Between the Cracks Read Online Free

everything until it was perfect. Once I’d left him there after closing, only to find him the next morning, passed out on the floor having used paper towels for a pillow. After that, we watched him a lot closer.
    Lisa had been the one to deal with him the most when he got into one of his organizational “moods.” Eventually she figured out how to curb the problem—at least to a point. Stress brought out his anal side and right now he was stressed to the max. As much as Tee might be struggling with her own shit, I was pissed at her for doing this to him. If they’d just been honest in the first place, I wouldn’t be dealing with this.
    When Hayden was done organizing the snacks he headed for the bathroom. The shower came on, so I took the opportunity to call Sarah. She had to work tonight and I wanted to catch her before she went in. I’d sent her a couple short, vague messages during the day, hoping I’d have a positive update later. She’d want to be filled in, even if the news wasn’t good.
    Sarah answered halfway through the first ring. “Hey, hi. I was going to call you. Are you on your way home now? Can I talk to Tenley? How is she?”
    “Whoa, slow down, gorgeous. Are you on the road?” I didn’t want to have this conversation to begin with, especially not if she was driving and distracted.
    “No, I’m already at The Dollhouse. I was going to call before I went in, but you beat me to it.”
    “Okay. That’s good.” I leaned against the headboard. “So, we’ve hit a little roadblock.”
    “A roadblock? What kind of roadblock?” I could almost feel her panic.
    “Turns out Tenley’s brother-in-law is loaded. He lives in a mansion with security cameras and everything. He wouldn’t let us in to see Tee. Then he said a bunch of shit to piss Hayden off and called the police on us.”
    “Oh my God, did Hayden get arrested? Did he kick Trey’s teeth in? Please tell me he did. No, wait, I don’t mean that. I never should have let Tenley leave. I should have called you first, and then Hayden could have stopped her.”
    “Sarah, baby, calm down. Hayden didn’t get arrested. That pussy wouldn’t even open the door.”
    “He’s such a bastard. You should have heard the way he talked to Tenley,” Sarah’s voice shook. “He was horrible with her. For her to go back to Arden Hills with him . . . you can’t leave her there.”
    “We’re gonna do everything we can to bring her home. We’re staying the night in a hotel so we can try again tomorrow. Hayden’s pretty wrecked, though, and he’s not in best frame of mind.”
    “I don’t know what Tenley said to Hayden, but she kept telling me she didn’t deserve him. I just . . . I’m scared. If she doesn’t come back with you, I’m afraid she won’t come back at all.”
    I had no idea what to say to that. I didn’t know Tee well enough to have a solid read on the situation. “Have you tried to call her?”
    “A bunch of times. It goes straight to voicemail. I really hope she remembered her charger.”
    “ Me, too.” A dead battery was a better scenario than Tee purposely avoiding H’s calls. Being the dickwad he was, Trey would have said anything to put doubts in Hayden’s mind.
    “I’m really sorry, Chr is, I have to go. Sienna called me in early and I don’t want to get left with a bad section.”
    I had a vision of Sarah dressed in one of her skimpy outfits. “You be careful in there. Don’t let Sienna pull her crap with you.”
    “I’ll be fine. Can I call you when my shift is done? I know it’ll be late . . . .” she trailed off.
    “Yeah, of course. You call whenever you feel like it. I sleep pretty hard, so you might have to try a couple times.”
    “Okay.”
    “Catch ya later.”
    “Chris?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I think—” she hesitated and expelled a slow breath. “I’m glad I met you. You’re a really good guy. Take care of Hayden.”
    I didn’t expect the compliment. “Uh, thanks. I will.”
    She hung up