Page 15 of Naughty by Nature

“He can’t do this to me again,” she moaned. “I won’t let him. I won’t let him terrorize me anymore. I won’t, I won’t.”

Everything around her faded away and it wasn’t until Sheridan grabbed her arms and snapped her name that Cheyenne realized she’d kind of lost it a little. She melted into him, silent tears rolling down her cheeks as she clutched at the front of his uniform shirt. Everything was going wrong in her life and she felt helpless to change it.

Sheridan held her for a couple minutes, until she got control of her emotions. Cheyenne was surprised how good his arms felt. It had been a long time since she’d let herself be held by anyone, let alone a man. Straightening her spine she stepped away.

“I’m sorry I broke down like that.” She looked down at the ground, unwilling to meet his gaze.

A hard finger tipped her chin up. “I’m not. It finally gave me a chance to hold you for a minute.”

He shrugged at her startled look. “I’ve wanted to hold you and comfort you for many years, but you never let me get close enough. Thank you for finally letting me.”

Cheyenne didn’t know what to say to that. After the incident she’d been like a hedgehog, prickly to everyone. You were especially prickly to him, though, a voice inside her insisted. It wasn’t his fault he was the one that found you.

No, it wasn’t. She’d been holding that grudge for a long time and it was so unfair to Sheridan. “I’m sorry about that. I haven’t let anyone hold me, really, so don’t be too offended.”

She tried to laugh it off like she did everything else, but he gave her a sad, considering look. Then looked back down at the ground. “It looks like he walked all the way around the house, peering in the windows. I’ve taken pictures of the area where he stepped. We need to go inside and make sure he didn’t enter anywhere.”

The thought of Wade being inside her house chilled her to the bone. “Okay.”

She followed Sheridan around the side of the house to the kitchen door where they entered the most. He fit the key in the lock and it turned easily for him. Cheyenne stepped inside expecting to see something changed, but she didn’t. The house looked exactly as they had left it this morning. She looked at every item, trying to remember if it was in the same place it had been eight hours previously, but there was no way she could do that with everything.

It didn’t look like anything had been moved.

They went through every single room. Sheridan looked in every closet, every cubby where a man could hide before he nodded his head. “I think the house is secure. Why don’t you get the girls in here to pack a bag?”

Cheyenne nodded and went to the front of the house to wave the girls from the truck. They trooped inside, looking around.

“Go pack a bag, girls. At least enough for a few days. Savannah you’ll probably be done first. Can you get a bag packed for Daisy? Enough for several days.”

Her sharp little nine year old nodded, pushing her wire frame glasses up her narrow nose. “Yes, Mama.”

All three took off up the stairs. Sheridan had moved to the front window to stand watch. With his arms crossed, the tan uniform shirt strained across his muscled back. Cheyenne knew she needed to go get a bag packed for herself, but she lingered, feeling like she needed to say something.

Sheridan looked at her, his eyes kind as he took in her confusion. “Don’t worry about it, Cheyenne. Go get what you need to get. I’d like to be out of here within fifteen minutes.”

She nodded and hurried away, wondering how on earth she could remember everything she needed. Grace drew her attention in the hall, asking for help, and she detoured in the direction of her room.

By the time she made it to her own room, almost ten minutes had passed. Cheyenne dragged her large overnight bag from the floor of the closet. She hadn’t replaced it after she’d used it when Daddy was in the hospital in Amarillo, so it was closest to hand. If she didn’t use this she had to do a suitcase, and committing to taking that much stuff with her frankly freaked her out.

Throwing the bag to the bed she rushed around the room, snatching shirts from the hangers in her closet and trying to roll them neatly to fit into the bag. It wasn’t working. She grabbed socks and a handful of stacked underwear from the top drawer of her dresser, trying to add them to the bag neatly. From the third drawer she drew some of her dress pants, and jeans from the bottom drawer, a skirt. She didn’t know how long she’d be there or what she would need, so she had to be ready for anything.

Rushing to the bathroom she filled her makeup case with essentials. Then started adding in extras, till she thought she had enough. Her eyes darted around frantically, knowing that she was leaving something important behind.

Reaching beneath the bed she pulled out the blue fire safe and lifted it to the mattress. Retrieving the key from the bathroom door jamb where she’d hidden it, she opened the safe and rifled through the contents. Birth certificates and social security cards were in one manila envelope. Grabbing that and a few hundred dollars in cash, as well as a thick folder of court documents, she relocked the safe and slid it back into its hiding place. Then she reset the key where it had been before.

Stuffing the envelope and folder into her bag, she moved to the door, anxiety tightening her throat. She loved the little haven she’d made for herself and her family. She hated to leave it, but they had to be safe.

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