Page 22 of Falkner
They had plenty of time to get some things that they might need if they were to get unfurnished.Plus with it being the beginning of summer, there was a chance that they could go to auctions as well.They would have plenty of time if they rented a storage unit to hold the things until they were ready to move.
Also, they didn’t have to move out as soon as they turned eighteen.She thought that she might like them being around for a while.But then it had only been about two hours, and she might find that she didn’t like them being around.Then she thought of her mother.
They were going to be welcome no matter how they acted in another month.She wasn’t going to toss them aside just because they were old enough to be out on their own.No, she wasn’t going to be her mother in this circumstance.
They enjoyed the pizzas when Falkner got home.He’d got four of them, knowing that he’d be able to eat a whole one on his own.They talked about some of the things that she’d written down for them and had a lovely time watching television after dinner.When they were going up to bed, both girls hugged her tightly, making her get a little teary-eyed when they did.Doone was already sad that they were going to be leaving soon, and she hated that they couldn’t live with them all their lives.Falkner asked her if she was all right.
“Just thinking ahead about them leaving.It’s silly, I know, but I want to be able to help them out when they’re ready to go.”He said that they would.“Good.I was hoping you’d say that to me.I needed a bit of hope for the two of them.They’re pretty smart as it is.”
“I noticed that too.They’ll be fine.”She was sure of it and said to him as much.“We’ll help them as much as they’ll allow us to.Then from there even after they move out we’ll be there for them too.They’re going to do fine out on their own, I know it.”
She hoped so.And when she was ready for bed later that night she found herself wanting to check on the girls to make sure that they had everything they needed.She thought she could get used to having someone to care for like this and was going to tell Loren that.They might even find that they loved it enough to have babies around too.
Chapter 10
Cullen wasn’t thrilled about his house.It was all right but he didn’t care for the open floor plan since he moved in.He liked having places that he could go to that didn’t make him feel so exposed.Places like his bedroom that he’d picked out for himself.Deciding that he needed to get out for a while, he pulled on his jacket and went outdoors.The night air felt good after being couped up all the time in the house.
As he walked through the town he noticed things that he’d not before.The night moon made it easier for him to see the dirt and grime that had become so much a part of the town in different areas.Just as he was walking by the Harris house, he heard a faint noise that he could hear because of what he was.Investigating, he made his way towards the line of cars parked in front of the house.That’s where he found them.
The kids were no more than about seven or eight.Getting closer to them he noticed that they were tied somehow to the car door and he made his way closer to them, calming them down with his voice.He noticed that they weren’t tied at all but handcuffed to the handle on the driver’s side door.His other half wanted to find the person who did this to them and rip out their throat.
“I’m here now.”The littler one was sobbing when he saw him, but the girl, the older of the two, just glared at him.“I’m going to call the police before I uncuff you.”
“You’d better not.Our daddy will kill you.”Cullen pulled out his phone and called the station house.“He’s not gonna be happy if you undo us and he’s especially not gonna be happy if he finds out you called the police.They don’t like him all that much.”
“Well, I don’t much care for him at the moment either.”Ben, his officer friend, answered the phone.After telling him where he was and what was going on, he said he’d be right over.“Make it quiet, Ben.There is no point in us drawing attention to what we found here.”
“I can do that.Are you going to be there when I get there, Buddy?”He said he’d wait with the kids.“I might know who they are and if that’s them, I’m not gonna be happy either.This is the third time this week that he’s left those kids out where they can get hurt.”
“I’ll be here.”He put his cell phone away and looked at the two kids.“My name is Cullen Dixon.You want your daddy to know who let you go; you tell him to come on and take me on.I’ve not had a good fight in a couple of months now.”
When Ben arrived, without lights or sirens, he took pictures of the kids.Then he uncuffed them.The little boy ran to Cullen and hugged him around the knees.The little girl, a spitfire little one stayed where she was.
“This here is Riley and that’s her little brother Shawn.Their father is Bash, James Bash.You remember him from high school I’m sure.”He nodded.His opinion hadn’t changed about the man in the eight years he’d been gone either.“He takes the kids every other weekend and does this kind of stuff to them so that he doesn’t have to keep an eye on them.I’ve caught him leaving them in a car before in the middle of winter.It gets mighty cold out in a car that’s not running just as bad as it is for a hot one in the summer months.”
“Do you suppose he’s at the Harris house with the rest of them cars?It sounds like they’re having a big to-do in there.”Ben told him it was poker night.“So he’s in there having a good time and his kids are chained to his car so they don’t cause any trouble.”
“Pretty much.”Ben said he was going to have the kids taken to the hospital for a health check.He asked Riley how long she’d been out here.She said she didn’t know how to tell time without a clock.“I’m thinking they start out their night around five and go until…it’s nearly midnight now.So they’ve been out here for a few hours now.”
Cullen told him that it was closer to one than midnight and that made him angry.The kids hadbeen chained to the car for eight hours now without drink or food.They waited on the second cruiser to pull in before they had the kids get into the second car.The officer, he didn’t know his name was going to run them to the local hospital and make sure they were all right.Cullen was going to hang around for the fun of telling the dad where his kids were.
“I’m not going to tell him.”Cullen wanted to say he’d do it.“I want to see how long it takes the bastard to see how long his kids have been missing.Serves him right if his ex-wife finds out what’s he’s done with them.”
“Do you think he’ll notice?”Cullen wasn’t prepared for the answer.“Three days?It took him three days the last time you took the kids from him?Christ, he should be hanged is what should happen to him.What did you do to him when that happened?Throw the book at him for sure.”
“His ex bailed him out and he didn’t show for his court hearing.Damnest thing too.The boss claimed that he’d learned his lesson and decided not to press the matter.”Cullen asked him if he was serious.“I am.I wish I wasn’t but I’m telling you the truth.He didn’t even put out a warrant for him missing his day in court.Said that he was a good man.This time I’m taking no chances for it to be put under the rug.That’s why I sent the kids to the hospital.To make sure there’s a record.”
Cullen couldn’t believe that things were this bad in the town he’d grown up in.He would have made sure that the kids were all right the first time that this happened and there was no way that he’d let the boss, whoever the hell he was, sweep this under the rug.He’d seen it too many times when he’d been out on duty, where kids would be used as pawns for all kinds of crimes, and he didn’t like that it was going on in his town.
Finishing his walk after Ben went back to the stationhouse, he decided to go to the hospital and see about the kids.No one would ask him questions about why he was there, not with his brother and sister-in-law working there, but he was going to find out.Getting in his car, he pulled up in front of the emergency room doors just as the officer with the kids was coming outside for a smoke.
“Are they all right?”He said that the doc wouldn’t have any information just yet.He had to check on them.“Did you contact their mother?”
“Yeah, she’s a piece of work.All she was concerned about was being billed for this visit when there was nothing much wrong with them.If my kids just spent eight hours or longer cuffed up to a car, not even on the inside, I’d be worrying about all kinds of things, but not the bill.”Nodding, he told him that he understood.“Some people shouldn’t be able to breed.I’ve said this before and I’ve heard it a lot but people need a licenses to drive but any fool can have a bunch of kids they don’t take care of.”
“Do you mind if I hang out with you?”He asked him if he was armed.“Always.I can carry because I’m special forces.”
“I heard that about you, Cullen.You’re a good man for fighting for our freedom.”He thanked him, embarrassed like he usually was when someone said that to him.“You hang out with me and I’ll tell them that you’re with me.That might not open as many doors as you’d think but we’ll give it a shot.”
