Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 74641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“I already called her. We’re picking her up on the way,” I told her.
Georgia smiled.
“Good,” she said solemnly. “Tell me what happened?”
I sighed.
“From what I got from Michael, as well as what I got from the hospital yesterday, a lot happened. The boy, who’s also the father of the two children, is fourteen. His step-mother raped him repeatedly over the years, and then got pregnant with his babies. She then had said babies, and used them to keep the boy quiet about it all. The father was none the wiser to it all, but basically that was because he was high out of his mind,” I told her. “After the second child was born at home, addicted to God knows what drugs, and then totally failed to be cared for, the boy took it as his cue to get the hell out. He stole their car, took the kids, and had been parked in that gas station parking lot for about twelve hours before Michael caught him trying to steal candy and milk for the kids.”
Georgia stopped and turned half way through the story, but by the time I was finished recounting it, tears were in her eyes, as well as in my eyes.
“Holy crap, that poor boy,” she said, voice devastated.
I nodded. “That’s where the SWAT team was last night. Doing a raid on that house. The judge who’s overseeing the case is the son of a man that abused him, so he wasn’t tolerant at hearing what happened to Madden.”
“Madden is also the name of the boys father?” Georgia clarified.
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s him.”
“What’d they find at the raid last night?” Georgia asked.
Nico came through the door, shoving a lock pick into his pocket as he threw the door opened.
He walked past the bed and pushed me hard enough that I fell backward, causing me to laugh.
He shot me an ‘I’ll get you back’ look, and turned to his wife.
“If you were interested in that, why didn’t you just ask your husband?” Nico asked cheekily.
Georgia sat down on the bed beside me and slipped her socks on before shoving her feet into tennis shoes.
“Probably because I’m still mad at you,” she said, tossing him a fake glare.
I snorted.
“I told you I was too tired to change that diaper! I didn’t steal your hamburger, and I didn’t pour hot sauce in your tea! It was a freakin’ diaper! One!” He said, raising his hands in the air for emphasis.
Rolling my eyes, I got up and tugged Georgia’s hand.
“We’ll be back, brother dear. Take care of the babies and the diapers, until we get back,” I ordered.
Then we left, all under the very annoyed glare of Nico.
“So, what’d they find?” Georgia picked up where we left off.
I closed the front door behind me and walked with her to my car.
My beautiful baby.
It was a sky blue Volkswagen Beetle convertible.
Georgia got into the passenger side, and I dropped into the driver’s side before I told her.
“A lot, actually. Drugs. Enough drugs that they think they were dealers. Dirty needles. Cocaine and weed. Horrible living conditions. Both parents were high as hell. Neither one of them even knew the kids were missing - that’s how gone they were,” I told her, backing out of the driveway and turning left to head to the highway.
Georgia hummed.
I looked over at her.
“What?” I asked, moving my eyes back to the road in front of me.
A tractor was taking up three quarters of the road, and I contemplated passing him on the shoulder when he finally moved over, allowing me to pass.
And in all that time, Georgia stayed silent.
“What?” I asked again.
“They’re going to split them up, I can see it now,” she said softly.
I winced.
That’s what I was afraid of.
Madden was a good kid, but he was in no way, shape, or form, ready to raise two kids, seeing as he was only a kid himself.
“That’s why I’m bringing in the big guns,” I replied.
She frowned.
“I’ll try, honey. But I can’t promise a single thing,” she explained. “I can’t make any promises.”
I nodded in understanding. “I know. I just want you to try the best you can. Work with Shiloh. Anything is better than what they had. I just feel so horrible about the situation.”
She patted my hand as I stopped at the stoplight that would lead us to the hospital.
“And what about that other little boy? How’s he doing?” She asked.
I smiled happily.
“Much better, actually. They said he opened his eyes yesterday. I was going to stop in and see Nathan since I’ll already be up on the ped’s floor,” I informed her. “But we have to be back at your house by twelve so I can make my one o’clock class. Okay?”
Georgia nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. Then I can be there in time for Nico to go to work, and we won’t have to call your mom to watch the kids.”
I held up my thumb in a ‘good’ gesture, and opened my car door.
I blinked at the cop cars that were lined up at the front entrance of the hospital.
“What’s going on?” I asked the woman that was standing in front of my parked car.
The woman turned and shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re not letting anybody in or out.”
Picking up my phone, I called Michael.
“Hello?” Michael answered.
He sounded distracted, but that wasn’t going to stop me from getting inside.
“Hey,” I said. “We’re outside the ER entrance and there’re a bunch of people outside the doors. What’s going on?”
He cleared his throat.
“There was another murder,” he said softly. “Give me a few minutes to come down and I’ll escort you inside.”
Chapter 11
Don’t make fun of a woman with big lips. She’s probably thick and tired of it.
-E-card
Michael
“Where was this one from?” I asked Agent Palmer gruffly.
Agent Palmer offered me a file folder, and I steeled myself before opening the offending folder.
What I saw did not disappoint.
“Goddammit,” I said, clearing my throat. “Why another one so fast?”
“All of these have happened within the last three weeks. Roughly every three days. This is correct with that timeline,” he admitted softly.