Chapter Twenty-Eight

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Parrish

Saturday was shaping up to be the longest day in existence. I’d been watching my phone since the second I woke up, hoping Riven messaged. It took everything in my power not to call him, but I was certain I was right in this situation. It was realistic to worry, to have gone looking for him. He’d been distant. Something was going on, and Riven was keeping me out of the loop, which wasn’t fair. Add that to him telling me straight up that he needed space, so I had no business calling him, and yeah, the day was even more torturous.

What I couldn’t get over was that this didn’t sit right with me. Something felt entirely fucking wrong, but I wasn’t a mind reader. I could beg him to talk to me, but I couldn’t force him to.

I did my best to keep busy all day. It had been so long since I’d stayed at my own place that there were things that needed to be done. I mowed the lawn and took care of some other outside jobs I’d been slacking on. By midafternoon I was back inside, downed a glass of water, and checked my phone for the millionth time. After a quick shower to get the sweat off, I took care of the indoor cleaning. The supplies from bandaging my injuries after the fight still sat on the bathroom counter, making a pang shoot through my chest. I remembered the way Riven had looked at me when I’d been hurt, the love in his eyes, the tender way he’d taken care of me. Riv came off as such a hard man in so many ways, but he had a massive damn heart.

Hope bloomed in my chest when someone knocked at the door. I rushed through the house, needing it to be Riven, and opened the door—“Oh…hi, Wayne. What are you doing here?” He’d been at my place before but never uninvited. It had always been after we went out or for a barbecue.

“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d stop by. You busy with Riven?”

I shook my head and stepped back so he could come inside. “Nah, not today.” I closed the door behind him. “You want a drink?”

“Sure. Just some water is fine.”

I watched him fidget while he stood in the dining room. Wayne’s eyes darted around my house, his nerves obvious. My gut twisted with a warning I couldn’t make out yet.

“What’s Riven doing today?” Wayne asked. “Is he okay?”

The twist grew, morphing into a tornado inside me. I set the glass on the counter without giving it to him. “Why wouldn’t he be okay? What the fuck is going on, Wayne?”

“Just curious because of yesterday at work and—”

“Cut the shit. You look like you’re about to jump out of your skin.” I stepped up to him, left just a breath of space between us. “Why are you asking about Riven?”

“I…”

“Tell me. Now. I’m not screwing around.”

“Shit.” Wayne tried to step around me, but I didn’t let him. “Shit…I didn’t mean any harm, Parrish. You gotta believe me.”

My anger burst inside me like a shaken carbonated drink. I grabbed Wayne and shoved him against the wall. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. I swear. Not really, I just… One night I was sitting at the bar, ya know? And your dad started talking to me. I kinda told you about it that day Riven pushed me, but I didn’t give you all the details. I was dealing with all this shit because I owe these real bad guys money for gambling. I ended up spilling my guts to him, and he said he knew a way I could make some money. I didn’t have to do much really. He wanted me to keep an eye on you and Riven, wanted me to try and get close to Riven.” He was shaking, or hell, maybe that was me. I was too angry to even be able to tell. “He said no one was going to get hurt, that he was worried about you, and told me Riven had some dirty shit going on that you didn’t know about. When you came in all beaten up, he said that was Riven’s fault too. I don’t even know if I believed him or if I was trying to excuse myself for going behind your back, but the thing was, I never had shit to bring to him, which made him get more and more pissed with me.”

“Fuck…” I shoved him again, then took a few steps back, trying to sort through what the hell was going on. “What did he want with Riven?”

“He wanted me to get him involved with illegal shit. Drugs, really. I gotta pay my bills, ya know?”

“Jesus, Wayne. There are better ways than that.”

“Not if someone is gonna kill you for not paying off your debts.”

“Is Riven involved?” His behavior lately was making more sense—his distance, his nerves and anger. They’d gotten to him. Somehow, my fucking family had gotten to him. And the only way he would have done it was…for me. Or Betsy. There was no doubt in my mind. I was such an idiot for not seeing it before.

“I just heard there’s a big-ass shipment of heroin coming in, and Frank is in on it. I’m not close enough with them to know all the details, but I don’t feel right about it. Something is wrong. I think they’re trying to pull Riven into something that’s going to get him into trouble or worse.”

“Fuck…fuck!” I yelled, grabbing my cell off the counter. I called Riven, and like I expected, it went straight to voice mail. “Riven…baby…what are you doing? You don’t have to do this. We’ll figure it out together. Don’t do this. Come home.” The second I ended the call, my gaze snagged on Wayne again. “Where the fuck are they?”

“Parrish, you can’t go.”

“The hell I can’t! I love him, and he’s doing this shit for me! Because my own dad probably threatened to hurt me in some way, and you enabled it to happen, so you better start speaking right now.”

“I’m sorry, Parrish.” He wrung his hands.

“I don’t give a fuck about you being sorry. Tell me where they are.”

“All I know is the town. They’ll be in Smithfield.”

I snatched my keys, shoved into shoes, and I was out the door. Wayne followed me.

“You don’t even know where they are there!”

“I don’t care. I have to go. I have to try. Get the fuck off my property. Don’t show up at work on Monday.”

I jumped into my truck. I had a two-hour drive ahead of me, and who knew when Riven had left or when this was going down. I called Betsy first. “Is Riven there?”

“No. He left a while ago. Are you two fighting?”

“Can you do me a favor? I don’t have a lot of answers for you right now, but I’d like you to go somewhere else—a hotel or somewhere safe—preferably outside Clayton, okay?”

“Parrish, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I just need to know you’re okay. Can you do this for me? Can you go somewhere safe? And I promise you, whatever is going on, I’ll fix it.”

“Riven…is he…”

“I’ll fix it,” I cut her off because something bad happening to him wasn’t an option.

“I’ll go. Please keep him safe.”

I let out a breath. “Thank you. I will. Let me know when you’re there, okay?”

She agreed, and we ended the call. My heart was beating so hard, I thought I might pass out. Sweat dripped down my temples, my stomach a fucking mess. I pressed down on the gas pedal even harder, determined to get there in time. I ignored the very real possibility that Wayne was still helping my dad and Rex. That he was sending me into danger, trying to get me into trouble, or keeping me away from Riven. It didn’t matter because I had to do something.

I called Riven again.

He didn’t answer.

I tried Rex.

My dad.

Uncle Bill.

Les.

Everyone’s calls went straight to voice mail.

Just as I was about to try them again, my cell rang.

Becca.

She hadn’t called me in weeks. There had to be a reason she was calling now.

“Bec?”

“It’s a setup! They’re setting Riven up!” she screamed frantically.

“I know. I’m on my way to Smithfield now. Are they trying to get him arrested again?”

“He’s not in Smithfield! That’s what I’m trying to tell you. The past few weeks have been a wake-up call for me. I’ve been spying on Rex and Frank and recording Rex’s calls. They’ve been working their way into a lot of money, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I just put it all together today when I heard them talking before they left. The money they gave Riven was so he wouldn’t suspect it’s all a trap. Frank took the bulk of it with him, and he’s in Smithfield, getting the heroin. They sent Riven to Travers.”

“What’s going to happen to him in Travers?” I asked, throat so tight, I could hardly breathe.

“I don’t know, Parrish.”

Maybe they were trying to get him arrested again.

Maybe they were trying to get him killed.

My heart stopped beating, the breath suddenly ripped from my lungs.

I whipped the truck around, cars honking at me as I turned to go the other direction. Toward Riven.

“I’m going there.”

“Be careful. What if…”

“He’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it. Just…thank you, Becca.”

“I’m fucking done with him. I can’t do this anymore. And I’m taking Rex and Frank down for good.”