Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 29741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
“If they are, I know what to do.” She thumped her fist into her hand.
He winced. “Yeah, Betsy isn’t such a fan of that method of solving problems. She’s worried that you’ll end up in trouble.”
“I’m used to getting in trouble.”
Ink pulled up in front of the school, then turned to her. “If you do, you know to tell the principal to call me, right?”
“Right.” Zippy frowned. “Ink?”
“Yeah, kid?”
“Why’re you driving me to school every day and not Betsy? And how come when she picks me up, she’s got someone with her?”
Shit.
Zippy was a smart kid, of course she’d figured out something was going on.
Should he tell her the truth?
But they didn’t know what was going on for sure.
“You’re not gonna tell me, are you?” Zippy asked.
“I don’t want you to worry,” he told her. “Neither Betsy nor I do. We’ve got everything under control.”
Zippy frowned. “So what is it?”
“Your old foster father has gone missing.”
Zippy’s face closed up instantly. “Leon is missing?”
“Well, sort of. He hasn’t been seen at his house for a while.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve had someone keep an eye on him,” Ink admitted.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I figure that he must have done something terrible for you to threaten to stab him.”
Surprise filled her face. “You do?”
“Yeah, Zippy. I do. You don’t have to tell me what it is, but I think there was something. And I think it was bad. So I wanted to keep an eye on him.”
“What about Amber?” she asked about Leon’s wife.
“She left in her car and hasn’t been seen since, either.”
Zippy was silent for a long moment.
“You don’t have to worry about this,” he told her.
“Do you think he’s coming to find me?” she asked.
Shit. She was so smart.
“I hope not, Zippy. I don’t see how he could know where you are. However, I like to be cautious. Which is why I’ve got some added security with Betsy and I’ve warned the school.”
Zippy nodded. “Is Betsy worried?”
“She knows that I can take care of you both.”
There was more silence as she seemed to digest that.
“Have you got anything else to ask me?” he asked quietly.
“No. I’ve gotta go to class.”
“Have a good day,” he told her after helping her out of the truck.
She nodded, then took off. Shit. She was so small. Worry filled him.
God, he hoped that was the right thing to do.
“I don’t think it was a good idea to tell her,” Betsy said as she paced back and forth across the living room floor. Bandit followed her back and forth.
“Brown eyes.”
“What if she starts worrying? What if she has nightmares and can’t sleep? We don’t even know what he’s doing. He might not be looking for her.”
“Button.”
“She’s just a little girl. It’s not good for her to worry about these sorts of things.”
“Betsy.” He reached out and grabbed her by the hips, lifting her onto his lap. “You need to calm down, baby.”
“I can’t calm down. What if we’ve upset her? What if she’s upstairs in her bedroom, worrying about all of this?”
“She’s not. I checked on her before I told you all of this and she was fast asleep. She’s fine. You’re the one who’s stressed. Take a deep breath. Now, let it out slowly. Zippy is fine.”
“Really?” she whispered, chewing at her lower lip.
“Really.”
“She’s not scared that he’s coming for her?”
He pulled her lip free from her teeth. “She doesn’t seem to be. I explained that we don’t know where he is or what he’s doing. I’m sorry if it was the wrong thing to do. But she’s a smart girl and she knew something was going on. I was worried that if I lied to her that I’d eradicate any sort of trust I’d built up.”
“I can understand that. I think I would have done the same.” She slumped forward and buried her face in his neck.
He rubbed her back. “Everything will be good, baby. I promise.”
Bandit’s whines woke her up later that night.
She’d been dreaming about Santa and a talking reindeer when a cold chill went through her.
Ink sat up. “Bandit?”
Getting up, she pulled a nightgown on. “I’ll let him out, he must have to pee.”
He barked and she took that as his agreement.
“I’m just going to go check on Zippy as well.” She had this weird feeling. A sense of urgency.
“No, you’re not. Get back into bed. I’ll let Bandit out and check on Zippy.”
“But, Ink,” she protested as he started to get up. “I was already up.”
“And now you can get back into bed where it’s nice and warm and let me take the dog out.” He walked around and gently settled her back into bed. Then he kissed her forehead. “And go check on Zippy. It’s my job.”
The man certainly had a lot of ideas on what was his job. But she’d give this to him if it meant she got to keep her feet warm.