Free Sacrificing Sloan (Sloan Series Book 3) by Kelly Martin

it a lot when I was dating Boyd, and of course in the school parking lot. I wondered if he’d gone out looking for Boyd himself. I sort of hoped he was. I always liked Mr. Lawrence, and it wasn’t his fault his son turned out to be a psychopath.
    I notice another thing too, a car I didn’t recognize. It was a white convertible, with the roof up, of course, thanks to the rains that just wouldn’t stop. I put the car in park and hesitated.
    “I take it you don’t know that car.”
    “Nope. I don’t even know who it could be. Boyd’s mom isn’t around. She’s been in Nashville for the past however many years.”
    “Divorced?”
    “No, they just live apart.” I clarified.
    “Ah…You going in?” Ray asked, as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
    I guess I should have just jumped right out and gone in because it had been my idea to stop there, but the house had so many memories, and not all of them were good. I’d been with Boyd a lot in that house—and by been with, I mean… you know… and I always felt a bit uneasy there.
    Like my past was trying to come back and smother me.
    Ray placed his hand on mine, which shocked me. He had compassion in his eyes, not the bitterness he’d showed since he woke up yesterday. This looked like the old Ray. My friend. The one I counted on to help take care of me. I was so glad he was back. I needed him more than ever. “It’ll be okay, you know that, Sloan? I’ll be with you. We’ll knock. Ask if they have seen Boyd, and then we will leave. But we need to do it quick. It’s not like we have much daylight anyway, and what little we have will be gone soon.”
    I nodded and got out of the car. The rain drenched me in less than thirty seconds, and I ran to the door. It opened on the second knock.
    I started to say hello, but when it hit me who opened the door, I hesitated and stared.
    It couldn’t be her. She had short hair, make-up on, nice clothes. She looked like a supermodel—then again, she always had. In the pictures I’d seen of her, at least.
    Boyd’s mother.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    Aaron
    Time: Unknown
     
    I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT.
    I was the eyes. Boyd was the legs on this particular venture, and if anyone saw us, they would laugh their butts off.
    Then again, no one would see us because we were out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a rainstorm that wouldn’t end.
    Oh glory.
    One thing, it was comical. Big ole me, all muscles and in my twenties, having to be carried out of a shack by the man I hated. Not just carried—carried on his back. Like a backpack. Like a useless thing. Stupid broken leg. Sure, I probably could have hobbled on my sprained foot out of there, but I wanted to save that for the hills later. I wasn’t sure how much pain I could take, and I wanted to conserve my strength.
    Plus… Boyd offered.
    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
    There wasn’t much more closeness that I could get to Boyd.
    I shook my head.
    A new low in a lifetime of lows. Even for me.
    “Dude, could you weigh any more?” Boyd huffed as he stepped off of the porch and into the storm. My first thought.. this is a bad idea! My second, please don’t let him drop me . Boyd’s first step nearly covered his black formal shoes, the ones he’d worn to prom. I had on mine, too.
    The second reason for the ridiculousness of the situation.
    We were going to have to go through the woods like this—in clothes that didn’t match our terrain and shoes that weren’t hiking boots. Maybe we should have thought more about this….
    One turn of my head and I knew why we couldn’t have thought any longer. The creek was maybe five feet from the house. It roared like a river and was way beyond its banks. Not even white water experts would want to test those waters— well, some people might, but I wouldn’t. I’d fought that current enough for a lifetime.
    God sure did have a sense of humor.
    “Don’t complain. It could be worse.” Though I wasn’t entirely sure how. Maybe if