Page 27 of Knight

Taylor walks toward me, her head held high. I haven't seen her since I went in and got her. It's more emotional than I assumed it would be. Tears work their way past my eyelids and down my face, cushioned by my beard. She holds her arms out to me, and I scoop her up into a bear hug.

“Thank you for saving me, Mr. Harrison,” she whispers.

Holding her tight, I close my eyes, thanking everything anyone prays to that we were able to bring her home. “There’s no reason for you to thank me. We would’ve kept looking for you until the end of time. I just wish I could’ve found you earlier.”

She pulls away, wiping at her eyes. “There’s no way you could’ve. He let me out a few times, to show me how isolated we were. At first it was nice to feel the sunshine on my face, but then I caught on to what he was doing; trying to make me feel safe, while at the same time showing me how hopeless it was to believe someone would come after me. I didn’t recognize the area, so even if I could get lose, there was no way I’d be able to show anyone where that house was. Then I was worried, if I did leave, what if I got lost? There’s no way I’d be able to find my way back, or even to the main road. I truly was stuck there.”

“I’m sorry about your parents,” I apologize to her. “I wish you didn’t have to see what you did, I wish there was some way I could make it better for you.”

“There is,” she swallows roughly.

“When I decide it’s time to go back to school. I want to ride the bus, but I’m scared to…he admitted to me that’s where he found me. He saw me getting off the bus one day on the way home from work.”

I think I know where she’s going with this. “You tell me when you want to ride that bus, Taylor. I’ll make sure I’m behind it every single day. I’ll give you my card that has my personal cell phone on it. You don’t have to worry. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Now that I know how easy it is to be watched, I’ll be more aware of my surroundings, and I want to teach others too.”

She’s smart beyond her years. She shouldn’t be, but this is what happens to kids when they’re taken and they’re forced to grow up faster than everyone else. “I won’t make promises I can’t keep. What I can tell you is if I’m not there, someone else would be. Any day you feel like you need a member of the LSPD to follow whatever you’re in, you let me know. We’ll make it work, and we’ll make it happen.”

Taylor grabs hold of my hands. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Mr. Harrison, and you have no idea how often I lost hope, but I kept remembering Darren telling me his grandpa was the best.”

Hearing her tell me what my grandson said warms my heart, and brings the emotions to the forefront again. “He said that?”

“He always says that. Anytime any of us has an issue, he always says we should bring it to you. He says out of everyone he knows, you’re the one who’s the least judgemental. He says if we have something we want to keep a secret, but confess at the same time, you’re the one we should come to. He loves you a lot.”

“I love him a lot too, and I thank you for telling me this. He doesn’t say much to me, so hearing it from you means a lot,” I clear my throat, trying to keep my shit together.

“That’s why I tried not to lose hope. In the end I kind of knew you’d be coming for me, I just didn’t know when. That thought kept me going at night when I wanted to give up. If anyone ever asks me how I feel about you, Mr. Harrison? That’s an easy question to answer. You’re my hero.”

“Fairs fair, cause you’re mine too.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Rina

"I don't know what the fuck I've gotten myself into," I whisper as I stand in the back of the room with the other LSERT wives and our daughters. In front of us are students of mine, and in front of the class is Mason and Caleb. They're having a great time pulling moves on one another.

"Most people tell you to hit your attacker and run. What I'm going to tell you is a little bit different," Mason walks in front of the group, and it's as if I can hear the women making noises in their throats as they follow my husband walking back and forth. He’s wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, and I almost didn’t let him out of the house. “What I want you to do is use your elbow. It takes a lot to break your elbow, but sure as hell you try and hit an attacker, you’re going to break your hand. Your elbow is tough, and it might give you the few seconds you need to get away from a would-be attacker. We’re gonna show you how to use your elbow the most effectively right now. For those of you who don’t know, Caleb is my son.”

There are oohs and ahh’s throughout the room. Some wench yells out. “How are you young enough to have a kid as old as him?”

“I was a teen parent,” he responds. As always, never embarrassed by what happened in his teen years. While I do appreciate that about him, this is going to make him hotter to all these women and girls. “Single dad for most of his life.”

“Oh fuck me,” I say underneath my breath. “He’s going to have every woman’s panties wet up in this room, before they even start to lay a hand on one another,” I give Ruby a look.

She giggles. “It’s the hotness of the Harrison boys. It always seems to happen this way. They start talking about how they were a single dad and a little boy, and women start to tell them how strong they are, and how lucky they are to have made it.”

“They are lucky,” I grit between my teeth. “They’re lucky I don’t blow their cover. They were doing fine before I showed up, and I think they’d tell you the same damn thing. They’re playing this up right now for the hell of it.”

“Okay, back to the elbow. If someone comes up to you and grabs you from behind. The best thing you can do is get into a position, like so,” he indicates where he’s standing in front of Caleb. “And elbow them. Go for the face, eye, whatever you can reach. If you’ve ever been elbowed, it doesn’t seem to matter where it hits. It hits fucking hard.”

The girls giggle when he says fucking.

“We’re not going to learn anything here,” Kels sighs. “All these girls are looking at is my freakin’ dad’s package in gray sweatpants. Do you know how disgusting this is?”

“I mean at least they’re not looking at your husband like he’s a piece of meat,” Ruby sighs too. “And they’re boobs are perky. I bet they don’t have to wear two sports bras for support when they work out.”

“Excuse me, I don’t have to do that,” Eden gives us a look. “Some of us are still part of the itty bitty committee, no matter how old we are.”

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