Page 126 of Mother Parker
“He was pissed off and wanted to get back at you. I tried to talk him out of it, but I couldn’t—that’s why I called you.” He turned to Parker.
“So Rat Man hit you?” Parker asked, pointing at the bruise on the boy’s cheek.
“No,” he mumbled, covering the bruise with his hand. “This happened yesterday. Toby…I told him I thought you were asking around about him, and he wanted to scare you.”
“Wait, your brother did this to him?” I asked, pointing at Parker’s shoulder, getting angrier and angrier with every passing moment. “He did this to you?” I turned to ask Parker.
“I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone. I got shot—”
“Did you just say shot? Shot?” I was screaming now.
I stepped toward Elliot, but he cowered and started crying again.
All this mess, all this pain, damage, and drama, for what? For a little extra cash?
“Why would you help him, Elliot? Why would you do this to me? I was nice to you. I trusted you. I let you into my home, my shop.”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Hwan. I didn’t think it would get-get this bad,” he cried again, and it was pointless trying to get anything else out of him.
“What’s going on? Why are you still here?” Maddox said, approaching from behind us.
“We need to go,” I said as if no one else knew that already.
We were wasting time.
“Maddox, take Elliot with you. Elliot, you better tell Maddox what you just told us. Wyatt will want to hear this,” Parker said.
“The police are just around the co—” I started.
“The judge will let those assholes out on bail. I can guarantee that. It’s better we…deal with it ourselves,” Maddox said.
“I don’t care. We need to go,” I said to Parker, and he nodded.
I gave him Sophia, who still writhed in pain but settled her beak under his armpit, and helped him into the car. I then made my way out of town toward Duke’s Sanctuary.
A small young man with short strawberry-blond hair and blue eyes met us at the door after my incessant banging. He rubbed the sleep off his face before ushering us into the surgery room.
He asked us questions, inspecting Sophia’s wing, listening to her heartbeat, and giving her more than a few scratches before he wrapped a bandage around her, much to her dismay. But she got a treat for being a good girl.
“It will take her a couple of weeks to heal. Do you have a place for her, or do you want me to keep her here?” he asked as he took a syringe and injected her. “Just a little sedation and painkiller, so she’s not in pain,” he explained.
“Would you mind keeping her here? I wouldn’t really know how to take care of her, and we’ve got the shop—”
“Don’t worry about the shop,” Parker said and flinched.
“Lift up that shirt. I’ll have a look,” Duke told him.
“I’m not a bird,” Parker said.
“I’m aware. Sophia here was a little confused the way she was holding on to you, but I know,” Duke replied, and I laughed.
Boy, it felt good to laugh after the night I’d just had. After the night we’d all had.
I pulled Parker’s sleeve and helped him take the blood-soaked T-shirt off, and Duke poured a clear liquid over the wound until the blood cleared.
“Hm…hold still, big man. I hope you’re not a crybaby,” Duke said and rummaged through his cabinets.
“Excuse you, I just met you,” Parker snapped at him with a smirk.
