Chapter 131

Jayden's POV.

I had just finished assuring Timmy that my mother's call was a distraction, a momentary lapse that wouldn't happen again. The primary phone was still warm against my ear, the line open, when my mother’s second call came through on the private device.

It was insistent.

It rang for the second time, a shrill, demanding sound in the quiet room. I stared at the buzzing screen on the table, feeling a cold dread replace the giddy triumph of a moment ago. Why was she ...