Page 100 of Broken Promises

I should’ve known, but as usual, I’d gone running to her in hopes she meant it this time. That she just wanted me.

She was crying and babbling something, but I didn’t care, motioning to Frank.

“C’mon. You’re with me.”

He didn’t hesitate to scramble to my side, flinching as Viktor started yelling cruel shit to him and threatening his sister. The asshole wouldn’t have the chance to hurt either of them, and right now, he couldn’t even get himself up off the damn floor.

I didn’t want to scare the kid, but I grabbed his arm and dragged him out, trying not to flinch when a gunshot went off inside, the bullet narrowly missing me as it flew through the door and landed in the yard somewhere.

“He’ll hurt?—”

“No, he won’t. Get in the car, we’ll go get your sister,” I ordered calmly, thankfully not having to rush him since it seemed he was rushing all on his own.

I drove the short distance to his house, my heart hurting as Frank bailed before we’d even stopped moving and ran into the house that hadn’t even been locked. I wasn’t the type that prayed, but I hoped like hell that the baby was okay in there and nothing bad had happened to her.

The house reeked as I stepped inside, and I could hear the baby choking from crying so much as Frank tried soothing her with words. I found the room they were in, and I wanted to throw up at seeing the soaked mattress the baby had been lying on, shit and piss all over it.

Her tiny face was bruised, and I was pretty sure she had a broken arm from the way it was hanging.

Frank held her, not caring about the mess she was getting on his clothes, and I knew they couldn’t live like this anymore. He’d probably hate me for it, but at least they’d both be alive.

“I need to find her a new diaper,” Frank said more to himself than to me, but I shook my head.

“No. I’m sorry, dude, but we need to call this in. Leave her in that, it’s evidence.”

“No!” he shouted, clutching her more tightly to his chest as a rough cry left her from being startled. “They’ll take her away from me!”

“Frank, look at her. She’s going to die here. Her arm’s broken, so she needs a hospital,” I explained, trying to take her from him but he almost fell over try to get away from me.

“Raven promised!”

“I’m not Raven!” I snapped, reminding myself that he was scared and I was making it worse. Not that long ago, this had been me trying to keep CPS away from Raven’s house while we all raised ourselves. I knew the odds of a good foster home weren’t that great, but it had to be better than this. “Look at me.”

He stared at the ground for a moment before finally raising his gaze, tears falling down his cheeks. “I’m supposed to keep her safe. I can’t if she’s in foster care without me.”

“You’ve done a really good job, but this isn’t safe. Not now that he’s hurting her and leaving her in her own filth overnight,” I answered, holding my hands out. “Please. Let me call for help and I’ll see if Rory can get you both into the same home.”

“Beckett’s mom?”

“Yeah. They’ll do something, I just know they will.”

“I can hold her until they get here,” he said quietly, and I wasn’t going to fight him. If he could comfort her while we waited, that was fine by me. At least he was agreeing to get help.

I pulled my phone out and found Beckett’s number, her voice reaching me after the second ring. “What’s wrong?”

“I need your mom to come to Frank’s house. You guys helped him before, right? I need cops and paramedics, but she needs to advocate for them,” I rushed out, hearing her slamming doors in the background.

“What injuries?”

“Frank’s a little roughed up, but he’s alright. Pretty sure the baby’s arm’s broken, and she has bruising on her face, so I don’t know if she has head trauma. I don’t want them in foster care, but?—”

“I’ve texted her, she’s meeting me there. Stay with them, we’ll be there soon,” she promised before hanging up, and Frank instantly moved in front of me to draw my attention, rubbing his sister’s back as she returned to choking from being so worked up.

“They’re coming?”

“Yeah, man. They’ll be here soon. You want to sit on the couch with your sister?” I asked, knowing he was freaking out and I needed to distract him. I tried to inspect the baby for more damage as I followed him to the couch, the cry that left her as he bumped her arm making my heart break all over again.

“She’s probably hungry,” Frank said, and I felt awful for shaking my head at that too.

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