Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

MIKE

I know true love when I see it . I told Vanessa that once at the fair as we stood in front of the crazy mirror. She laughed and slapped my arm, looking up at me with so much love in her eyes. It was fitting, too, because the relationship warped just like the reflection. When Emma says, Oh, Jacob , something slams into me hard. Raw knowledge plainly laid out, the type I can't ignore.

Emma flinches and looks at me, and that seals it. Am I going insane? I should be thinking about what my best friend is going through. They kidnapped his mother, his mother whom he hasn't seen in years. His mom, who was an addict all his life, ignored his dad's abuse and refused to get clean, even after Jacob tried to help her over and over.

Jacob sits down heavily. The dog pads over—what's his name?—and sits at Jacob's feet. Emma walks over, risking another look at me. She's trying to act normal now, but I saw a look between them. Didn't I? Does it make my secret any better? Why am I thinking about that now? What sort of dad am I? What kind of friend? If something's going on… But really, Emma and Jacob?

"He's kidnapped my mom," Jacob mutters. "The only family I've got. She's the only person he thinks I'd care about apart from you two, but I haven't seen her in ten years."

"What happened?" Emma asks.

"It's not a unique story. Dad was an abusive P-O-S. Mom did drugs to numb herself to what was going on. Even when his illness did the world a favor, she kept using. I had to cut her off. She…" He bites down, doing that familiar Jacob thing of trying to push down any emotions.

Yet it seems like he's finding it more difficult now than usual. I remember when he decided to cut out his mom. I talked with him about it as I watched Emma play a video game with one of her friends while they sat cross-legged on the floor. He was cold then, matter-of-fact. "Any feeling I've got," he said, as if he believed he didn't have any. "It belongs to my work."

Now, it's like he has feelings in him. He shakes his head. "He'll try to make me risk you two for her. That's the only reason he'd come here. He wants to draw us into some fucked-up game. The solution's simple; we leave."

"What?" Emma gasps. "What about your mom , Jacob?"

He glares at her. I've never seen him look at Emma like that. He's looking at her honestly, letting his anger show. Typically, he looks at her like she's not even there. I've never known him to be great with kids, and with the divorce, it's not like he saw her often enough to get to know her except… at the party. He looked at her differently then . I seriously think I might be losing it.

"I tried to help her. She made her choice."

"But he'll kill her."

"You're thinking of your mom, Emma," Jacob snaps with a fiery passion that I can't believe. I'm staring, stunned. "You're thinking of Vanessa, who, for any faults she might have, is a loving, devoted mother, but it's not the same. My mother used to turn the music up so she wouldn't hear the goddamn boxing lessons next door."

Jacob suddenly springs to his feet, turning like he's ready to hit something. Then he lowers his hands, his chest heaving. Emma lifts her hand like she wants to place it on him, then realizes what she's doing, drops it, and glances at me. She tries to mask her feelings, but she's never been good at lying to me. She nods at me as if to say, Dad, he's hurting. Help him , but it's not my help he wants.

I stand and join him at the window. "She doesn't deserve whatever he'd do to her," I murmur. "You said you wanted to catch Rafael if he was stupid enough to come Stateside."

"But he'll try to make me put you and Emma at risk," he growls.

His voice trembles when he says, Emma . A weird feeling triggers in me. If I'm not going nuts, when he says her name like that, there's some odd, unexpected thing happening here. For a second, I wonder how good it would be to have a man like Jacob looking out for my daughter. But no, it's too damn bizarre. Isn't it?

"All I know is, I can tell looking at you right now, Jacob, that it'd eat you up every day of your life if you didn't try to save her."

Jacob leans against the counter, staring out the window at the sun bouncing off the snow. "He doesn't know exactly where we are," Jacob says. "We'll set up defenses and wait for his next call." He glances at me. "And this time, no unannounced trips."

"If it's any consolation, I brought some real food." I nod to my backpack near the entrance. "Some bacon and bread. Should probably unpack it."