Hold On

“Merry—”

He looked down at me, his face set in stone. “Fast.”

Fuck, fuck…shit.

We got inside, fast, but I didn’t have a choice since Merry all but dragged me there.

By the time he closed the front door, Merry had rearranged his features, but not by much.

Mom took one look at us and came right off the couch, face lighting up, mouth smiling, eyes darting to Merry, Merry’s hand in mine, to me, then back to Merry.

“Well, Garrett, this is a lovely surprise,” she declared.

“Yo! Merry!” Ethan greeted, jumping up from an armchair, his face just as surprised and excited as his gramma’s.

“Grace,” Merry muttered to my mom, letting me go to move in, bend down, and touch his cheek to Mom’s. He turned to Ethan and stuck out a hand. “Hey, man.”

Ethan stared up at him, his excitement at seeing his cool, grown-up, badass friend fading as he took in Merry’s manner and he also stuck out his hand.

Merry shook it like they were adults and let him go.

Then he looked to Mom. “Grace, gonna get Cher and Ethan home, but before I do that, me and Ethan are gonna walk through your house, make sure windows and doors are locked. You got a back door light?”

Mom was also cottoning on to Merry’s look and demeanor, so she just nodded.

Merry looked down to Ethan. “Check windows, buddy. I’ll do the back door.”

I knew Ethan wanted to ask. I also knew Ethan was a good kid. So, being a good kid, he didn’t waste time asking. He took off to check windows.

“All my windows are locked, Garrett,” Mom told him.

Merry turned back to her. “Let’s just make sure.”

He didn’t even finish saying that before he moved toward the kitchen.

I made my way through the living room, pushing curtains aside and checking windows.

By the time Merry got back, I was done and Ethan was coming back into the room.

“Get your stuff, Ethan. We gotta get you home,” Merry ordered.

Ethan went directly to his backpack by the armchair.

Merry looked to Mom. “Your front light is on, Grace. Keep it on. Okay?”

“What’s goin’ on?” she whispered, hands up at her chest, one folded over the other.

“I don’t wanna alarm you but want you to be smart and safe.” He looked to me. “You too, sweetheart.” His eyes went back to Mom. “Man tried to rob the Shell station. He took off, evading officers. There was gunplay. He’s armed and on foot. Men are huntin’ him and I need to get in that hunt. But he was last seen in the backyard of a house on Fontaine.”

Mom gasped.

Ethan’s eyes shot to me.

I clenched my teeth.

Fontaine Street was two blocks from my fucking street, which was mere blocks away from Mom’s fucking house.

“Should I warn my neighbors?” Mom asked.

“No need to alarm anyone, Grace,” Merry told her. “But I want you to keep your lights on, curtains closed, doors locked. In this situation, a runner shies from light. He’ll keep to the dark.”

“I…okay,” she nodded.

“We gotta go,” Merry said.

Mom kept nodding.

Merry looked to me and jerked his chin to the door. “Hoof it, Cher. You and Ethan get in your car, lock it.”

That was when I nodded.

I forced a grin at Mom, reached out, grabbed her hand, and gave it a quick squeeze.

“Be careful, Garrett,” she called after us as we headed to the door.

“Will do,” he muttered, moving behind Ethan and me, crowding us both.

I separated from my kid at the passenger side door but only because Merry was there, holding it as Ethan got in.

Demonstrating possible superhero powers, even after waiting for Ethan to pull himself in and close the door behind him, Merry still got around to my side and had his hand to my door by the time I’d hauled my ass to my seat.

“Lock,” he growled, slammed the door and jogged to his truck parked behind us.

I locked the doors and put the key in the ignition, eyes to the rearview mirror, asking, “You okay, kid?”