Stuck in the Middle (MxMxM)?

"What? When?!" Ryder's voice rose in alarm.

"Three days ago. Her parents lost contact with her and they called the local authorities to see if they could look for her. Then I think they gave your name and now the police want to talk to you."   

"That's fine. I'll go to the station if that helps."

Delilah wasn't the sort of girl to run away. But what if her parents had pushed her to it? That would be better than getting kidnapped.

"After you do, come home." His dad ordered. "Enough of this college nonsense. You shouldn't have gone in the first place. If you'd stayed home, you wouldn't be in the middle of this."

"I don't think I can leave if the police think I'm a suspect."

Kendric's eyes narrowed when he picked up on those keywords.

"Once you talk to them you'll be cleared. So you come home after that. That town ain't doing you any good."

"Dad, I can't."

"Don't tell me you can't! I heard there was an animal attack around there too. Now Delilah's gone missing, and all you can think about is some degree?"

"That's not it."

"Then what? What has you so determined to stay out there? You know when you come back home your degree won't mean anything."

"I'm not doing it for the degree! I'm doing it so I'll know how to take care of the farm when you retire!" Ryder argued, then put a hand over his mouth.

Now he'd done it.

"Damn it, son!" The man exclaimed. "There is no farm!"

Ryder was stunned by what he'd heard, and took a moment to remember how to speak. "...What do you mean?"

"We sold it to get the money to pay that debt you said you'd gathered. We were going to use the extra to retire early."

"But..." The whole reason he was here in the first place was to take over the farm. "Didn't you believe I could handle it?"

"Frankly, no." His dad was never one to beat around the bush, but it still hurt to hear that the man had no faith in him. "We just needed you to help out around here for a while longer."

At that point, Ryder hung up and covered his face.

It barely registered that Kendric had put a hand over his shoulder, and when he glanced at him, his eyes were teary.

"What happened?"

He hiccupped, trying to pull himself together. "My ex is missing, and I'm a suspect."  He didn't bother bringing up the rest as he angrily rubbed his eyes. "I need to go to the police station."

Kendric started up the car and pulling away from the property. He also called Adan to let them know what was happening.

"I don't know if they're connected." He glanced back at Ryder. "I'll ask."

"She went missing three days ago," Ryder elaborated before Kendric said anything. "The rogue that escaped couldn't have done it."

"You heard that?" He asked Adan through the phone. "I'll call you once we get more details."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. He hadn't lingered on Delilah for a while and believed she was out of his system. But the thought of her getting hurt or worse, being thrown in the middle of his drama, hurt something deep down inside of him.

They may not be together anymore, but that didn't mean he'd stopped caring about her entirely.

    "Are you going to be alright?" Kendric asked as they pulled up to the station.