Fracture (Unbreakable Bonds 6)

“Jordan isn’t twenty-one. How the fuck did he get in?” Jude snarled.

Austin snorted and rolled his eyes. “This isn’t the kind of place that’s carding people and even if it was, I’m pretty sure Jordan’s got a fake ID.”

Jude paced away from Snow and Austin, roughly scrubbing a hand over his face to try to clear away the equal mix of disgust at his own thinking and his disappointment in Jordan. Of course his little brother had a fake ID! Jude had a damn fake ID at his age and sneaked into more than his fair share of bars. But the places Jude had been sneaking into were gay bars where he could dance and look for a quick hookup. It hadn’t been about getting wasted or risking his life. What the fuck was Jordan doing in a bar like Austin was describing? It didn’t make any sense.

How had he gotten so far out of touch with his brother? He and Carrick didn’t talk often, but he didn’t feel like he was out of touch with Carrick’s life. But then, he spent most of his days with Rebecca, who had been dating his brother for close to three years. He knew far more about his brother’s sex life than he ever could have dreamed. He could do with knowing a little less about Carrick.

But Jordan was proving to be a complete enigma to him. The little kid who had tagged along after him and regularly popped by his first apartment just to eat his cereal in the mornings was fucking gone.

“Thanks for talking to us, Austin,” Snow said, dragging Jude from his thoughts. He turned to watch Snow hand over the business card that had both their cell numbers on the back.

“No problem. I don’t want to see Jordan hurt.”

Too late for that. Jude pushed down the thought and nodded his good-bye to Austin. He appreciated the information, but he didn’t have any more energy to focus on being nice or personable. It was a topsy-turvy world when Snow was the people person between the two of them.

Walking to the car, they paused one last time to return the hard hats to Gary and thank him again for allowing them onto the site. Back on the sidewalk and away from the other workers, Snow put a hand on Jude’s shoulder and squeezed.

“It’s a start,” he murmured. “We’ll head to the hospital and spend some time with your mom. She needs you. Then tonight, we can pop by this Dana’s. Scout around and see if we can find this Anthony.”

“What the fuck was he doing going to a place that Austin would call a gun-and-knife club?”

“No idea, but we also don’t know what kind of place Austin is into. The guy could have a thing for piano bars and country line dancing.”

Jude slowed up a step and looked over at his lover. He let the small smile tease up one corner of his mouth. “Really? Is that the kind of vibe you were getting off Austin? Line dancing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was the guy’s name.”

Taking a deep breath, Jude slowly released it, pushing out some of the anger that was constantly bubbling right below the surface, “Thanks, General,” Jude murmured.

Snow grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer, placing a kiss against his temple. “Anything for you.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to give Snow one of his patented flirty comments, even though he wasn’t really feeling it. Snow’s concern for him was written all over his body, and Jude felt bad for making him worry. But the flirty comment was forgotten when his cell started ringing and vibrating from his pocket. Snow released him, and he immediately missed his touch. Jude grabbed his phone, his stomach clenching to see Carrick’s name flash across the screen.

“What’s up?” Jude said.

“Where are you?”

Jude stopped walking to his car, willing his heart to slow down from the panic it was already racing toward. This could be nothing. He could be asking them to pick up some food on the way to the hospital. “Kentucky. I stopped by Jordan’s work.”

“You need to get here. Now.”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Jordan flatlined. Something about his breathing and oxygen levels. I don’t know what they’re doing. They kicked us out of the room, and everyone is running around.”

“Fuck!” Jude shouted. “We’re on our way.”

Snow was already hurrying toward the driver’s side, keys in his hand. When they moved in together, they gave each other spare keys to their cars just in case. In that second, Jude couldn’t be more grateful that they had. He couldn’t drive. He couldn’t even think. He just put one foot in front of the other as quickly as he could until he found himself seated in his car.

“He’s not going to die,” Jude whispered to himself. “He’s not. He’s not going to die.” Every day felt like two steps forward and one step back, but he had to tell himself that Jordan was making progress. Every day that Jordan was alive was another day he was becoming stronger. He wasn’t going to lose this fight.