Page 86 of Shadow

Hanging up the phone, I frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Kali asked, concerned.

“Someone broke into my apartment again. I need to meet Detective Harris, but I don’t want to bother Shadow. I need a ride over there.”

“I can take you,” Kali offered, as Hope jumped to her feet glaring at Angel who was smiling at her from the bar. “Yeah, I’ll go too.”

Gathering my bag, I followed Kali and Hope outside.

My apartment building wasn’t far from the clubhouse. The drive only took about ten minutes and while I wasn’t happy to learn someone vandalized my apartment again, when I walked inside nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.

“Oh. My. God,” Hope whispered as we all stood in my living room surveying the damage.

“Who would do something like this?” Kali asked.

Everything was gone.

My furniture, pictures, the walls, everything I owned was gone.

Nothing was salvageable.

Walking towards the kitchen, Detective Harris stopped me. “It’s all gone, Joan.”

“My bedroom, my clothes?”

The detective shook his head. “That room is worse. I’ve put in a call to the crime scene unit. Whoever did this wanted to make a big statement.”

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

“I don’t know, Joan, but this place is a total loss. Is there anyone I can call for you?”

“We’ll take care of her,” Kali stated, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“So will we,” Hope added, reaching for my hand.

“You’re going to need to make a detailed list of everything, Joan. The insurance company will need it. Your landlord is doing the same.”

“I don’t have insurance. I never thought. I didn’t want to believe something like this could happen to me. Oh God. I’ve lost everything. What am I going to do?”

“You are going to live on the farm with the family, where you belong. That’s what you are going to do,” Hope said firmly.

“And this weekend, us girls are going shopping,” Kali added. “My treat. We will make sure you have everything you need.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking. I am offering and you will accept. I know if the roles were reversed, you would do the same for me.”

“Kali,” I grinned. “We just met.”

“So? When I came here, I didn’t know anyone and yet the brothers welcomed me and my kids. Gave us a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. Vivi dropped everything to take care of me. No questions asked.”

“Kali’s right,Joan,” Hope added. “I barely knew her. Only met her when she stopped by my booth at the Farmer’s Market. The next thing I knew, Kali invited me and Charity to her home for a barbeque. Now, she’s one of my biggest clients. Zeke showed up out of the blue one day and we welcomed him with open arms because he needed us. Just like you need us now. I know me and my sisters can be a bit crazy at times, but our hearts are in the right place. We love what you’ve done for our brother. You’ve made him better and for that, I will be forever grateful. You spend your nights helping others, Joan. Let us help you now.”

I didn’t know what to say.

There wasn’t anything to say.

So, I nodded, hugging them both.

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