Crossed: Book Two (A NEW ADULT ROMANCE) by Emma Browning Read Free Book Online Page A

understand what he was saying, but I know what I just told you. That’s what I heard before he stopped talking and we hung up.”
    “Nick, do you want me to come. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll get on a plane right now. You know that.”
    “I… I don’t know… I don’t know what’s really going on yet. I need to see him as soon as he gets back. I have to know what’s going on. This is just terrible.”
    “I know Nick. I hope everything is okay. Call me right away when you know something. Any time of night. Okay?”
    “Yeah, I will. I’ll call. I will.”
    “Nick?”
    “Yeah Kase. It’s going to be okay.”
    “Thanks Kase. Love you.”
    “Love you too.”
    I hang up with Nicky and immediately dial Tyson.
    No answer.
    Hang up and dial again.
    No answer.
    What the fuck? He better not just be avoiding me because of us. This is not about us. I need to know what is going on with Marcus. Jesus Tyson. Come on. Pick up.
    No answer.
    I put the phone down and just sit at the kitchen table. I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m so far away from Nicky and there is nothing I can do but wait to hear back from her. It’s pure torture.
    My Dad.
    “Dad, thank God you picked up. What’s going on with Marcus?”
    “Kase, I’m sorry, he had some bad things happen to him. He was doing some work in Juarez, and they got to him there. Those fucking bastards. They got to him.”
    “What the hell do you mean? Who got to him? Does this have something to do with you and Tyson and what you guys are doing?”
    “Slow down Kase. I don’t know. We first learned that he was mugged and his wallet was stolen, but at the hospital in Juarez they said it appears he was hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat. That doesn’t make it look so much like just a mugging. So I don’t know, but it might be connected to our work in Mexico, but it might not. I’m not at that conclusion just yet.”
    “Oh Jesus Dad. That’s bad. Marcus shouldn’t have been there. Why did you guys pull him out there?”
    “We didn’t Kase. Honestly. Unless he had his own arrangements. He ended up there, from what we understand, doing work on the housing boom north of the border in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We don’t really know why he was in Juarez. He could have just gone there for fun.”
    “Gone down there for fun? Isn’t that like the murder capital of the world? Isn’t that the whole Mexican drug cartel thing? Isn’t that there?”
    “Well, yeah, that’s there. But there’s a lot of fun to be had there too. Cheap booze, gambling, easy women-“
    “Easy women? Whoa Dad, Marcus wouldn’t be down there for women. He’s in love with Nicky and they have a good thing going. Why would he be down there for that?”
    “I don’t know Kase. I can’t explain another man’s motivations whom I don’t know very well. A lot of guys are going down there for that. Anyway… I’ll try to find out more about what happened and I’ll have to let you know if I find anything. Maybe he was just there to have fun, minus the women. Juarez has a reputation, but you’re right, from what you’ve told me about him Marcus always has sounded like a stand up sort of guy,.”
    “Yeah Dad, he’s one of the good guys. Call me back, any time, and let me know what you find out.”
    “Got it. Will do. Love you sweetheart.”
    “Bye Dad.”
    Hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat. Oh Jesus. That sounds terrible.
    The torture continues for me. I can’t do anything but sit here. This is so terrible. I just sit… and wait. In pain.
    No calls for a long time and I give in to laying down after a while. I try to sleep, but the weight of the situation keeps me up. I go out for a walk and that does nothing to clear my mind either.
    “Yeah Dad.”
    “Kase. It doesn’t sound good. I’m hearing that Marcus went into a coma on the flight home. He’s in North Carolina now and they are transporting him to Duke Raleigh Hospital. He’ll be there in