Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
I shine my light in the box and find all of the breakers but one was thrown. He must have been in a hurry and missed the porch light. I push all the switches back to ON and see light from the kitchen shining down the basement staircase.
“You think he did that?” the deputy asks.
“Either that or we have a family of vampires upstairs,” I say, trying to get him to relax a little but he seems to take it as an insult to his intelligence.
I sigh. After the way these deputies handled this call, I can see they all need a healthy dose of discipline and a lot of training. “We’re going to need to take statements from the victims now,” I add and head back up the stairs.
My head is down as I walk through the kitchen, trying not to trip over the mess the intruder left in his wake. I round the corner to the living room where I seated the girl and the old woman and see them—really see them—in full light for the first time.
The weathered old woman is frail and thin. She just stares off into space, and I’m not sure she has a clue what’s going on. When my assessment of her is complete, I turn my attention to the girl beside her holding her hand.
My god. How is she even real?
I follow the lines of her toned legs to her curvy hips, which give way to a tiny waist. She’s wearing a pair of short shorts and a tank top. Her large, round breasts spill slightly over the top of the tank and sit just under her long neck. Her blonde hair lays in curls, covering her shoulders.
Perfect. So perfect.
As I lift my head, my gaze lands on her big, blue eyes. She’s looking at me with a look of absolute vulnerability that makes my chest crack open. Her pouty lower lip is trembling and she’s as white as a ghost. Her body is still shivering, and tears begin to stream down her cheeks.
I want so badly to take her in my arms and kiss those tears away. She shouldn’t feel like this. She needs to feel safe and protected.
Gazing at her, a thousand messages course through my brain. It’s like my wires have been crossed or somehow short-circuited. It’s a freeway of thoughts and feelings moving at high speeds. Every couple of seconds one comes to a screeching halt so I can translate it into something I can understand.
She needs me.
I have to protect her. I’m the only one who can protect her.
I have to have her.
I don’t know why I’m having this type of reaction. I used to be a big city cop where pretty girls are a dime a dozen, but none of them have made me feel this way.
Now, admittedly, this girl is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, but I’m not some kid who does backflips over a little vixen. I’m a thirty-six-year-old man for god’s sake. Still, that doesn’t stop my heart from racing and my palms from sweating when I look at her. My manhood even twitches as the idea of peeling off her clothes crosses my mind.
Dammit. This needs to stop. I have a job to do, and I can’t do it if I’m sporting a boner.
I take a deep breath and clear my throat. I can see she’s been waiting a long time for me to finally speak, but I have to push aside the next thought that has stopped on my information superhighway first. It’s causing a rage to build in my already jacked-up psyche.
He better not have touched her. I’ll kill him if he puts his hands on her. It’s my job to keep her safe.
2
LORI
“You’re safe now” are the first words the sheriff says to me once he’s turned the power back on.
In my life, I can’t remember ever believing anyone who said those words. This time, for some reason, I feel safer just hearing it.
My life hasn’t exactly given me any reason to trust anyone except for my Nana. I remember being a little girl and praying each night that my parents would send me to see her the next morning.
Mom and Dad were constantly at each other’s throats and barely able to feed and clothe me most of the time. Whenever I saw Nana, she’d give me a bath in her giant old tub and dress me in the warmest pajamas. Then, she’d feed me my fill of home-cooked meals and freshly baked goodies.
We’d sit together on her sofa and watch movies until late into the night. I’d fall asleep and wake up the next day in the little bedroom she decorated for me, feeling like I was the most special little girl in the world.
Nana loved me more than my parents did. I was just a pawn they used to get back at each other and an excuse for why they couldn’t live the life they thought they deserved.