Free Drift Away (Noah Braddock Mysteries) by Jeff Shelby

lip.
     
    “I was kidding, Jax,” I said. “But I’m okay.”
     
    His tiny hands held onto the sleeve of my T-shirt. “They’re always mean to Mommy.”
     
    “Who?”
     
    “The boys who hurt you.”
     
    “She see them a lot?”
     
    He nodded. “They always come here.”
     
    “Why?”
     
    “I don’t know. She says I’m not allowed to ask.”
     
    “Are they mean to you?”
     
    He thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Not really. But they never wanna play Legos.”
     
    “Jackson,” Bella said from somewhere I couldn’t see. “You were supposed to come get me when he woke up.”
     
    “He just did.”
     
    “I just did,” I said.
     
    She appeared next to her son, dropping to her knees, too, on the side of the couch. “Okay. How are you?”
     
    “Great.”
     
    “Yeah. You look great.”
     
    “Figured.”
     
    She nudged Jackson. “Hey, buddy. Can you give me a minute with Noah?”
     
    “Why?”
     
    “Because I’d like to talk to him for just a minute.”
     
    “I won’t listen,” Jackson said.
     
    She smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “I know you won’t. But just give me a minute. Maybe go grab a couple of your stuffed animals and bring them out here to keep Noah company?”
     
    His eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet. “Okay!  I’ll be back.”
     
    He sprinted out of the room.
     
    Bella took the bag of ice from my hand and pressed it gently against my face. “You need this. Trust me.”
     
    The cold bag stung my face.
     
    “Thank you,” she said.
     
    “For what?”
     
    She put her elbow on the sofa next to me. “For showing up. Even though I was a complete bitch yesterday.”
     
    “I was going to get a sandwich,” I said.
     
    She smiled. “But you stopped. For me. For Jackson.”
     
    My entire head throbbed and my eyes ached. I closed them.
     
    “You should go to the hospital,” she said. “You probably have a concussion.”
     
    I grunted my disapproval. There was nothing they could do for a concussion and going to a hospital would mean showing up in a computer somewhere.
     
    “Sorta thought you’d say that,” she said. “I won’t argue. Right now, anyway. Are you thirsty?”
     
    I managed to move my head enough to indicate that I was not.
     
    “Rest then,” she said. “When you feel better, I’ll tell you. What’s going on. You at least deserve that.”
     
    “Here, here!” Jackson said.
     
    I opened my eyes to half-mast.
     
    He set a small, brown monkey in the crook of my arm and a bright green cat on my stomach.
     
    “Bert and Ernie,” he said.
     
    “Wow,” Bella said, raising her eyes. “Your two favorites. That is big time.”
     
    Jackson nodded enthusiastically.
     
    I reached for the green cat — Ernie, apparently — and tucked him into my other arm. “Thanks, Jax. They help.”
     
    “You’re welcome,” he said, holding onto my sleeve again. “I named them from those guys on TV. Those puppet people.”
     
    I tried to nod but couldn’t. My eyes were heavy and I shut them again.
     
    “Rest,” Bella said. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”
     
    Her lips brushed my forehead as I drifted off.
     

NINETEEN
     
     
     
     
     
    Liz filled my dreams.
     
    Her face showed up in flashes, images of her smiling at me. Some from the ocean, some from her bedroom, some from restaurants, some from places I couldn’t see.
     
    Then she was off in the distance, a stretch of sand I didn’t recognize. Her mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear her. I called out to her, tried to get closer to her, but I still couldn’t hear. I walked at first, then ran. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t get closer. She stayed off in the distance, now cupping her hands, like she was yelling toward me.
     
    My feet pounded the sand, my legs churning as I tried to get to her.
     
    Her hands were in the air now, waving at me as if she was trying to get my attention and I couldn’t see her.
     
    But I could see her