Page 96 of My Turn

“Yes.”

“Are you afraid of him?”

“Yeah.”

Mike continued making threats behind us, but I ignored him. Nothing he said mattered. He was a danger to her, which meant she wasn’t staying. That was all there was to it.

I set her down on the porch and nodded to my Bronco. “Climb in and wait for me. Don’t come out, do you understand?”

She nodded and ran to the truck. When I turned around, Mike’s fist connected with my face. I laughed as blood trickled into my mouth.

“You stupid motherfucker.”

“Sir, they should be arriving any second.”

“Thanks, Pam,” I said to the dispatcher.

Mike’s eyes widened when he looked at my earbud. His gaze traveled over my shoulder where three cruisers pulled up to the curb.

“Just so you know, you reek of booze. What do you think your blood alcohol level is?”

“I’m in my own home,” he spat. “They can’t arrest me for drinking.”

“Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. The fact of the matter is, you were a danger to a child under your care. There’s evidence of violent behavior in the home right now. Alicia can attest to being afraid of you and the dispatch recording has that bit memorialized. Oh, and you assaulted me just now. I could press charges.”

His nostrils flared in and out. Footsteps behind me made me shift to allow the officers in.

“The kid is in the truck,” I said. One of them followed me to my Bronco. “Can she be placed with us?”

He shrugged. “You family?”

“Yeah. My parents are in a custody battle with the step-dad.”

“From other cases I’ve seen like this, when a child is removed from the home, they try to place them with a relative. A social worker will need to get involved, but that’s probably what they’ll do.”

That made me feel a hell of a lot better. “Is he gonna be arrested?”

“We’ll take him in, but I don’t know. They’ll probably release him if he didn’t hurt the kid. You could press charges, though.”

This guy’s life was about to really suck. And I didn’t feel bad for him at all. He touched what was mine. First, he went after Alana. Then, he scared my niece.

Mike was lucky that killing him would rouse too much suspicion. Otherwise, he’d be feeding my plants next summer. My patience was impossibly thin, though, so he’d better keep his nose where it belonged.

Chapter 36

Alana

My stomach was in knots. It was horrible. I thought about turning around and fleeing, but Jayce squeezed my hand. It didn’t get rid of the feeling, but I felt like I could manage.

Alicia had been with his parents for a few days, which resulted in absolute chaos. Nobody had been prepared for it, least of all me. This whole time, I’d been floating around on the outskirts of the issue, distancing myself from it. If I was with Jayce, though, I couldn’t pull away like that. I had to find a way to get through this.

I had this overwhelming fear that I’d see her and the only thing I’d be able to think about was Jake and his betrayals. She was the embodiment of them. All of those secrets and lies. But they were his, not hers, and I had to keep reminding myself of that.

We stepped into the kitchen at his parents’ house and the moment came. Alicia was in front of the stove with Ron, stirring something in a pot. He spoke, then she tipped her head back and laughed.

I braced my hands on the counter and took a deep breath. Jayce rubbed my back softly, not saying anything because he knew nothing would really help.

“Alana,” Charlie greeted as she came into the kitchen. She gave me a quick hug and smiled. “Look at you two. I thought he was never gonna grow the balls.”

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