Hunting Human - Amanda E. Alvarez [50]
“That woman hit me over the head with a jack, a car jack, Mom! Hell, I’m bleeding all over your kitchen and you’re worried about what I did to her?”
Un-fucking-believable.
She jerked her wrist out of his hand, tilted his chin and forced the gauze against his head before he could move. “You’ll watch your language in this house, Braden Edwards. And you’ll explain to me exactly how that young woman came to be in the trunk of your car. And you’ll keep your temper under control while you do it.”
“I’d like to hear the answer to that as well.” Braden’s father strode into the kitchen. “Hi.” As was his custom, his father brushed a gentle kiss across his mother’s cheek in greeting. Turning, he tilted Braden’s head to the side, inspecting the cut along his temple. “Better call Mike. That’s gonna need stitches.”
“I already have.” His mother’s voice softened a little in response to his father’s proclamation about the stitches.
“Oh. My. God.”
Braden groaned as his twenty-two-year-old kid sister bounced into the room, tossing her gym bag onto one of the barstools next to him.
“Did I hear Chase right?” Lucy asked, as usual, practically bouncing with barely restrained energy. “Did you bring a woman home in your trunk? What? Couldn’t get your girlfriend to meet the parents any other way?”
Something in Braden’s expression must have given away how close to the mark Lucy was because she burst out laughing. “Oh my God! You did not bring the girl you’ve been seeing home in the trunk of your car?” When he didn’t respond, Lucy looked around, eyes landing on Chase, who’d followed her into the kitchen. “Chase?”
And Chase, the bastard, who’d never been able to deny Lucy anything, smiled.
Lucy dissolved into a fit of laughter. “I always said you’d have to club a woman on the head and toss her over your shoulder to get her home with you.”
“That’s enough, Lucy.” Their mother’s warning effectively silenced her. “Braden, start explaining while we wait for Michael to get out here.”
Knowing there’d be no peace until the entire story was divulged, Braden briefly explained how he knew Beth, then gave as detailed an accounting as he could of the events of the day. Thankfully, his father was already aware of Markko’s presence, as well as Jason’s death, which meant the rest of his family knew, as well.
Braden’s father broke the silence that descended over the kitchen when Braden finished relaying everything.
“You do a background check?” The question shot across the room to Chase.
“Yes, sir. I’m hoping we’ll have a detailed history tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest.” The doorbell rang, interrupting Chase.
“That’ll be Mike. I’ll go let him in.” Lucy slipped out the room, heading for the front door.
“I can call my contact and see if he can speed things up on the background check,” Chase offered.
“If it has to, it’ll keep until tomorrow.” Braden’s father settled his large hand on his shoulder, but whether it was a show of sympathy or support Braden wasn’t sure. Either way, he didn’t like it.
“Look, I’m going to let Michael stitch me up, then head home. You guys can handle it from here.” The last thing he wanted to do was spend the night under the same roof as Beth. As far as he was concerned, the more highway he could stretch between them the better.
“Absolutely not.” When his mother had left the kitchen, Braden wasn’t sure. But she strode back in with a stack of clean towels and fresh bed linens. “You’ll have Michael take a look at you, and then you’ll take these down to Beth.” She plopped the stack of towels onto the open stool next to him.
“You can’t be serious.” Braden looked incredulously at his mother, then to his father, who only shrugged; he wasn’t going to argue with her.
“Of course I am. Until we have a definitive reason to believe differently, she’s a guest in this house. You’ll stay here and see this through. Bad enough if you’re wrong about her—you won’t abandon her to strangers on top of it.” His mother