Jardin's Gamble (Haven, Texas 9)

“You couldn’t have known, I didn’t,” Carrick replied calmly.

“But I knew things had to be hard for her. I knew the boys were on scholarships to that school.” He’d checked up on that. “I just didn’t realize things were this bad.”

“We know now. We’ll help her.”

If they could find her. They approached the house and Jardin knocked.

“Thea! Thea, are you in there?” He tried the door. Locked. He looked over at Carrick, who sighed and started peering in windows.

“Fuck it,” Jardin said. “It’s not like we’re gonna let her live here any longer.” He used his foot to kick the door open. Piece of shit crumpled in.

It didn’t take them long to see that no one was home. And that the inside was possibly worse than the outside.

“There’re still clothes here,” Carrick said, walking through the rooms.

Jardin was in the kitchen. “Hardly any fucking food, though. Christ.”

“Do you think we should wait here for her?”

He frowned, thinking it through. “I’m going to ring the school. Just make sure the boys are there.”

“Why? You don’t think she’s actually run off? Why would she leave town? Besides, her clothes are still here.”

“There’s barely anything in her closet.”

“Probably because she didn’t own much,” Carrick said gently.

“Fuck. Fuck. I’m checking anyway.” He had a bad fucking feeling about all of it.

“Will they tell you? You’re not their guardian.”

Oh, they’d tell him.

A few minutes later, he got off the phone. Carrick eyed him, face pale. “They’re not there, are they?”

“No. And the secretary very gleefully told me that they just had her car towed from out front. Fuck it. She’s gone and we have no idea where she is!”

Thea pulled the old car over to the side of the road. They’d gotten off the bus in Lafayette and stayed the night in a cheap motel so she could pawn their mother’s necklace. She’d used some of the money to buy a crappy car. Although, it was actually better than their last car.

She’d been driving for hours, only stopping to pee and so the boys could stretch their legs. Right now, they were asleep in the back seat. The sun was rising over the horizon as she stared out at the sign.

Welcome to Haven, Texas.

Hopefully, Maddox was right, and this place really did look out for women. She hoped it was big enough for her to blend in. Maddox said he lived on a ranch out of town, so maybe she wouldn’t see him. Or at least not for a while.

Even if she did see him, what did it matter? What would he do? Tell Jardin? He wouldn’t care.

And if Jardin comes to visit?

Well, she’d cross that bridge when she got to it. Right now, she had to find a job and somewhere for them to stay.

One thing at a time. And if this place didn’t work out, they’d just have to go somewhere else.

20

Haven was an interesting place.

They’d only been there a few days and she’d just enrolled the boys in school today. The teachers were welcoming. It was small, less than two hundred students. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an advanced class they could go into, and she worried they wouldn’t be pushed enough. But for the moment it would have to do.