More Than Miles (A Lost Kings MC Novel) (44 page)

“Did you threaten him sufficiently?” Hope teases, sneaking up behind me.

“Not even close.”

“If you’re tired, I can drive,” she offers.

The face I make clearly says that’s not happening. “I got ya, First Lady.”

After lots more waiting, our vehicle’s finally ready. Hope reads me the directions, and we find our way to Heidi’s. “Here, Spruce Loop.”

I pull into a modest apartment community. At least, from what I can tell, it’s in a nice area. Looks safe, anyway. That had been my biggest concern with Heidi on her own so much up here.

Hope makes a comment that echoes my thoughts, and I give her a tired smile.

“Here, this one,” she points to a spot in front of building seventy-six.

We trudge up the stairs and knock on the door. Heidi answers teary-faced and hiccupping.

Hope rushes in and gives her a big hug while Heidi clings to her and cries even harder. I stand there feeling useless and unsure what I should do.

“Blake, you came?”

“Yeah,” I answer lamely.

“Thank you.” She lets go of Hope and gives me a hug. She’s so small and warm in my arms, I want to pick her up, cuddle her, and make all the bad stuff in her life disappear.

“I just got a call. Still nothing.”

Hope moves to the couch to pick up Alexa while Heidi and I say hello. “Hi, baby,” she coos and makes silly voices at her until Alexa laughs.

I glance down at Heidi, still not ready to let go of her. “Are you okay?” I ask.

“No. Not at all.”

I don’t know what to say. We’ve both lived through enough bad stuff that saying stupid shit like “it’s okay” or “don’t worry, they’ll find him” is pointless.

Heidi sways to the side and I put my arm out to steady her. “Whoa, you all right?”

“Just tired.”

Hope glances up at me. The whole trip, we never discussed where we were staying.

“Hope, you can sleep in my room. I have a daybed in Alexa’s room I can use. Murphy—”

“I’m fine on the couch.”

“Good, because I’m out of beds.”

I crack a smile because that sounds more like my Heidi.

“I don’t want to kick you out of your room, Heidi. I can—”

“Don’t worry about it, Hope. I’ve slept in there plenty of times.”

There’s a lot of information in that sentence that my tired, caveman brain can’t pick apart right now. Another time.

After Hope goes to bed, I try to settle into the couch. I keep the television on in case the news story changes. I’m half-asleep when Alexa’s screams yank me awake.

Should I check on them?

I’m up and moving through the apartment before my brain really answers the question.

Alexa settles down as I reach her door. “Shhh, baby. It’s okay,” Heidi says in a sleepy-hushed voiced.

Pushing open her door, I find her feeding Alexa and look away. “You two need anything?” I ask the ceiling.

She chuckles at my discomfort. “We’re fine. Thanks, though. Are you comfortable out there?”

“I’m fine.”

“You can shut the television off. I have my phone on in case they call.”

“All right. You’re sure you’re good?”

“Yes. But, thank you.”

I leave them be and finally manage to fall asleep.

A few hours later, someone’s banging on the door. Completely disoriented, it takes me a few minutes to remember where I am.

Door. Answer it.

An older couple scowls at me on the other side. “Who are you?”

The uppity tone reminds me of Axel, so I’m guessing this is his dad.

“Friend of Heidi’s from home.”

The mother sniffs and looks me over. From my wild slept-on-the-couch hair, scruffy beard, to my bare feet. “Mr. and Mrs. Ryan?”

They seem surprised I know who they are. “I’m a friend of Axel’s, too.” A bit of a lie, but there’s no one around to call me on it, now is there?

They pull the sticks out of their asses and decide it’s safe to come in.

“Oh, hi, Mrs. Ryan. Mr. Ryan,” Heidi greets them as she joins us, carrying Alexa. It’s not lost on me that she’s not on a first-name basis with her in-laws. Not a surprise, since Axel’s mom has to be the coldest woman I’ve met in a damn long time. She barely blinks in Alexa’s direction. Don’t grandmothers usually get all mushy over their grandbabies?

“Hi,” Hope says.

Heidi introduces her as her “Aunt Hope,” which is cute.

Axel’s mother finally snaps. “Enough with the introductions. I don’t care who these people are. Where’s our son, Heidi?”

Well, now.

I understand why the woman’s upset, but she has no business taking it out on her daughter-in-law. Before I cause a scene, I wait to see how Heidi handles it.

Heidi hoists the baby higher and rubs her hand over the back of Alexa’s head. Then she straightens up, lifts her chin and answers calmly, “I don’t know yet. I’m still waiting for news from his company.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” she yells.

I hold up a hand. “Hey—”

“It’s fine, Blake,” Heidi says without looking at me. Hope moves in and slips her arm around Heidi’s shoulders, giving her support and leaving me free to beat the crap out of Axel’s parents if they snap at Heidi again.

“What have they told you so far?” the father asks.

Heidi recounts every detail, which isn’t a whole lot. They only seem more agitated when she can’t answer their questions.

“Do you want to sit down?” Hope asks.

“No,” Mrs. Ryan snaps.

“Thank you,” Mr. Ryan says, clamping his hand over his wife’s arm and dragging her to the couch.

Heidi flips the television on. “I was watching for updates, but it’s just the same stuff over and over.”

Alexa squeals and flails her hands around. Heidi leans in and kisses her cheek. “I know, baby,” she murmurs against her face, just loud enough for me to hear because I’m standing directly behind her. Both grandparents continue to ignore all the other cute, gurgly baby noises Alexa makes.

This couldn’t be more awkward.

“It’s amazing, she looks nothing like Axel,” the mother says to her husband, jerking her chin in Alexa’s direction.

I guess it
could
get more awkward.

“No. She looks exactly like Heidi did at that age,” I answer.

All three of them turn and stare at me. “Didn’t your brother give you those photos?” I ask Heidi.

“Uh, yeah.” She points to a shelf next to the television, and I spot what she’s asking for right away. Side-by-side baby photos of Heidi and Alexa. Someone had them framed and labeled “baby Heidi” and “baby Alexa.” I hand it to Heidi, who leans over to show it to the Ice Queen.

“Axel had this made for me for Christmas.”

Can a nod be snotty? Because this woman’s quick head bob is full of uppitiness. “That’s nice, dear.”

Who actually talks like that?

I’m really not liking the way this bitch seems to be implying Alexa isn’t Axel’s kid.

During a break in the news, they throw more questions about the accident at Heidi. Questions she doesn’t have answers for.

When one of the hotline numbers scrolls across the bottom of the screen, the mother snaps at Heidi, “Why aren’t you at the headquarters with all the other family members?”

Heidi explains to them, the same way she did to us last night, “I didn’t think it was a good place for Alexa to be. The representative I spoke to said she’d call as soon as she had news.”

The mother sniffs and glares at her husband who pats her hand. “She’s right. There’s nothing we can do there that can’t be done here.”

Oh, great. I guess that means they’re sticking around.

“Can I make you breakfast? Or do you want something to drink?” Hope offers on her way to the kitchen.

They both shake their heads and things go back to awkward.

Someone knocks—well
bangs
—on the door. I open it and Penny jumps back. “Shit, Murphy, right? What are you doing here?”

I don’t bother answering, just let her in.

“Oh, Heidi!”

“What?” Heidi jumps up and rushes over to meet her friend. “Did you hear something?”

“Lucas. They found him. He’s at the hospital. I’m supposed meet his mom and dad there.”

“Oh, thank God. He’s okay?”

“No. I guess it’s really bad.” Penny’s lip trembles and she squeezes Heidi’s arm. “Lucas worked on the platform, so he got thrown into the water with the blast…” Penny trails off and Heidi bursts into tears.

I don’t understand what the significance of that is, and now isn’t the time to ask. The two girls sob together. Hope comes out of the kitchen to see what’s going on and takes Alexa. She talks quietly to the two of them for a few minutes before Penny leaves.

“This is ridiculous. Sitting around waiting here. We’re going down to headquarters,” Axel’s mother announces. His father shrugs and gives us a weak wave.

“We’ll call you if we find something out, Heidi,” he says before shutting the door.

“Friendly in-laws, Bug.”

“They don’t care for me.” She shrugs and grabs Alexa from Hope. “Whatever. Axel hates them.”

That explains why it was no big deal for him to move all the way to Alaska.

“I always wondered why his sister moved all the way out to California. But now I know.”

“Yeah, I remember him telling me about her,” I say. “She’s got kids, too, right?”

“Yup.”

“Are they that cold to her kids?”

“Don’t know.” She lifts Alexa up. “We don’t really care, do we?” she asks in a playful, silly voice. Alexa laughs and kicks her little legs in the air, clearly not giving a fuck what her grandparents think of her.

“Well, breakfast is ready,” Hope says. She takes Heidi’s elbow, pulling her into the kitchen. “You need to eat something.”

A few hours later, we get the official call. Given the nature of the explosion, and the extreme water temperatures, the probability of finding any other workers alive after all this time is considered highly improbable.

Sometimes the road we fear the most, is the one that takes us home.

I
can’t leave Alaska without saying goodbye to Lucas. Hope says she’ll stay at the apartment with Alexa, and Murphy drives me to the hospital.

The last few days have been horrible. No, horrible isn’t enough. No words cover what I’m feeling.

The worst has been dealing with Axel’s parents. Subtly blaming
me
for him taking this job. I finally got fed up and explained in lengthy detail how much I hated it here and how Axel dragged me up here, not the other way around.

I’m pretty sure Murphy has been plotting their deaths and drew a map of where he plans to dump their bodies before we leave for home.

He’s quiet the entire ride, and I don’t have it in me to come up with any small talk.

“I’ll wait in the car,” he says when we finally find a parking spot.

My hand’s on the door, about to push it open, but I fall back in my seat. “Oh.”

“Shit. I’m sorry. Do you
want
me to come in with you?”

“If you don’t mind.”

He opens his door and hurries to my side, offering me a hand. I’m limp and drained. So damn tired, I end up leaning on him. “You okay?” he asks.

“No.”

His jaw clenches, but he’s quiet as we cross the parking lot. At the sliding glass doors, I stop and pull Murphy to the side. “Are you mad at me?”