Page 53 of Shelter for Tanna

Braden laughed loudly. “Again?”

“Yeah. But he was proud of himself, so we ate it and told him how much we enjoyed it. Max would eat it every night, so that’s no big deal for him.”

“Well, that was good. I, um, I should probably go. I’m keeping the other guys awake, I’m afraid.”

“Get off the phone, lover boy!” Tanna heard a voice call mockingly on the other end of the phone.

“See? They’re bustin’ my chops. But I miss you and I love you, doll. Can’t wait to see you.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait to see you either. I love you, Braden. The boys do too. They miss you.”

“I miss them. Tell them good morning for me tomorrow morning and I’ll talk to you tomorrow evening. Get some sleep, baby.”

“I will. You too. Night,” Tanna whispered, choking down the sobs that threatened to tear from her throat.

“Night, babe.”

The phone went dead and she buried her face in her pillow and sobbed. What the hell was she going to do? She didn’t remember that much about the car they were talking about and even if she did, she couldn’t get them to it. Only the sheriff’s department could do that. There was no doubt in her mind that they weren’t going to give up until they found that car, and she didn’t want to be their punching bag when they got frustrated and couldn’t get to it.

She thought about calling Dean. He was staying at Sparky’s, and even though she didn’t know him well, he’d be glad to come over, she was sure. But she didn’t want to put Braden’s friend in danger. She thought about calling her brother, but he had his hands full. With Braden at work, there really was no one.

Even when Michael was alive, they’d had a rule?no guns in the house. With Max’s rages due to the Oppositional Defiant Disorder, that was just too dangerous. But it might be time to forget about that rule. They needed a way to protect themselves.

As it stood at that moment, they were wide open. It was her responsibility to protect her children, and without the proper tools, she couldn’t. She made up her mind. Before she came home the next evening, she’d have a weapon.

As of that moment, it had become a necessity.

* * *

Max and Daniel were almost ready to go the next morning when Tanna pulled on the only uniform shirt that was clean. She’d managed to get it buttoned when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and found the whole underarm on one side had a blown-out seam.Great. And I don’t have time to fix it, she groused internally as she flipped through her closet. Sure weren’t very many things in there. Digging around, she finally found a long sleeve tee. It was bright pink, almost neon, but it would have to do. She’d be wearing a jacket anyway, so it wouldn’t matter. If Charlie didn’t like it, he could suck it.

Her eyes swept from side to side as she drove, watching, expecting to see the two men who’d threatened her, but they didn’t seem to be around. Once the boys were dropped off at school, Tanna drove to the office. Charlie was already there, and she was thankful for that. Being alone there was something she didn’t want. Her boss barely looked up when she walked in. “Gonna be a long day.”

Well, hello to you too, she wanted to snap, but she didn’t. “Oh? Something wrong?”

“Yeah. Kevin’s sick and Robbie’s car won’t start.”

“Where’s Morris?”

Charlie frowned. “At the doctor’s office with his wife. Ultrasound or some such shit. I told him to just take the day off.”

Nice. Real nice. So it’s just me. How thoughtful of you, she wanted to snarl, but she didn’t. She was just too tired. Her eyes had been wide open all night long, and every little creak and snap of the house had set her heart pounding. And Charlie was saying it was going to be a long day? He didn’t know the half of it.

Thank god it was turning out to be a slow day, or so she thought. But when noon hit, so did ten hours of work that she’d have to do in five. Four pickups, and they were spread out all over the place. To make matters worse, the sky was black and it had started to rain. “Any particular order?”

Charlie shook his head. “Nah. Just pick ‘em up however you want to.”

“Okay. See you at five, I hope.” Tanna headed out to the truck, almost soaked before she could get there. Once inside the rig, she slipped on her rain gear and looked at the orders. It was ridiculous. There were two pickups on opposite sides of the county. “Let’s see. I can do this one first and that’ll put me over here for this one,” she mused aloud to herself as she sat there studying the addresses. In a couple of minutes, she was out on the street and headed east.

It was hard to see because of the downpour, and she drove extra carefully as she headed out of town. The address was down a county road she was somewhat familiar with, but she didn’t know how the house numbers ran. She’d just have to watch for them. The order said a blue Chevy pickup truck, so at least she had something to look for.

Once she was on the right highway, she started watching for the house number?fourteen thirty-four. The numbers were in the nine hundreds, which meant she had a ways to go. As she started through the thirteen hundreds, she slowed and began to watch. In a couple of minutes, she found a mailbox for fourteen thirty. She was close.

But they jumped from fourteen thirty-two to fourteen thirty-nine. Where was fourteen thirty-four? There was no blue pickup at any of the houses, at least not as far as she could see. Did she have the wrong highway number? Tanna stopped in the roadway and looked at the order again?nope, she was in the right place. Where was the house?

She was about to pull out her phone and call the office when movement behind her caught her eye, and she checked her mirror. What she saw there made her heart almost stop.

The two men who’d been threatening her were sitting directly behind the tow truck in a white older car. As she tried to think of something to do, one of the doors opened and the red-haired guy got out.

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