Page 53 of Zale's Little Girl
Zale escorted her out of the building and into his Jeep. After fastening her seatbelt and stealing a kiss, he headed home. They passed that stretch of road where the accident had freed her. Pippa usually shivered from the memory, but that trauma faded more every day. She was in the right place with a man who adored her.
As if he understood what she was thinking, Zale wrapped his hand around her thigh and squeezed. “You okay, kitten?”
“I’m good. Getting better each day. You know, I think I’m incredibly lucky.”
“Because you got away?” he asked with a confused look sideways at her.
“Yes. But that’s not what I meant. I would never have met you without having met those… criminals,” she said after searching for a word that summed up what the father and son duo were.
“Scumbags? Perverts? Slime?” Zale suggested, making her laugh.
“They really are all those things. I think the worst is they treated people as less than animals. And just to make money and have power. I’m not highly religious, but I know right from wrong.”
“You could never hurt anyone, kitten. That’s not you. I’m not going to worry about what’s waiting for them. They aren’t wortha minute more of my time. I will monitor what happens to them and keep track of their releases if they survive prison.”
“You think something will happen to them in jail?”
“It’s likely. Those inmates have sisters, daughters, family. There’s a definite pecking order among those incarcerated. Their money will be tied up in court. I’d bet they wronged a few people along the way. All that will not make their lives behind bars easier.”
“Is it bad for me to be happy about that?” Pippa asked.
“No. You didn’t make any of their decisions for them. Whatever they’ve earned is on them.”
Zale turned onto his street. “Hey, the team is here. That’s a lot of smoke coming from the backyard. Koa’s specialty might be something blackened. Let’s make sure he’s not burning down the house.”
“Is that a fire truck I hear?”
Max ran into the front yard. Spotting Zale, he pointed several yards away. Without hesitation, Zale parked his vehicle there. Jumping out, he told Pippa to stay by the Jeep as he ran to the backyard. After a few moments, she remembered all the precious items inside the house. She worried especially about her daddy’s stallion picture now hanging on the fridge. He’d done a great job at almost staying inside the lines. She needed to save that.
Seconds later, a firetruck roared down the street. Several fire personnel ran to the backyard to assess what was happening. When they returned, shaking their heads, Pippa dared sneakthrough the backyard to see what was happening. It appeared the firemen had missed all the excitement.
Judging by the fire extinguishers in their hands, the team had handled the fire like they approached any threat. They must have extinguished the flames in the grill and secured the surrounding area to make sure it didn’t spread. Koa stood talking to the fire captain, and it was clear she was not happy with him.
Pippa crept closer, sensing that everything was safe now. “Isn’t someone going to back up Koa with the fire lady?”
“I think I told you to stay by the Jeep,” Zale told her.
His steely expression made her rush to explain. “I thought the coast was clear. The firemen didn’t even pull out the hoses. Is Koa in trouble?”
“He definitely is not on the fire captain’s favorite person list,” Zale said. “Koa can take care of himself. He’ll turn on the charm. That always works for him.”
“It’s not helping this time,” Jerico said, nodding to the duo. “He’s definitely interested, but she’s not having any of that. I’ve never seen his charm not work on someone.”
They turned to look at Koa, who had a very intrigued expression on his face as he focused on the woman standing a foot away from him. When she finished speaking and turned away, the woman’s expression was stone cold. She was not falling for his ability to sway others.
“How’d that go for you?” Zale asked as Koa walked up to join the group.
“Not well. I’m definitely not on her good list.” Koa stared after her until she turned the corner around the side of the house.
“I think you owe me a grill,” Zale told him.
“I do.” Koa didn’t even try to deny that the charred remains weren’t salvageable. “I’d guess you all are going to make me order pizza now.”
“Double pepperoni for me,” Caden called.
“What were you making?” Jerico asked.
“A new kind of hot wings,” Koa answered, pulling out his phone to pull up the pizza shop’s app. “It promised to be really hot.”
