truck, Logan snagged it and turned it on.
Five messages—three from Dylan, two from Tyler.
He smiled and slid the phone into his jeans pocket.
Let them stew.
“Mom says we’re going to have a cell phone when she either gets a raise or wins the lottery,” Alec said.
“Hmm,” Logan said. Things must be pretty tight if Briana couldn’t afford a cell phone. Hell, even kindergarteners had them these days.
“She’s not going to win the lottery, stupid,” Josh said, giving his brother a shoulder shove. “She doesn’t
buy tickets.”
“You called me a name,” Alec protested. “I’m
telling.”
Logan whistled through his teeth, a surefire attentiongetter.
The boys stared at him in admiring surprise.
“Chill, my brothers,” Logan said. Then he gestured toward the open front door. “Let’s go.”
B RIANA FROWNED at the phone receiver before she hung up.
Millie, on her break, sat on one of the couches thumbing through an old copy of
People,
but otherwise, they had the employees’ lounge to themselves.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Briana tried to ignore the incipient panic forming into a little whirlwind in the pit of her stomach. “I’ve called home three times since I got to work this morning,” she murmured. “Nobody answers the phone.”
“Maybe Josh is on the Web,” Millie said. Most people had high-speed Internet connections, but Briana still used dial-up, and there was only one phone line in the house.
“You’re probably right,” Briana admitted, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that perfectly obvious possibility.
Because she’d thought of Logan Creed and practically nothing else since the night before,
that
was why. She’d tossed and turned and gone to the living room window twice, when she should have been sleeping, hoping to see the lights of his house gleaming through the trees.
Still, she felt uneasy, and if she hadn’t already pushed the envelope by asking Jim for Saturdayoff, she’d have made a quick trip home, just to make sure nothing was wrong.
And so many things
could
be wrong.
The boys might have left the house, bored withchores and daytime TV and the computer, and gone to the orchard, figuring they could “grin down” any bear they might encounter.
They might have gone to the pasture, to look at the bull.
Or Vance might have come, knowing she’d be working, and stolen them. Granted, that one was a stretch, since stealing Alec and Josh would also involve feeding and clothing them, but stranger things had happened.
Vance loved getting a rise out of her, and abducting her children would certainly do the trick.
She folded her arms and bit down hard on her lower lip. Bills or no bills, she was getting a cell phone as soon as her shift ended.
The yogurt Briana had gobbled down in her car on the way to work curdled and tried to climb into the back of her throat.
“Bree?” Millie fretted. “You don’t look so good. Want me to ask Jim if you can go home sick?”
Briana was sorely tempted, but in the final analysis, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to Jim, even indirectly. He’d promoted her twice and given her Saturday off, even though they were always shorthanded on the weekends. He didn’t deserve to be jerked around.
She shook her head, drew a deep breath and headed back out onto the casino floor to pay out jackpots, make change and keep an eye out for trouble.
She was near the front entrance, half listening to an old man insisting that the slot machines were rigged and half worrying that her sons were on their way to God knew where in Vance’s old van, when she spotted Logan coming into the nearby restaurant, through the “family entrance.”
Alec and Josh were with him, both of them grinning cheerfully.
The first thing Briana felt was relief. Her boys were safe, close enough to see and touch.
The second thing was a slamming fury that shook her bones and then rushed through her bloodstream like venom.
Who the
hell
did Logan Creed
Five messages—three from Dylan, two from Tyler.
He smiled and slid the phone into his jeans pocket.
Let them stew.
“Mom says we’re going to have a cell phone when she either gets a raise or wins the lottery,” Alec said.
“Hmm,” Logan said. Things must be pretty tight if Briana couldn’t afford a cell phone. Hell, even kindergarteners had them these days.
“She’s not going to win the lottery, stupid,” Josh said, giving his brother a shoulder shove. “She doesn’t
buy tickets.”
“You called me a name,” Alec protested. “I’m
telling.”
Logan whistled through his teeth, a surefire attentiongetter.
The boys stared at him in admiring surprise.
“Chill, my brothers,” Logan said. Then he gestured toward the open front door. “Let’s go.”
B RIANA FROWNED at the phone receiver before she hung up.
Millie, on her break, sat on one of the couches thumbing through an old copy of
People,
but otherwise, they had the employees’ lounge to themselves.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Briana tried to ignore the incipient panic forming into a little whirlwind in the pit of her stomach. “I’ve called home three times since I got to work this morning,” she murmured. “Nobody answers the phone.”
“Maybe Josh is on the Web,” Millie said. Most people had high-speed Internet connections, but Briana still used dial-up, and there was only one phone line in the house.
“You’re probably right,” Briana admitted, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that perfectly obvious possibility.
Because she’d thought of Logan Creed and practically nothing else since the night before,
that
was why. She’d tossed and turned and gone to the living room window twice, when she should have been sleeping, hoping to see the lights of his house gleaming through the trees.
Still, she felt uneasy, and if she hadn’t already pushed the envelope by asking Jim for Saturdayoff, she’d have made a quick trip home, just to make sure nothing was wrong.
And so many things
could
be wrong.
The boys might have left the house, bored withchores and daytime TV and the computer, and gone to the orchard, figuring they could “grin down” any bear they might encounter.
They might have gone to the pasture, to look at the bull.
Or Vance might have come, knowing she’d be working, and stolen them. Granted, that one was a stretch, since stealing Alec and Josh would also involve feeding and clothing them, but stranger things had happened.
Vance loved getting a rise out of her, and abducting her children would certainly do the trick.
She folded her arms and bit down hard on her lower lip. Bills or no bills, she was getting a cell phone as soon as her shift ended.
The yogurt Briana had gobbled down in her car on the way to work curdled and tried to climb into the back of her throat.
“Bree?” Millie fretted. “You don’t look so good. Want me to ask Jim if you can go home sick?”
Briana was sorely tempted, but in the final analysis, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to Jim, even indirectly. He’d promoted her twice and given her Saturday off, even though they were always shorthanded on the weekends. He didn’t deserve to be jerked around.
She shook her head, drew a deep breath and headed back out onto the casino floor to pay out jackpots, make change and keep an eye out for trouble.
She was near the front entrance, half listening to an old man insisting that the slot machines were rigged and half worrying that her sons were on their way to God knew where in Vance’s old van, when she spotted Logan coming into the nearby restaurant, through the “family entrance.”
Alec and Josh were with him, both of them grinning cheerfully.
The first thing Briana felt was relief. Her boys were safe, close enough to see and touch.
The second thing was a slamming fury that shook her bones and then rushed through her bloodstream like venom.
Who the
hell
did Logan Creed
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