Unbreakable by C. C. Hunter Read Free Book Online Page A

You packed and ready?” he called out to Chase’s mom.
    â€œAlmost,” came her voice from the bedroom.
    â€œGo,” his dad said to them. “I’m serious, grab everything, drop it in your suitcases, and let’s fly out of here. Four minutes. If we’re late, we’ll be stuck waiting for several hours for runway time and the storm could come in early.”
    Mindy and Tami took off to the room they shared, Chase turned to go to his. Then he realized something was wrong. Baxter hadn’t met him at the door. Baxter always met him.
    â€œWhere’s Baxter?” Chase muttered, looking around and checking his pocket for the dog collar Tami had given him.
    â€œJust get your bags packed,” his dad said.
    Chase didn’t want to piss his dad off, but instead of going to his room, he darted past his dad to find his mom.
    She was rushing around the room, tossing their clothes into the open suitcase.
    â€œWhere’s Baxter, Mom?” he asked.
    His mom had just tossed a handful of clothes toward the bed and she froze as if the question rolled around her head. She stood there for one second and then her eyes widened with worry. “Crap!” She ran out the bedroom door.
    â€œWhat?” Chase asked, running after her.
    â€œI let him outside to potty and was standing out there watching, then your dad called to tell me how soon we had to go and I completely forgot him.” She ran past his dad.
    â€œAre we packed?” his dad asked his mom.
    His mom ignored him and opened the back door and ran out on the porch. “Baxter?” she called. “Come here, boy!” When the dog didn’t come running, she took off down the porch.
    Chase followed and started calling his dog.
    â€œWhat is it?” his dad asked, stepping out on the back porch.
    â€œI let Baxter out and forgot about him.” His mom ran from one side of the property to the other calling the dog.
    Chase took off toward the woods, worried Baxter had chased a rabbit or something. The dog wasn’t one to run off, but if a small animal showed up, he’d probably give chase on pure instinct.
    â€œChase?” his father called out. “You go pack, I’ll see if I can find Baxter. You, too, Amy.”
    Chase wanted to argue that his dog was ten times more important than packing, but he saw the expression on his dad’s face and knew he meant business.
    As he walked back into the cabin, listening to his dad call out Baxter’s name, Mindy ran right into him. “What’s wrong? Is Baxter missing?”
    â€œYeah,” Chase said, frowning.
    â€œCrap!” Mindy said. “How did he get out?”
    â€œI did it.” His mom stepped in behind him. “I’m so sorry, Chase,” she said, guilt lacing her voice. While Baxter was the family pet, the black Lab had picked Chase as his person the moment they’d brought him home from the shelter, where his previous owner had just dumped him off.
    â€œIt was an accident,” Chase said, not wanting to blame his mom. He knew how much his mom loved Baxter, too.
    â€œYou want us to go look for him, too?” Tami asked, standing behind his sister.
    â€œHave you two finished packing yet?” his mom asked.
    â€œNo,” Mindy answered.
    â€œThen let’s all hurry up and finish and then we can look for him together.”
    ***
    Chase sat in the backseat, his head reclined, his eyes closed. He simply could not believe his dad was doing this. Leaving Baxter! How could he leave Chase’s dog? Every now and then Tami would brush her hand against his. It felt nice, and he would have liked it if he wasn’t hurting so much inside. If he wasn’t so damn angry at his dad.
    Suddenly, feeling as if he would burst if he didn’t try one more time to convince his dad, he lifted his head up. His dad’s gaze, as if knowing Chase wasn’t finished fighting the battle, shot to the rearview mirror