Free Who Knows the Dark by Tere Michaels

the mention of his father, Cade winced. Better rip that bandage off.
    “How’s he taking it?”
    LJ laughed. “He went all out—waving his shotgun, ten-minute screaming fit about the government taking away the land of real Jesus-loving Americans, then he threatened to call the media and the militia. It was ugly. Those suits ran out of here as quick as they could.” LJ paused for a dramatic moment. “I’m pretty sure at least ten percent of it was how he really felt, and the rest he just made the hell up.”
    “Do you think they’re watching the place?” Cade’s stomach dropped. What if they bugged the phone lines?
    “Nah. I got cameras set up around the perimeter, and Daddy’s been takin’ walks with his gun lately. If he spotted anything, we’d be bailing him out of jail right about now. Plus I made sure they can’t get into the phone lines.”
    A weird relief rattled Cade’s knees. “I don’t know what that means, but good. Great.”
    “You coming to see us?”
    “How’d you guess?”
    “I don’t hear no noise or anything, so I’m guessing you’re out of the city.” LJ paused. “Plus I just traced this call, and you’re over by Devil’s Quarry.”
    Cade almost dropped the phone. “This is a disposable cell—you shouldn’t be able to do that.”
    LJ laughed again. “Yeah. You shouldn’t be able to.”
    Before Cade could ask, there was a shuffling at the other end, and a feminine voice said his name.
    “Caden Lee!”
    “Oh hey, Momma.”
    His mother cried through most of their conversation; Cade’s main contribution was about eight hundred “yes ma’ams” and a few dozen “I’m okay, reallys.” He managed to work in the part about a sick teenager and swore to her on the Lord and every dead ancestor in the family tree that he was innocent and so were his friends.
    She trusted him.
    Lee Creel Sr., however—that was a different story.
    Nothing surprising about him slamming into the house so loudly Cade heard it through the phone. Nothing shocking about his insistence he didn’t want to speak to his son at this time.
    Then more slamming and his mother’s quiet sigh.
    “So I’m going to get back on the road. We should be there in about forty minutes,” Cade said finally. “Tell LJ to open the back barn up—I’ll come in through the fire road and put the truck in there.”
    “All right.” His mother sounded reluctant to let him off the line. “Be careful, okay?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    She told him she loved him and then hung up. Cade leaned against the door, sagging with the effort of dealing with his family. The sound of crunching gravel made him jump as a shadow came around the side of the truck, startling him further.
    “Everyone okay?” Nox asked, limping toward him, dark and hidden in the shadows.
    Cade waved the phone at him. “Called my mom. We’re a go for hiding in plain sight,” he said, joking weakly. “Glad to see no one killed you. What’s your body count in the back there?”
    Stepping into the circle of light from the truck, Nox looked as tired as Cade felt. “Mason wouldn’t let me strangle Rachel.”
    “I knew I liked that kid.” Cade pushed off the door, his body protesting movement with various creaks and snaps. “We’re about forty minutes out. I’m going to drive in round back—there’s this road no one really knows about—and then we’ll be in the barn. We can sneak into the house from there pretty easy.”
    Nodding, Nox leaned in to check on Sam, who was still snoring peacefully in the front seat. “Good job.”
    Cade shrugged. “To the surprise of even myself, I am extremely competent in emergencies.”
    “I’m not really surprised,” Nox said softly, and Cade felt a sizzle over his skin at the words, the affectionate tone of Nox’s voice. A walking trouble magnet with a planeload of baggage, and of course Cade’s butterflies seemed to respond to only him.
    “My stubbornness comes in handy—go ahead, admit it.” Cade tried to