Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“Are you okay, baby?” I asked, somehow resisting the urge to smother her in a hug so tight it left bruises.
“My ankle hurts,” she whispered.
I could imagine.
But as long as that was the only thing wrong, she got off lucky.
I looked over at Kobe to see that he looked somewhat horrified that he’d hurt her ankle.
“What happened?” I asked, crouching down.
JP looked over at a girl that was staring at her with anger in her eyes.
Judessa, one of the circus hand’s kids, had hated JP from the moment that we’d stepped into her world. Her mother, Caressa, wasn’t any better. She’d hated me from the moment I walked into the circus grounds, only with a lot less obviousness than Judessa.
I clenched my fists and tried to tell myself that hitting little girls wasn’t nice.
But this time…
I placed her down on her feet and said, “I think it’s time to get to the bus. What do you think?”
“The bus?” Kobe asked.
“Mommy and I are living out of an old bus.” JP perked up at that. “Do you want to come see?”
Kobe’s eyes asked me for permission before agreeing.
I nodded slowly. Because the last dang thing I wanted him to do was leave.
Not ever.
But that was probably rather drastic when we hadn’t talked about anything beyond that case file yet
“JP, will you show him the way?” I asked, my anger rising intensely inside of me.
JP blinked at me, obviously reading my fury and thinking it was geared toward her.
She nodded, then took Kobe’s hand and started away with her head hung dejectedly.
I didn’t lose my shit with JP often, but even though I hated to admit it, I was human. It happened.
Instead of comforting her like I would’ve normally done and letting this go, I turned not toward Judessa but toward Caressa, who was very aware of what might’ve just happened.
I stomped toward her, hands fisted at my sides.
Caressa saw me coming and tensed.
So did the rest of the parents that were out there.
“Listen, Caressa,” I said through stiff lips. “This is the last warning. If your kid so much as gets close to mine ever again, I will rip your hair out and make you eat it.”
Caressa’s eyes narrowed.
She was the woman who ran the faux “kissing” booth, which really was just a few cute doggies that we got from the shelters to help promote adoption at the events.
If anything, she wasn’t necessary to the integral operation of the circus. Not like I was, anyway.
I’d made it to where I helped run the online ticket sales, streamlined security checks, and ran all of the circus’s security detail.
Well, I didn’t do it as much anymore. I had everything figured out within the first half a year, and now I had a whole team beneath me that ran it. I was only brought in when security had issues or if a problem arose elsewhere.
Yet, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if it came down to it, the Singh family would choose me over her. In a heartbeat.
“My child…” She started to explain, but I interrupted her.
“Pushed my daughter off the freakin’ monkey bars,” I said. “And she fell headfirst. Not only could that have broken her neck if she somehow managed to survive that, but she would also’ve definitely had a scalp laceration. At the best of times, those bleed like a bitch. My daughter has hemophilia, Caressa. I know that’s a big word for you, but let me dumb it down for you again. It’s a bleeding disorder. She could bleed to death if the wound is large.”
Best-case scenario, it was a cut that I’d have to get fixed at the hospital. Worst case, she could’ve died before I’d gotten a chance to get her to where she needed to go.
Some of the shows we put on were in small, backwoods towns without a hospital for miles. Let’s just say that sometimes, it wasn’t possible to get to a hospital quickly.
“If she’s so unsafe here to even play on playground equipment, then maybe you shouldn’t be here at all,” she snapped.
Jesus Christ, this woman.
“Listen to me, and listen well,” I ordered. “This is the last warning. The last. I can’t hit your kid, but I can take her stupidity out on you. And I will if I ever find her near my kid again.”
“Caressa, Judessa,” Keene said quietly. “Why don’t y’all come to my office.”
I looked at Keene. He looked at me and let me know he’d take care of it.
It was always coming to this, we both knew it.
His eyes, though. They told me all that I needed to know. This time, he would take care of it, and there wouldn’t be a next time.
I turned and headed toward the bus.
I didn’t even make it halfway, though.
No, because, like always, JP had gotten distracted.