Page 67 of Special Agent Isabella

“Getting caught up on a lot of chores. When I decided to clean up the front garden earlier and fix the mess left by so many of the protesters, I saw a man in a wheelchair. Poor bloke appeared to be army, looked pretty beaten up. His face had awful wounds on the left side. When I went closer, he moved away. I think the guards maybe scared him off.”

“I wonder why he’s hanging around? You didn’t notice anything off, did you?”

“No. Nothing like that. Just a man who seemed to be paying a lot of attention to this house.”

“Guess that’s not unusual since it’s been highlighted in the news for the last few days. Look, if you see him again, call me. I want to talk to him.”

“Right. Will do.” She moved over to the window and gazed outside. “I love the quiet. But it won’t last long. They’re supposed to come and fix the windows this afternoon. I imagine we’ll be hearing the noise.”

“I’m glad you mentioned it. We’ll have to vet whoever comes inside. In fact, I think I’ll take Abbie for a drive while they’re here. Did Collin return from taking Stacy to the office?”

“Yes, he’s back and busy washing the car right now. He’d be happy to go with you as extra security for Abbie. In case no one mentioned it yet, she loves the park where they have the petting zoo.”

“Good. I’ll run it by Stacy and get organized to leave once the repair people come to fix the front of the house.”

* * *

An hour later they were in the car with Collin, driving to the park. When they got to where the petting zoo was located, Abbie bounced with excitement, the blonde curly ringlets from the wig bobbing all over her shoulders. “Collin, will you come with me and Bella to see the goats?”

“That I will, missy. I love the critters. Had two when I was a wee lad. Called the male… One, and the female…Two.”

Abbie laughed; her glee contagious. “Why would you call them that? Those aren’t names.”

Collin winked at Bella and answered, “Because when they became a family, we had Three… the baby.” That made Bella join in and laugh with them.

Soon, they were meandering through the gardens, looking for the path to the zoo area.

With both adults watchful, eyes scanning the area for any possible trouble, they finally nodded at each other that everything appeared as it should be.

Mostly families were congregating with small kids, many of them just moms or nannies. The children all ran around, talking with the pets and getting food so they could feed them.

Bella followed Abbie closely and watched as the guide who obviously took care of the animals handed out pieces of apple to the kids to give to the ponies.

As Abbie reached for her share, a red-headed bigger boy grabbed it first and moved away. Abbie’s face fell. She looked over at the chubby kid, followed him, her back stiff with outrage. “It was my turn. You took my apple.”

“So? Gonna cry, big baby?”

“No. Give it back.”

“Go get another one and leave me alone. I’ll call my mom.”

Before Bella could interrupt, a heavy woman stepped up. “What’s going on, Freddy?”

“The lady gave me this apple and nowshewants it.” He pointed at Abbie who hadn’t moved.

The woman turned to Abbie, her face unsmiling. “Go bother someone else, honey.”

Bella would have stayed out of the battle if only the kids had been involved but now that an adult, who should have known better, had taken sides, she did too.

She stepped up behind her ward. “Sorry ma’am. Abbie’s right. It was her turn to get the apple. Your son already had his turn.”

The boy didn’t like being called out for his bad behavior and made it obvious. “Did not. Go away.”

Abbie reached to grab for the apple and the boy wrenched it from her at the same time as he slammed his body into hers.

Then his mother reacted by pulling at Abbie’s shoulder and yanking her away. That’s when all hell broke loose.

Bella had the woman in an arm hold before she knew what hit her. Making sure the move wasn’t visible to the kids, she added pressure and growled an order, meaning for it to be obeyed. “Back off, lady. Let the kids figure this out.” Then Bella stared at Freddy, her glare warning him of retribution if he didn’t come clean.

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