“I don’t dislike you,” he said softly.
She snorted.
“Just be careful,” he warned. “I’m not saying this to piss you off. But damn it, Rusty. Be careful. What do you even know about him? I don’t like you being alone with him in the store. What if he tried to rob you? Or hurt you?”
She laughed. “The day I can’t defend myself against a fifteen-year-old kid is the day I go to my grave. I’m tough, Sean. I’ve had to be, growing up the way I did. The last few years with the Kellys may have softened me, but I’m still on my own at school, and believe me when I say that school is not a cakewalk. I take self-defense classes. I can take care of myself.”
Sean’s eyes narrowed. “What the fuck does that mean? What happened at school? Did someone mess with you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Nothing I can’t take care of myself.”
He wiped a hand through his short hair and blew out his breath. “Damn it, Rusty. Would it kill you to ever ask for help? Just once?”
She blinked in surprise. “And what would happen if I were to ever ask you for help?”
“I’d give it,” he said quietly. “You think I hate you, but that’s not true, Rusty, and if you ever actually lowered your hackles around me you’d realize that I only want to make sure you’re safe.”
She had no idea what to say to that.
“I’ll go,” Sean said. “But I’m going to be keeping an eye on the kid. If you have any trouble at all, you call me. If you even think there will be trouble, you call me. And if you need anything, let me know. If the kid is into any trouble, let me know. There may be a way to help him.”
She was so surprised that she couldn’t do anything more than nod.
As Sean stalked away, she stared in bewilderment after him.
He actually acted like he . . . cared.
CHAPTER 2
EVE looked up from the tattered, worn couch where Cammie was finally sleeping, sprawled across Eve’s lap when Travis walked in the door of the dilapidated one-bedroom trailer they rented.
“Is she any better?” Travis asked anxiously as he walked over to the couch.
Eve ran a hand over Cammie’s forehead, a motion she’d repeated several times over the last hours.
“Her fever is down a little,” Eve said in a low voice. “I’m so worried. We can’t take her to the hospital or even a doctor. It’s too risky. But I can’t get her fever to break no matter what I do.”
Travis’s expression darkened with the same worry and fatigue Eve felt herself. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out three twenty-dollar bills.
“I know it’s not much,” he said. “But I’m going in tomorrow morning for a few hours too. The lady who hired me is really nice. She even bought me lunch.”
Eve took the money, tears burning her eyelids. She swallowed hard, determined to remain strong and not allow Travis to see how scared and worried she was. But he knew.
“I hate that you have to work,” she said fiercely. “As soon as Cammie is better, I’ll find work. I promise.”
Travis’s nostrils flared. “No. Cammie needs you. I’ll do whatever I can. If I can’t get in enough hours at the hardware store, I’ll find something else. I don’t want you to worry, Evie. I’ll take care of us. I swear it.”
Eve patted the space on the couch beside her and then wrapped an arm around her younger brother when he sat.
“I love you. We’ll get through this, Trav. I promise. We’ll find a way to stay together and be safe.”
He hugged her back, holding and squeezing, offering her the comfort she offered him.
“We’ll make it, Evie. We’ll never have to go back to that bastard. I’ll protect you and Cammie both. I won’t let him hurt you again.”
Eve cupped his cheek, feeling the slight bristle of the first growth of beard on his jaw. He was so young. Far too young to be saddled with so much responsibility. It should be her taking care of Travis and Cammie. She should have never left them with their father. It was a decision she’d regret for the rest of her life, even though she’d had no other choice. But thank God, she’d gotten them out when she did. Before Walt Breckenridge could act on his sick fantasies.
It had been bad enough that he’d put the moves on Eve after her mother died, but when he’d turned his attention on Cammie . . . Sweet, darling four-year-old Cammie. Eve shuddered, sick at heart, nausea rolling in her stomach when she imagined Cammie’s father trying to molest her.
She wished she had killed him. That she’d found a way to kill him. She would have gladly gone to jail for the rest of her life if it meant Cammie and Travis were safe. They’d been lucky to escape with their own lives. But Eve wasn’t a fool. Walt wouldn’t give up so easily.
Already she was a wanted woman. Walt had filed kidnapping charges and had painted Eve as an emotionally unstable person who needed constant supervision and psychiatric care. No one would believe Eve. Because Walt was wealthy. He wielded a lot of power and influence. He had far-reaching connections that ensured he could get away with murder. He had gotten away with murder.
Dover, Tennessee, seemed a lifetime away from where they’d fled from the West Coast. It was a small, quiet town nestled close to Kentucky Lake. It was here she’d sought refuge after running for the last several months. She hadn’t intended to stay even this long, but Cammie was sick and they needed money. And a plan. Where to go next. What to do. How to survive.
She couldn’t afford to let her guard down even for a minute. No matter how safe it seemed here, how secluded and out of the way, she couldn’t depend on not being found here. Which meant that she needed to keep moving.
It was no way to live. It wasn’t the life she wanted for her siblings. She wanted better for them. Wanted Cammie to have all the things a normal four-year-old should. And Travis . . . He needed to be in school. He excelled. Made good grades. Was a natural-born athlete. He could easily get an academic or athletic scholarship. But that was now impossible. She couldn’t put him in school, and she hadn’t the tools or the knowledge to homeschool him.
One day. It was a vow she made on a daily basis. One day they’d have a normal existence and Travis would have the education he deserved and Cammie would grow up a happy, secure child not having to worry that her own father would abuse her.