The Exception(104)

My lip quivered as I sent my response.

Me: I love you.

Cane: I miss you. And I love you.

Me: The orange ones are my favorite.

Cane: Mine, too. They remind me the most of you. And that dress.

Me: And red cups and wine? ;)

Cane: LOL And fancy pizza dinners in offices.

I giggled at the memory.

Me: I wish you were here.

Cane: No, I wish you were here. With me. Where you belong.

I just looked at his message, not sure what to even say.

Cane: Soon.

Me: Goodnight. <3

Cane: Goodnight, baby. <3



CANE

I woke up as the sun came up and reached out to pull Jada close. My hand brushed against the sheets and they lacked the warmth that her body usually brought to them.

I opened my eyes to search for her and remembered that she wasn’t there. I felt my world fall out from underneath me again, the loss of her almost more than I could bear.

I pulled my black comforter over my head and tried to go back to sleep. But every time I closed my eyes, I saw her green eyes, heard her laugh, and felt her skin against mine and I was reminded, yet again, of what I didn’t have.

And why.

“This is fucking bullshit!” I yelled out, my voice bouncing off of the walls. The echo made the room feel so empty just like I felt inside. So fucking empty.

How did I let things get this way? How did I so royally fuck this up?

I threw back the blankets and jumped out of bed, fueled with my own stupidity. I tugged the legs of my boxers down as I heard my phone ringing faintly.

Where the fuck is it?

It stopped ringing and a few seconds later the ring indicating a voicemail went off.

I scratched my head, trying to remember where I had sat it the night before.

My office, the workout room, the shower …

I remembered sitting it on the vanity while I brushed my teeth, fighting myself on whether to call Jada or not the night before. I walked towards the bathroom as it went off again.

I walked in and it was sitting right where I had left it. I looked at the screen and swiped it on.

“What’s up, Nick?”

“Hey, Cane. I have some good news for you, for once.”

I stilled. “I could use some good news right about now.”

“My sources tell me that Simon is hiding out in Casa Grande. There’s a pickup spot there for the cartel he works for. The police are watching it closely, but they can’t go in there guns blazing without a warrant and, unfortunately, they don’t have probable cause.”

“So we wait?”

“We wait. But at least we have somewhere to start.”

I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like shit: bags under my eyes, the color of my face dull.

“Let me know if you hear anything else. He’s still around. The call to Jada proves that.”

“I know. We will get him. Just hold tight.”



Jab, cross, hook.

Jab, cross, hook.

Jab, cross, hook, uppercut.

I hit the bag over and over again as Powerman 5000 blared through my phone. I had to get some of the aggression out of my system so I could settle down.

It had been a long fucking day.

I got nothing done. I couldn’t focus on anything. I went from being insanely pissed off that Simon wasn’t found, to being sadder than I ever imagined that Jada wasn’t around, to angrier than hell that I couldn’t do anything to fix any of it.

I glanced at the clock.

2:19 AM

Jab, cross, hook.

Jab, cross, hook, uppercut.

I had been at it for a couple of hours and felt no better than I had before. The clarity, the peace I normally found in the gym was out of reach.

I squared up again and started throwing right, left, right when the music cut out and a ringtone took its place.

I tossed off my gloves and grabbed my phone off the dock.

“What’s up?”

“Cane. It’s Nick …”





JADA

I stepped out of the Escalade in front of Heather’s house the next afternoon following a goodbye brunch with Kari and Max. This was the moment I had been dreading more than anything. I watched them get out of the front seats and join me at the back of the vehicle.

“Are you going to be okay? No, don’t even answer that. I know you are going to be okay,” Kari said, blinking back the tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m going to be fine.” I sounded much more confident about that than I felt. Just thinking about the two constants in my life—the two people that had been there for me no matter what—leaving me and going back to Arizona destroyed me.

But I couldn’t go back yet … if I could at all.

I just wasn’t sure which way was up. Or if up was even a viable option.

“Come here,” Max said, pulling me into a tight embrace. “If you need anything, anything at all, you call me. I’ll figure it out.” He pulled me in tighter. “Cane is a handful. Just remember that everything he does is because he loves you, all right?”