Page 37 of Redemption

“Her grandparents went out west in their RV. I’ve seen a couple of skanks, no one I know. No one else from here, I mean.”

“How about a woman, around thirty or so, dark red hair?”

Rouge looks confused before shaking her head. “No, the girls are probably my age or younger.”

“Anything else we should know?” Tyrant asks her.

“She said Tyre was flipping out because Able and Zero are missing,” Rouge replies, her eyes widening as she hopes this is important enough to save her life. “They freelance for some other groups, I’ve heard that before, but this time they were bragging about the money they were offered. Tyre needs them for something he has planned, but they haven’t been back, and he’s worried they’re out burning through the money somewhere.”

“Talkative little bitch, now aren’t ya?” Tyrant growls, twisting the blade so it rubs against her earlobe without cutting her.

“Two options right now.” I raise my voice over her whimpers. “Rag or no rag. If I hear a peep coming from this room, there’ll be hell to pay.”

“No rag,” she pleads. “But what are you going to do with me? It wasn’t my fault –”

“Walking into a trap was one thing, not telling us about itwasyour fault. Help us and you can pack your shit and move farenough away so that we never see you again. Don’t and you ain’t walking out of here.”

I turn on my heel and leave the room. That may be harsh but until I know that Grace is safe, Rouge has to decide if she wants to be collateral damage or turn her life around.

Sloane

Leaving work, I smile at the sight of Evon pretending the cement edge of the garden boxes are a tightrope that she’s walking, her father is a step behind her with his hand up to catch her if she slips.

“Miss Sloane!” she yells when she sees me, jumping down and running up to me. “We’re your damn taxi today!”

I can’t help the laugh that bursts from me as she undoubtedly repeats her dad’s opinion of his assignment.

“I really appreciate it,” I reply, as much for Swann as Evon. “But I have a stop I need to make on the way home.”

“What?” The look on her face is more inviting than Swann’s, so I focus on her.

“Well, Vector was telling me about this fudge that he really likes, and I wanted to get him some, but I can’t remember the name of the store,” I answer her, and the clap of her hands is countered by Swann’s frown. Right up until she turns to smile at him.

“Daddy knows where to go! Don’t you, Daddy?” she replies before launching herself into his arms.

He swings her up and around before settling her on her hip. “I’ve been betrayed,” he mutters, softening his words with a teasing bop to her nose. “You can have one thing, but it’s for after dinner.”

When Evon looks at me, I wink, and she quickly agrees to her father’s term.

This kid’s going to give Bridget a run for her money when she gets older.

In retrospect, I will admit to buying too much at Sweet Temptations. We quickly fell into a pattern of anything that Evon looked at too long, I added to my basket. After the sixth item, prior to the fudge counter, Swann’s growl let me know he was on to me, and I stopped doing it.

Getting Evon back into his truck, I look to him for permission to give her a small ring-pop and am pleased when he gives me a nod.

The large, gruff man doesn’t speak much and would be intimidating if I didn’t witness how he lights up when dealing with his daughter. It would be easy to say that she has him wrapped around her finger, if not for the fact that he’s the only one who seems to saynoto her. When he does, she accepts it as the final answer without any more pleading.

“I think I’m going to save this for later,” Evon announces as she puts the ring pop in the cupholder of her car seat. “I could really use a power nap right now.”

“Why don’t you drive and I take the power nap?” Swann teases her as he snaps the final strap into place.

“Why doesn’t Miss Sloane drive and we both take power naps?” she counters, looking pleased with her solution.

“Because Miss Sloane isn’t a certified driver,” he responds still using the tone of voice that he reserves for his daughter.

“I have my license!” I interject myself into their conversation at what I felt was a slight.

Swann looks at me as he gets into the driver’s seat and starts his truck up before answering.

---