Page 8 of The Retaliation You Deliver

She cuts me off before I get to ask if he’s okay or not.

The next ten minutes are some of the longest of my life, and I’ve endured many painful waits in my time so it really is saying something.

The second the screen flashes with her name now that I’ve saved her contact, I can’t answer it quick enough.

“Is he okay? I blurt out the second the call connects, needing to know that nothing serious has happened.

“Y-yeah, he is.”

“Oh my God,” I sigh, falling back on my bed and allowing just a little bit of relief to flow through me. “Where is he?”

“We’re currently halfway between Miami and MKU. You were in Miami with him, right?” Her question confirms what I already knew. She really has no idea what’s going on or what happened.

“Y-yes.”

“He won’t tell us anything but we got a call from their mom first thing this morning because he was sitting in jail and needed bailing out.”

“What?” I screech, once again sitting up.

“He was picked up on the beach for being drunk and disorderly.”

Oh Christ.

“Has he been charged?”

“No, just a slap on the wrist for acting like an idiot. Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Probably one of the biggest lies I’ve ever told in my life because really, I’m far from fine, I’m falling apart but no one needs to know that apart from me.

“You’re lying, I can hear it in your voice.”

“You don’t even know me,” I whisper, instantly regretting it in case she takes it the wrong way.

“We’re taking him home. Someone will collect his car unless you want to…” she trails off and it’s the first time I realize that I’m stuck here.

“I don’t have a key.”

“Give me your address, we’ll make sure you have it by the end of the day.”

“N-no you don’t—”

“Macie,” she breathes. “We might not have the slightest clue with what’s going on here but we want to help. Me and you might not have met yet, but Letty has told me wonderful things and I trust her, so I trust you. Do what you need to do, drive back with his car, and let me know once you’re home safe. Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on Lee.”

Too choked up to say anything else, I stutter a thank you and hang up. I quickly send her a message with my current address so she can send the key before falling back onto the pillow.

Thoughts race around my head about what he did after leaving here last night that ended with him in a jail cell. I can only imagine how he must have been feeling.

I awake with a shock as the house alarm blares through the silent space around me.

Scrambling around the bed, I find my cell and open the security app, shutting the thing off.

“What the hell?” I scream as my cell pings with the automated message from the security company that I’m more than bored of seeing.

My stomach groans as I sit there, and I know my time hiding out in this cold and unfamiliar room is coming to an end. I’m going to have to go out there and see the damage he’s caused and finally figure out what’s setting this damn alarm off before I try to drum up the courage to get into Leon’s car to head back to MKU.

The second I agreed I knew it was a mistake. Being in there is just going to remind me of him, of the short time we’ve spent together. It’s going to smell like him for Christ’s sake and I hate to admit it, but it’s going to make me miss him.

I have no right to miss him.