Chapter One-Hundred and Fifty-Nine
John dropped the phone and took off for the door. His steps were clumsy and faltered in the snow, partly because of his high and partly because of the fact that he hadn't bothered to pull his boots on.
"Bender!" Rafe's voice was nearly carried away by the wind of the late January snow storm. "Bender!"
John ignored his friend, determined to get to Bethany's home to see what was wrong. "Beth…" He shivered against the cold, his teeth chattering as he rubbed his hands against his bare arms in a desperate attempt to warm his skin.
Bobby listened as John told the story, imagining John's skinny form as he'd stumbled in the snow to find his girlfriend. "What happened when you got there?"
John glared at his computer screen. "Bethany wasn't home." He sat back in his chair. "Her uncle was."
Willard grinned as John shivered on the sofa, and gently wrapped the teen in a blanket. "It must've been your imagination… Bethany's been at her grandmother's house." He placed a mug of hot coco in John's hands and sat down next to him.
"She called me… I know she did…" John shook his head, causing the room to spin. "She called from here…"
Willard rubbed his hand over John's back. "You're still out of it, get some sleep."
"Willard was a creep." John growled. "I always hated that bastard."
Bobby took the hint to drop the subject. He took a few papers off of John's desk and flipped through them. "How's Claire doing?"
"She's fine." John snapped, obviously done talking. "Just tired."
Bobby nodded and left John to his work. I hope she gets better soon…
Claire had been suffering from post-partum depression ever since Reya had been born, and the added stress John was under had caused the entire Wolf Pack Unit to start falling behind on cases. To add to it, Markus was now pushing even harder to become the leader of the Pack, which only caused everyone anxiety and stress. It seemed as of late, everything was going downhill.
