he was doing? Is that why he tormented me when I first came to King’s Heart?

“Five minutes,” the guard warns.

She takes in a big breath. “I should’ve done something. Even after getting fired, but I just—I don’t know—life got in the way. I had you to worry about and?—”

“It’s okay, Mom.” My brain can barely catch up right now. “Um—you should—you should say goodbye to Gwen and Danny before the five minutes is up.”

She cocks her head at me. “Honey, are you okay? I didn’t mean for our conversation to be so sad. I feel like we barely talked about how you’re doing.”

I wave at her as I try to disguise the turmoil inside of me.

No. I’m not fucking okay. I have no idea how to feel right now. I’m upset. And confused. And incredibly sad for this beautifully broken boy who has clawed his way into my heart.

“I’m good, Mom. I just want to make sure you can tell them goodbye.”

She smiles. “Okay, honey. I love you. Thank you so much for everything you do for this family.”

I give a clipped nod and pass the phone to Danny, quickly turning away so I can hide the tears that fill my eyes.

He did that to himself.

I think back to his face as a child. The bright eyes that did their best to shine despite the gauntness that surrounded them.

When Danny and Gwen are done saying their goodbyes, we stand and watch as Mom is cuffed and taken away again.

Danny holds Gwen’s hand as she cries quietly while we file out of the room.

Once we get all of our stuff back from security, I take both of them by their hands and hurriedly drag them toward Simmons’s waiting car.

Danny pulls his hand away with a huff but still keeps my pace. “What’s the rush?”

I have to get to him.