Hunting Sawyer

Come Quick

“Moxie…Sawyer- you may want to come quick. Joe isn’t well. The cancer has gotten worse and we aren’t sure he is going to pull through it this time.” I could hear the hitch in Tessa’s voice. She had been warning me for a while that Joe wasn’t looking himself. Using her usual humor and charm to make a dire situation not feel so grey. I could hear it, too, in Joe’s voice through the phone. He still didn’t say much, but there was a hidden pain behind the words he did share through the receiver.

My stomach was in my ass. My heart was splintering. Nadine grabbed my forearm and her bottom lip trembled. She didn’t know Joe, but she knew him well enough from the conversations the four of us shared through a phone line every week. And she knew how much I loved that old grouch.

Even though my world was tilting around me, I had been trying to prepare myself for this moment. Blake had been a shadow since the night I left and he ransacked Juniper. No one had seen him or heard from him. The last six months I’d actually attempted sleeping soundly, hoping I was finally free of him.

So, what do I do now that I have to go strutting right back into the beast’s lair with my son in tow?

Do I leave Tucker here? I can’t risk his safety. But I can’t let Joe go without seeing him one last time. He has to know how much he means to me… to us.

And I can’t separate from Tucker. We are safer together. And I know the dark things come creeping when you’re alone. Is that selfish of me? To bring him with me where Blake may be lurking in the shadows?

Or is this what he’s waiting for? The moment I leave Tucker alone so he can snatch him away from me?

Or am I overthinking this entirely? Maybe Blake is long gone and just a nightmare I can’t rid my mind of. Maybe I’m someone he has long forgotten and the anxiety I’ve felt for the last two years was all for naught.

“Moxie?” Nadine patted my cheek. I’m sure I’d been lost in thought for far too long. I took a shaky breath and offered her a small smile and a nod, leaning toward the phone.

“Yeah, Tessa. Tucker and I will leave at daybreak and head your way. Joe needs us now more than ever.”

Nadine bit her lip, obviously unsure about this, before chewing her thumbnail. I could see the doubt painted across her beautiful face. And I’m sure it was a perfect reflection of my own.

I barely slept that night. So instead, I poured myself into prep for the drive. Snack bags, toys, clothes, and even a few diapers.

Thanks to the phenomenal Caroline, Tucker was practically completely potty trained, but with a drive like this, I didn’t want to risk it. With a little money to my name now, I had a cell phone and a battery pack. I counted the cash I had on hand and made sure I had a few blankets and pillows, just in case.

Our trip here, I’d pulled into parking lots and slept in the back of the truck cab with my head propped against Tucker’s car seat. This time, I could afford a hotel….if we needed it.

Something in my gut was wrenching. I knew Joe was on minimal time. So, I sucked down a black coffee and loaded Tucker into the truck, armed with color sheets and a playlist of nursery rhymes. This would be hard on him. This was the only home he had known.

Nadine and Caroline sent us off with tears in their eyes. I’d made a name for myself here. And Nadine and Caroline were…beyond incredible. But my family was back home in Juniper. And all of this had always felt temporary. But what happens when my true home is besmirched by the devil himself?

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“Hey, Baby. Miss me?” His sexy voice purred in my ear, causing goosebumps to trickle down my neck and across my arms. But instead of the way it used to drive a response straight between my legs, now it caused bile to rise in my throat. I violently jerked awake and smashed my head on the steering wheel.

“Shit.” I grumbled, massaging the sore spot between my eyebrows. f*****g dream. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and smiled at Tucker’s little head propped against his seat, deep in sleep. It was close to midnight and we had a few more hours to go. I’d been practically driving non-stop and Tucker thought it was the coolest adventure. We’d made quick breaks along the way, finding food and even a couple playgrounds to burn off the energy. This busy little truck stop had proven to be a great place to take a quick power nap, and now with the blood pumping through my veins and the dread sitting heavy in my stomach, I turned the old truck tires toward Juniper.

Even though it was barely dawn when we rolled in, Tessa was waiting for us, pacing anxiously outside the salon. Joe was settled in the basement that housed me for those few months. The room that brought Tucker into this world. Now it seems it would usher Joe out of it.

It was surreal watching Tucker cross through the salon doors and run straight into Tessa’s arms. Damnit how I’ve missed her. I collapsed into her, too, and she ran her hand over the curly black wig, her other arm snaked possessively around my son.

Thank the heavens she knew words would fail me. They so often did. So, when she pulled back from us and her happy tears flowed down her cheeks as she hugged my handsome boy to her chest, she just smiled at me. But the sadness was there. The heartbreak was there.

We needed to see Joe.