Page 115 of Filthy Liar

“No, but Raven is,” he chuckled, turning and walking away as he talked to Maggie.

“That kid has to stop looking so cute before I go home and knock up Raven,” I grunted, earning a death glare from Reid. I walked away before he could scold me, pulling my phone out to text Beckett.

Logan: How is she?

Beckett: She’s fine. You guys really need to talk amongst yourselves. You’re all texting me and it’s annoying.

I snickered, pocketing my phone and almost tripping over Sia, who was standing randomly on her own.

“Hey, what are you doing out here?” I asked as I bent down to scoop the little girl up.

“I’m hungry,” she said as if that answered my question, making me smirk.

“Hungry? I can fix that. Let’s go see what food’s left. Who was watching you?”

She just smiled at me, and I let out a huff as I carried her into the community center in search of food and Rory.

I grabbed some pieces of fruit and handed it to her, knowing I’d probably end up wearing half of it from the way she shoved it into her mouth and happily put her hands all over me with the juice.

I’d chosen a bad day to wear a white shirt.

I pointed random things out for Sia to tell me what they were, and I was surprised that her speech was already improving in the time she’d spent at Rory’s. None of the kids were that educated, and apart from Gregory and Frank, they probably hadn’t spoken to people much.

“Oh thank fuck, you found her,” Luna squeaked as she jogged over, making me fake a gasp.

“Luna Hendricks. Did you just curse?”

She never cursed unless she was super freaked out or angry.

Luna’s face turned pink and she winced. “I put her down for two seconds. Two. She just vanished. I think that’s a good reason to curse.”

“Kids are slippery,” I grinned. “I’ve got her. I’m the face of safety for children here, after all.”

“No, you’re the fun guy all the teenagers get to hang out with when they’re skipping school,” she said with a soft smile. “You wouldn’t mind watching her?”

“She’s easy. Go make out with Riley or something,” I teased, and she huffed under her breath before spinning around and almost running away from me.

“How about we check on people?” I asked Sia, making her nod.

“People are scared?”

“Yeah, kid. Let’s go make them feel better.”

We wandered for over an hour, checking in with people and making conversation. A lot had left, but some stayed for the gossip.

I somehow ended up collecting Paul and Joseph in my travels, both boys sticking to me like glue as I continued carrying their sister. Skeeter had been looking frustrated to be stuck babysitting, so he’d happily placed them in my care when I offered to let them wander with me.

Sia was surprisingly getting heavy despite her tiny body. My arms were going dead.

I spotted Ander pulling his phone out, and I gave him a small wave as he put the phone to his ear. I frowned though when he barely noticed me, a serious look on his face.

When he started pacing as he spoke to whoever it was, I knew something was wrong. Especially when he motioned to Riley to join him when he hung up.

“C’mon, I need to check on Ander for a second,” I said to the kids as I made sure they followed me, hearing the end of their conversation.

“A week and a half ago,” Riley said slowly, already pulling her phone out to call someone.

“What’s going on?” I asked carefully, hoping it wasn’t something that would traumatize the kids.

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