Page 10 of Reed

“The fuck I will. Who–”

I cut him off by pulling my wrist away and start pushing Caleb forward. “It’s none of your business.” Reed keeps up with me, but any attempt to talk to me is cut off when we approach the group. I notice a girl from my Spanish class and ask, “What’s going on?”

“Someone’s car was vandalized,” she says, pointing her finger toward the car she is talking about.

As I turn to look in the direction she is pointing, my heart drops to my stomach, and the toast I ate earlier threatens to come up. My Jeep is sitting a foot away with the front window smashed, the word bitch written in red on the hood, and a knife is sticking out of the back passenger tire. Breaking out into a run, I push Caleb’s stroller over a rock, and it causes him to wake up. For the first time in forever, he starts to cry. I head to the driver’s side and see that the other two tires have met the same fate. Someone slashed all four of my tires. I’m watching you is written in red spray paint down the driver’s side. I can tell the paint is still wet because it is dripping onto the asphalt.

I forget all the people packed around staring and Caleb crying out for me. Instead, I crumble to the ground, my hands thrown over my mouth as I stare at my ruined car. Someone was watching me. Those feelings weren’t in my mind. Neither was the figure outside the bar. There are only two people who could be after me. But I don’t understand how any of them found me. I’m states away from where my family was killed and hours away from my last foster family. But it looks like neither was far enough to keep us safe.

What the fuck am I going to do?

Chapter Six

Reed

All the thoughts of punishing Ali for talking badly about her stunning body, her lies, her smart mouth, and the fact that she is keeping the name of the person who scares her a secret flies out of my mind when I see the state of her Jeep. Now, I’m running on autopilot, scanning the crowd, looking for a threat, and moving closer to her and Caleb. The need to protect them is clinging to every blood cell pumping through my body. Watching Ali’s eyes widen in fear as she crumbles to the ground is the hardest thing I’ve witnessed. And I’ve seen some tough shit in my thirty-two years on this earth.

I pull my phone out and send a message in the group chat.

Me

911. West parking lot at the college.

“Everyone get going now. Unless you have some information to pass along to the police.” I raise my voice but stop short of full-on yelling. I bend down and take Caleb out of his stroller. He is still crying for Ali, and his pants are wet. Looking over my shoulder, I see only a few students standing around. “Did either of you see anything?” They shake their heads at me. “Then fucking leave,” I growl, and they obey.

“Mommy,” Caleb screams, which seems to snap Ali out of it. She looks up as if she is seeing us for the first time. She moves fast and pulls him from my arms. Jacob starts to wake up and wiggles in my arms. I adjust him more toward my hip, that is, until I feel something wet and warm run down my stomach. That makes me pull him away from my body.

“Little One, I think someone had an accident.”

Jacob smiles at me like he knows what he did and laughs. Ali turns around to look at us, and sure enough, my shirt and his pants are wet.

“Jacob, you are supposed to tell me when you have to go potty. And we don’t laugh about peeing on someone,” she says, reaching toward her Jeep, but I stop her.

“Don’t touch it,” I bark, and she jumps back. The sound of fast-approaching vehicles pulls the attention of everyone walking to their car but not mine. I know who is coming, so my focus stays solely on my Little One. “Whoever did this might have left prints behind.”

Ali steps back further, clutching Caleb tighter to her. “I didn’t think of that. I have extra clothes for them in the back of the Jeep. They usually sleep in diapers, but I forgot to change them before we left.” She ducks her head as if she has something to be ashamed about.

Stepping forward, I tilt her head back up so I can see those gray eyes. “It’s okay, Little One. I’ll get their clothes.”

“What the fuck happened?” Gabe asks, sounding as pissed as I am about the state of her Jeep.

“Holy shit, is the boss man holding a baby?” Jessie asks.

“I’ll start looking into the camera feed,” Nick says. Out of those three, he is the only one with a level head on his shoulders and jumps into work without being told when something is going on.

Ali turns around, taking in my team of guys. Her eyes widen as she takes them in. We each command the room independently, but together, we look scary, or so I’ve been told. Jessie is the smallest out of each of us, and that fucker stands at six foot two and weighs two twenty.

“Wh… who are you?” She asks, stepping closer to me.

Pride expands in my chest at that slight movement. I’m sure she didn’t even know what she did, but I do. My girl feels safe with me. “Gabe, Jessie, and Nick,” I say, pointing at each guy before slipping my arm around her waist. “They all work with me, and together, we will find out who did this to your car.”

“Their teachers?” Ali looks up at me as if she doesn’t believe me. The boys have started babbling at each other in a language that no one but them could possibly understand.

“God no,” Jessie says, reaching a finger out for Jacob to take. Jacob snuggles closer to me, glaring at Jessie.

“Teaching is only my part-time job. I own and run a security company. Gabe, I need you to remove all of Ali’s personal items from the Jeep. The boys need a change of clothes. Jessie, pull my SUV around and transfer the boys’ car seats into it.” I give out orders, and they start obeying me.

“Wait. I’m confused,” Ali says, shaking her head.

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