by Taylor Lee
Jorden shrugged, not willing to lie to his daughter. He huffed audibly. “I don’t know, Emma. That’s what I’m going to find out.”
When he got to the doorway, Emma called after him. Her voice was shaky, her expression fearful. “If Chloe can’t come home, Daddy, will she have to stay in jail?”
Jorden did his best to keep his voice and expression calm to not betray the anguish he was feeling. He went back to Emma, who looked as small and as frightened as she had when he first saw her.
He crouched in front of her and grasped her hands. “Emma, I don’t know, but as soon as I know, I’ll come and tell you. And, honey, even if Chloe does have to stay here tonight, Uncle Jake will be here and he’ll make sure she’s okay.”
****
Jake met him in the hallway. His eyes were dark with concern, his jaw rigid. “I was just coming to get, you, Jorden. We got word from Judge Taylor. He’s agreed to let the three minor girls go home with their parents with strict instructions that they are to be back at juvenile detention in the morning.”
Jorden sucked in the first full breath he’d taken since he took Jake’s call, and blew it out.
“Where is she now, Jake?”
“She’s in one of the interrogation rooms in the jail. She’s in pretty bad shape, Jorden. I don’t know what she’s consumed but I’m gonna be honest with you, bro, I’ll be surprised as hell if it’s just alcohol.”
Jorden forced himself to be calm. He turned a hard gaze on his brother. “Fill me in, man, and for Christ’s sake don’t hold anything back.”
Jake narrowed his eyes. “You now I wouldn’t do that, Jorden. This is serious shit. Not only were there inebriated adults at the party, but there was a hell of a lot of evidence of drugs, from blow to crystal, and ecstasy. In addition, when we got there, at least five men were beating the crap out of each other and tearing up the joint in the process. Chloe and the other two teenage girls could have been badly hurt. As it was, all three of them were seriously impaired, making them even more vulnerable. We arrested six men and two women. They’re in the booking room now. They’ll be guests of the county for the night no matter how adept their shyster lawyers are.”
He shook his head and gave as hard a sigh as Jorden felt rising in his own chest. “Thank God for Emma. That little squirt not only hid, but she had the wherewithal to call me. She said I needed to come because people were fighting and she was worried about Chloe. Believe it or not, Jorden, Emma called five minutes before any of the neighbors thought the police should be called to break up a first-class melee.”
Jorden leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes for a long minute, then forced himself to meet Jake’s concerned gaze. “She called me before she called you, Jake. Only I didn’t get her call, or anyone else’s.” He hesitated, then shook his head. “I’m telling you, bro, I’ll never forgive myself.”
When Jake started to speak, Jorden put up his hand, stopping him. “Where was she, Jake? Where was that goddamned, fucking bitch when all of this was going on?”
Mimicking Jorden, Jake shook his head and closed his eyes for a long minute. When he opened them he gave a helpless shrug. “That’s the hell of it, big brother. When we got there with sirens blaring and lights flashing, the mistress of the house was nowhere to be seen. According to my men who are still on site, she hasn’t returned yet.”
****
Chloe was sitting at the steel interrogation table, her head resting on her arms. She looked up when he entered, and Jorden knew he would be a hundred years old before he’d forget his beautiful daughter’s ravished face. Her eyes were red, swollen, and bleary. A disarray of mascara and eye shadow ran down her cheeks. The multi-colored mess was streaked with tracks carved by her tears. Her hair was disheveled, and Jorden saw to his surprise a bright streak of green had been added to the purple. He could only hope the hair dye was the washout kind, but instinctively knew it wasn’t. He might have been able to handle her clearly hung-over appearance if it weren’t for her outfit.
He’d known that Chloe was developing, filling out. He’d seen the difference in the way her school uniform fit. Even on the basketball court, he’d seen that his sixteen-year-old daughter was likely to be a busty woman. He was sure that, like all fathers, he was a little thrown when his teenaged daughter began adding curves that looked like the ones on the women he’d chased after all his life.
That bit of insight was lost when he saw what Chloe was wearing tonight. Her stretchy halter displayed her nubile breasts to the fullest. Low-rise, skin-tight jeans clung to her slim hips and bared the jeweled dragon decorating her navel. He might have been able to handle that if it wasn’t for the coiled snake tattooed on her lower abdomen. It circled her jeweled navel and headed lasciviously beneath the front of her jeans to what he expected was a predictable destination.
The words left his mouth before he could drag them back. Motioning with his chin to the outrageous tattoo, he asked, “Does your mother know you did that?”
Anger sparked her bloodshot eyes, and she came to life, apparently finding a welcome punching bag. “Oh, sure, Dad, this is all Mom’s fault. She wasn’t even there, you know. No matter what that little goody-two-shoes tattletale told you, Mom left before the fight stared. She doesn’t know anything.”
“I find that hard to believe, Chloe. Moreover, if she didn’t know what was going on, that makes her even more culpable.”
Chloe’s sneering expression gave Francine’s mocking goading a run for her money. With an effort, Jorden overcame the urge to slap the disrespectful expression off her face when a distinctive shade of green competed with the carnival of colors decorating Chloe’s face.
Jorden was able to shove the wastebasket under her chin for the first of what was a series of hardcore vomiting spells, followed by stomach-wrenching dry heaves. Jorden held her as she threw up again and again, eliminating God-knows-what. Between projectiles, she clung to him, sobbing, begging him to help her stop vomiting.
Jude came in as Chloe was throwing up yet again. His cloaked anger was apparent.
“Jake said you get to take the little rebel home tonight.” He gave a disgusted snort. “Lucky you. How about I bring the wannabe hoodlum home after she finishes heaving her guts out.”
When Jorden remonstrated, Jude was fierce. “Seriously, bro, let me do this. You go get that little princess who’s waiting for you in Jake’s office. Sky and I will get Chloe cleaned up and into bed. Emma doesn’t need to see her like this. And, Jorden? Neither do you.”
Understanding the wisdom of Jude’s offer, Jorden nodded, swallowing the angst in his throat. Without a backward glance at his retching daughter, he left the room.
Chapter 27
Jorden walked into Jake’s office, relieved to see Emma snuggled up next to Mac on the sofa. The Judge was resting in the high-backed leather side chair. His eyes were closed and exhaustion lined his weathered face.
The elderly man jerked awake when Jorden entered the room. He lifted an inquiring brow clearly seeking an update. Before Jorden could respond to his grandfather’s silent inquiry, Emma looked up from the paper she and Mac were working on and said excitedly. “Look, Daddy, Coach is showing me how to block a full court press when my team is lopsided.” She pointed to the drawing and said, “See, if my point guard goes here, and the other team focuses on her, I can surprise them by changing direction and coming in under the basket here!”
Jorden studied the diagram that included stick figures and a complicated series of arrows defining what looked like a challenging basketball play. Jorden whistled appreciatively. “Wow, honey. If you understand that diagram, I may have to think hard about how I can beat you when we practice. Heck, sweetheart. At ten years old, you’re going to know more about basketball than your poor old dad does at forty-two.”
Emma laughed and grinned at him. “Just wait until I’ve played a whole season on the Wildcat feeder team. Coach says our club team has a good chance of making it to the state finals this year
. Wouldn’t that be great, Daddy?”
“Yes, honey, that would be spectacular. But, Emma, with you as the shooting guard and Mac as your coach, heck, the Junior Wildcats are a shoe-in for the state finals.”
Jorden met Mac’s questioning gaze and nodded. While she didn’t look as exhausted as his grandfather did, the strain she was feeling was apparent. He responded to her silent inquiry and the Judge’s with a shrug.
Sitting down on the other side of Emma, he reached across the back of the sofa and squeezed Mac’s shoulder. Her grateful nod was a potent reminder that he hadn’t spoken to McKenna since they’d listened to Jake’s horrific message on his speakerphone. Knowing that she had to be as upset as he was, he chided himself for not having reached out to her sooner. Hell, he’d left to find Chloe without so much as a backward glance at the woman he’d spent the afternoon ravishing. The erotic scene from their forest tryst came flooding back, astonishing him once again with how hungry they both were for each other’s bodies.
Unfortunately, the memory was a graphic reminder of the fact that while he and Mac were making passionate love, his beloved daughters were in extraordinary danger. Rather than speaking to either the Judge or Mac, Jorden focused on Emma.
“Emma, as much as I would love to talk basketball with your amazing coach, you and I need to go home.” Emma’s expression instantly changed from excitement about the play they were discussing, replaced by a worried frown. “Is Chloe…”
“Yes, honey, I saw Chloe and she’s doing okay. She doesn’t feel well and is going to stay here for a while until she feels better.”
He held up his hand stopping her worried question. “It’s okay, Emma. Chloe is going to come home tonight, just not with us.” At Emma’s anxious frown, Jorden explained, “She’s going to stay with Uncle Jude and Skylar for a while until she starts feeling better. But you and I need to go home now. You look exhausted, sweetheart, and I’m pretty darn tired myself.”
“But, Daddy, are you sure it’s okay to leave Chloe here?”
“Yes, honey, it is. Uncle Jude and Skylar will bring her home as soon as they can. But right now, you and I need to get you home into your nice comfortable bed. I don’t have to tell you it’s at least eight hours past your usual bedtime.”
He pressed his lips together in a thin line. “I just remembered, you don’t have your car here, Mac. We’ll need to take Coach Durant home first, Emma.”
Mac interrupted him. “That won’t be necessary, Jorden. I’ve already arranged it with Jared. He and Hailey will see that your grandfather and I get home.”
Not missing the edge to her reply, Jorden frowned and started to object.
Mac rose to her feet and went to the Judge’s chair. Looking over her shoulder, she looked at Jorden and said firmly, “Please, Jorden, take that sweet daughter of yours home before she falls asleep on the sofa. You both have to be exhausted. The Judge and I are fine.” She smiled at the old man, who was studying her thoughtfully. “Aren’t we, Judge?”
The Judge gave a tired snort. “Not sure ‘fine’ is the word to describe how I feel, young lady, but yes indeed, Jared can see us both home.” Turning his frowning countenance on Jorden, he said, “Mac is right, Jorden. You need to get my great-granddaughter, the heroine of the evening, home and safely tucked in bed.”
Jorden saw Mac’s reserved expression and didn’t try to hide his concern. “Okay, Mac, Judge. I guess that makes the most sense.” He added to Mac, “I’ll call you later.”
She shrugged. “If you want. Or we can talk tomorrow.”
****
Glancing up to see Jude striding onto the deck, Jorden grabbed another glass from the patio liquor cabinet and placed it alongside the three on the table in front of them. Nodding to the last of his brothers to join him, he shot Jude an anxious look. When he started to stand, Jude waved him down.
“Uh-uh, big brother, take a seat and tend to your most important duties, that of keeping all of our glassed replenished, particularly mine, since I haven’t started drinking yet.”
Jorden sat back down but didn’t hide his anxiety. He filled Jude’s glass and handed the triple shot of Scotch to his weary looking brother.
“How is she, Jude?”
“Well, given that she was drunk out of her mind and didn’t stop heaving for about thirty minutes after Sky and I shooed you out, I’d say she’s doing reasonably well. She’s in her own bed down the hall. Sky crawled in beside her to make sure that she falls asleep and heaved up the last of the shit she imbibed.” He hesitated, then said with a sigh, “Don’t want to load any more onto you, buddy, but one of my favorite names for Skylar is ‘Cassandra the Diviner’. Which simply means that half the time we’re working a case, we don’t have to wait for the lab results to know what particular poison our perp or vic ingested. In this case, Skylar is one hundred percent positive that in addition to huge quantities of alcohol, my niece was given—or, chose to take—MDMA, street name, Ecstasy.”
Jorden didn’t know which was hitting him harder, his agony, or his fury. He managed to control both when he replied, “It was clear, Jude, that she was on more than alcohol. And while it’s killing me, I’m confident that Skylar is correct. I also saw signs of MDMA.”
Not able to remain seated, Jorden leapt to his feet and began pacing across the deck. Whirling on his solemn brothers, he spit out, “Which probably means that some guy, or guys, were planning to have sex with my sixteen-year-old daughter!”
Jake interjected. “As hard as it is to consider, Jorden, we need to look at it in the context of the entire scene. Not only were Chloe and her two sixteen-year-old friends given alcohol and illegal drugs, but along with ten-year-old Emma, the girls were in the midst of a first-class brawl. Christ, they could have been killed.”
Jared spoke up. “Jake’s right. You didn’t see the guys in the pen, Jorden. We seriously considered taking some of them to the hospital, they were so banged up. Francine’s boy-toy, Bart, might require plastic surgery to straighten his once-pretty nose. No telling what internal injuries he suffered.”
Jorden resumed his fierce pacing, dragging at his hair and muttering under his breath. Exhaling a hard sigh, he finally faced his brothers. “All right, men, let’s get down to the real issue. Every one of you knows that Jake and I are going to be at Sylvia Mortenson’s court first thing in the morning. I’ve already filed an injunction to ensure that the girls will not be going back to Francine’s house—ever!
“I don’t give a good goddamn if she was MIA when the police arrived and that they can’t prove she was there. It was her fucking house and her fucking guests. She knew her underage daughters and their friends were there, and Francine still hosted the party. There’s no way even that disgraceful bitch Sylvia Mortenson can argue with the facts.”
Emitting a harsh groan, Jorden added, “Christ, if she has a decent bone in her body, which we know she does not, Francine won’t show her face in court. Neither will her disgraced lawyer, Mary Ellen Lundgren. Christ, talk about making my case for me. If it weren’t for the horrible things both of my daughters faced tonight, I would almost be glad—”
Jorden choked, unable to finish his sentence. He hadn’t begun to come to grips with the dangerous situation Emma and Chloe had been in. What was tearing at even him more was that he hadn’t been available when they needed him. Hell, when the whole damn family had sent out an APB for them, he and Mac had been too engaged to even respond to their multiple phone calls.
Facing his brothers, Jorden didn’t couch his angst. “I have to tell you what’s killing me almost as much as what happened is that I wasn’t there to help them.”
When all three of his brothers started to object, Jorden stopped them with a harsh growl.
“No dammit, don’t say it. Don’t say it’s all right. Jesus Fucking Christ, in addition to all of your calls, the Judge even called me twice. Then as if I needed anything to make me feel more rotten, Emma called, and goddamn my soul to hell, I didn’t answer any of you.
”
Jake caught up with him and hugged him close. “Look Jorden, you’ve been front and center and every way in between with those two girls for their entire lives. There isn’t a better father alive. Remember, the girls weren’t alone. Every damn one of us was there, including the Judge. And no, you didn’t get there right away, but as soon as you got our messages you were there like always.”
Willing the tears burning his eyes not to spill over, Jorden slammed his eyes shut, then said with a derisive snort, “Humph. Right, like always. Except tonight, when they needed me the most.”
After his brothers and Sky left, Jorden stood in the doorway to Chloe’s room, then went to Emma’s room. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to leave or even go to bed. Finally forcing himself to go to his bedroom, Jorden thought with a start that he hadn’t called Mac.
With a weary sigh, he went back on the deck and pulled out his phone. He let it ring until it went to voicemail. Leaving her a short message, Jorden pocketed his phone, acknowledging that he was relieved. He honestly didn’t know what either he or Mac could say after what had happened today.
****
Mac didn’t have to look at the caller ID to know it was Jorden. Letting the call go to voicemail, she listened to his halting good night. The surprising thing wasn’t that he was calling so late, or that she chose not to answer. No, the surprising thing was realizing she had been sitting on her porch for over three hours, alone, hardly moving. The nearly empty bottle of Glenmorangie on the side bar confirmed one of the reasons she didn’t have the energy to answer Jorden’s call. The other reason was that she simply had nothing to say.
Jorden hadn’t said anything to her about missing his brother’s phone calls. He didn’t have to, his agony was painfully visible. It was bad enough what had happened, but she knew how connected he was to his daughters in the best circumstances. She would never forget his expression, or the way he looked at her when they heard Jake’s desperate message asking where the hell they were. The only message that visibly crushed him more was Emma’s telling him that she was scared, and she and Chloe needed him.
