Page 64 of Harley

“As she should be,” Harley hissed, “when locked up against her will and imprisoned. Aspen’s been drugged and is terrified. You and your colleagues have medicated a woman unnecessarily.”

“Who the hell is Aspen? Miss Cannon was aggressive and kept trying to escape!”

“Yeah, because my parents had illegally confined her. They gave you a false identity, and I bet when Aspen told you her and Archer’s names and pleading for help, you ignored it! How many times did Aspen inform you that I was hers and Archer’s legal guardian? How often did she beg you to call my number? What type of brainless idiot doesn’t check?” I yelled.

The doctor looked shocked.

“That’s right. Aspen informed you that her name was Aspen Ferguson. She wasn’t lying. My parents kidnapped them, gave them a false identity, and paid Mr Davies to drug and keep them quiet so they could steal their fortune. You aided and abetted in a crime. How many more patients are in the same situation? Did you even check any of their stories out?” I continued shouting.

The doctors and nurses looked horrified.

“We were told Miss Cannon was having delusions,” a nurse stammered.

“Did Aspen fucking sound delusional at first?” I hissed.

A whimper made me look down, and guilt swept me. Archer held his hands over his ears, eyes focused on a wall and rocking wildly. I dropped to my knees in front of him.

“Archer, I’m sorry. Auntie Oak didn’t mean to shout,” I said, lowering my voice and forcing calmness into it.

“Auntie Oak, I want to go. We need to get lunch soon,” Archer replied.

“Did Archer have any toys?” I asked, biting my temper back.

“Not many. I’ll fetch them. They were locked up, so Angela… Aspen couldn’t harm anybody or herself.”

A growl left my lips, and Archer jumped. It was a struggle, but I held my anger in.

“Come on,” I ordered, walking again. I wanted to smash their faces in, but that wouldn’t help anyone. “Archer, how would you like to go on a plane?” I asked.

Archer glanced at me blankly. “Why?”

“To get home faster, we need to take one. We could drive. However, the trip will be lengthy, sweetheart.”

“How long?”

“Over three days,” Harley said.

“Don’t talk to me. I don’t know you. Strangers shouldn’t speak to kids,” Archer stated, and Harley looked a little shocked.

“This is your Uncle Harley, he is Auntie Oak’s husband,” I informed Archer.

Archer glanced at Harley again. Archer would have to be told several times before he accepted Harley as family.

“You need a haircut. And a shave. I don’t like face hair. It scratches my skin,” Archer said.

Harley laughed. “You’re probably right. I do need a trim. If I don’t speak to you, how we will become friends?”

Archer pondered it for a while as we walked to the entrance. “That is a good question. You may talk to me, but only when Mommy and Auntie Oak is around. If they’re not, then you are a stranger, and we don’t speak to strangers.”

“Agreed,” Harley responded with a warm smile.

We stepped outside, and Aspen flinched back against Harley and peered over her shoulder. It was as if she expected men and women to swoop on her.

Then Aspen looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Oakley, I didn’t break. They never got the plans,” she mumbled.

I hugged her tightly. “I don’t care if they did, honey. The assholes never received mine.”

“Where is home, Oakley? I don’t want to return to Illinois,” Aspen whispered as she saw the security team surrounding us. “What is this?”

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