Page 4 of All In Good Time

Becca smiled at the short-haired girl who stood there. Jane grinned up at her. In her arms was a small overnight bag and a pouch of what looked like some sort of snack.

“Hi, Becca,” Jane greeted her, entering when Becca stepped aside.

Becca tried to give the girl her attention, but, really, she was more focused on the faded blue truck that sat idle in the driveway. Sheriff Winston Wade watched them through the windshield.

“Hi, Jane. Mal is upstairs washing up. Why don’t you join her?”

Jane nodded enthusiastically and dropped her belongings on the ground before rushing up the stairs.

Normally, Becca would have just waved Winston away to let him know his daughter was inside safe, but today she stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. Today was different.

Her body language must have given that away, because once he realized she was walking toward his car, he shut off the engine and stepped out. He raised a single brow in a wordless question.

Aside from her mom, Winston was the only other adult in this town she trusted. He and Jane were like family to her. When her mom started taking out-of-town jobs, Winston became Becca’s caretaker while she bounced back and forth between her house and his until she was old enough to remain home alone for longer periods of time. Now, he came by once or twice a week to make sure she had enough food or to bring Jane over for sleepovers with Mal ever since she introduced the girls to each other.

“Hey, Winston.” Becca greeted him.

“Hey, kiddo.” He nodded in greeting. “Where’s your mom at now?”

“She’s in Michigan for a few weeks. She said she’d be back later this month or so. That’s what I get for having a traveling nurse as a mother.” She shrugged and tried to sound unbothered. And really, she wasn’t. She was used to it by now. It had helped when Derek showed up and they were able to keep each other company.

Which didn’t seem like it would be happening again anytime soon.

Despite her smile, Winston’s frown made it obvious he knew something was off. He wouldn’t even need police training to be able to decipher that. “Okay, what’s up?”

She sighed and dropped the carelessness she tried to wield while easing into the subject that was pushing violently on the back of her mind. “Have you heard anything on Derek Stokes?”

He frowned. “Nothing past what I helped you with last week.” Aside from the CPS call she had made, Winston was the only person she told what was going on in the Stokes home. He had been the one to give her the number and the encouragement and the statistics to show her how serious it was to get in contact with the right people.

When she’d told him Derek wouldn’t admit anything to the police, all he said was that the police could do nothing without evidence. So the next best thing was to turn to the people whose name was literally “Child Protective Services.”

We would need to be there in the middle of Mark Stokes beating his kid,he had said,Otherwise, it would be easy to talk his way out of it.

Becca hadn’t wanted to sit around and try and catch a moment where Derek was getting beaten to a pulp to call the police. She wanted something to be donenow. So she had made that call.

“You haven’t heard anything?” Her mind went blank.

“Was there more to hear?”

She swallowed and bit her lip. “Derek has been missing for a couple days…I thought they made a report or something.”

“That long?” Winston sounded shocked. He pulled his hat off and rubbed at his unruly hair. “Jesus, Becca, why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

“I just found out myself.” Her defenses rose and her hands twisted into fists. Winston might be a constant in her life, but he really had a hard time with kids, even with a daughter of his own.

“I thought he was your best friend. Wouldn’t you notice your best friend missing?”

“He is my best friend! Or he was…” She sighed and glared at him. “We got into a fight when I told him I called CPS. He told me to leave him alone, so I did. I thought he was avoiding me, but apparently, he hasn’t been home since. And now Mal is here, and Mark has hurther, because Derek isn’t around, and I don’t know what thehellto do, Winston. My best friend is missing, and his little sister is terrified of her house, and those damn CPS people you told me about went and then left her there alone after everything. And I…I…”

Everything she had been holding in since her conversation with Derek two days ago came out in earth-shattering sobs that echoed off the suburban houses around her. Tears streamed down her face and dripped from her chin onto the dry concrete under her feet. Her legs could no longer hold her up and she dropped into a crouch, burying her eyes into her fists.

The very first promise she ever made to Derek was that she would simply be there for him if he needed it. Somehow, she had single-handedly managed to ruin that to the point where he didn’t want to be anywhere near her for anything.

She stayed for what felt like minutes, but, in reality, was probably only seconds. A heavy hand came down on her shoulder, and then a few moments later, two strong hands pulled her back to her feet and into an awkward but warm embrace.

Winston was not the affectionate type, but Becca appreciated the effort.

He shushed her sobs for a few moments, his hands finding something to do by patting the back of her head. “Hey, kid, I’m sorry, okay?” He stepped back so she could look at his face and see the genuine regret at his words. “It’s not your fault, alright? Nothing about this is your fault. You saw someone who was hurting, and you wanted to help them. You’ve done good.”

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