Just for One Night [Ashton Irwin]

~Chapter 16~

Chapter 16

I gasped and almost dropped the phone. "What the hell?! He actually had the balls?!" I panicked.

"Well, you did tell me how hard he took the breakup, so I'm not exactly surprised," Daddy said. "But you need to get home as soon as possible."

"Is Everett okay?"

"Yeah, I saved him, and I sent out an Amber alert for Alexis."

"We'll be on the next flight home."

I could feel my heart breaking as I ended the call, and Chelsea was the first to speak up.

"Why are you so sad all of a sudden?" she asked.

"That was my dad," I said, my voice shaking. "My ex just kidnapped Alexis and possibly murdered my mom."

Heather gasped. "Darren?! Why the hell would he kidnap his own daughter?!"

"He was probably getting revenge for Brittany leaving him for Ashton," Chelsea explained. "She told me he blew his top when she did it."

"Oh, I see," Heather said, nodding in understanding. "I guess we'd better hurry if you want Alexis in one piece."

"If Darren breaks one little bone in her body, I swear to God, I'll put him in jail for LIFE!" I vowed.

***

Twenty hours later, our plane, which we'd caught just in the nick of time, landed at the Nashville airport. It was 3 pm Nashville time, and the temperature was 75 degrees with a low tonight of 65. I was only running on three hours of sleep because I'd been thinking about Alexis all night, but I was still determined to get her back.

As soon as we'd gone through American customs and gotten our luggage, I sat down and called Daddy to get an update.

"Hi, Britt," he said when he answered. "Did you just get home?"

"How's Mom?" I asked, jumping right into it. "Did they find Alexis?"

"I'm afraid she's passed on, sweetheart. That gunshot wound was right near her heart, and it killed her. As for Alexis, they still haven't caught her or Darren yet. The cops are saying he fled the state."

My heart dropped straight to my feet. "What?! So she could be ANYWHERE now! Which direction did he take her?"

"Southwest. They last saw him about ten minutes ago crossing the Tennessee-Arkansas line."

"Tell Everett I'm not coming home right away. The girls and I are gonna take a little road trip."

I hung up and relayed the news to Heather and Chelsea.

"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" Chelsea asked. "You didn't get much sleep on the plane."

"That's what I've got y'all for," I said. "When one of us gets too tired to drive, another one can take the wheel."

"True enough," Heather agreed. "We should probably fly first, at least to Little Rock, since we'd have a long way to go if we were driving." I groaned. "Hey, do you want Alexis back or not?"

"Alright, but you'd better let me sleep on the flight home!"

Chelsea flagged down an employee and asked her when the next flight to Little Rock was boarding.

"Are you visiting family?" she asked.

"In a way," I said. "Next flight to Little Rock, NOW!"

"Little Rock is Gate D3, and they're boarding in five minutes. Would you like to check your luggage?"

"Actually, you know what?" Heather said. "You two go on ahead. I'll take y'all's bags to Cookeville on my way home."

"I like that idea! Let's go, Chelsea!"

Chelsea and I rushed to Gate D3, got on the plane, and found a row of empty seats near the front.