Page 14 of Defended By Bam
She looked down, then her eyes met mine. She didn’t pull away, and we stared at each other until Rogers broke up the silence. “Do you think she’ll understand changing her name?”
She looked at Rogers, but didn’t move her hand. “I hope so. I wasn’t sure how any of this would work so I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. Honestly, I’m still in denial I’m even here.”
Rogers said, “First, they wipe you from existence, then get you all new papers. You’ll be born in a different place, different birthdays, all of it.”
“Oh,” she whispered. “I’ll figure out a way to make her understand. Where will we have to go?”
My head turned to look at Rogers. I’d never been part of a R.O.Y.A.L. rescue before and the idea of letting this woman out of my sight bugged me.
“For now, here. This will take some time and it’s best to not move you again until we know if there were missing persons reports made. Do you think he’ll file one?”
She tensed, so I squeezed her hand. Her eyes landed on mine again. “I don’t know. He’s a cop and everyone’s believed him so far. He won’t know I’m gone for a few more hours.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I told her.
“He’s right,” Rogers interjected. “You needed a safe place, we have one. Let me get with my cousin and get the ball rolling. I don’t know how long it takes to wipe your info but if he hasn’t already filed a report it’ll be easier. We have a few rooms–”
“I’ll take her with me,” I interrupted.
She flinched, but still didn’t move her hand.
Rogers brows shot up, so I continued, “The little girl doesn’t need to be around here. At least not right now. She’s already gonna be shaken up and this isn’t a place for a kid.”
Rogers stood up. “Sounds good. I’ll touch base when I know more but I’ll see you back here tomorrow anyway, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be back after I’ve slept.”
Rogers nodded. “Okay brother. Brooklyn, we’ll talk soon. Get some rest and don’t take shit off this fucker.”
I stood, pulling her up with me after picking her bag up from the ground. She didn’t let go of my hand, so I led her over to Glenda.
Glenda stood, and Sadie didn’t move a muscle. “She’s tuckered out. Want me to carry her out?”
Brooklyn finally pulled her hand free. I didn’t like it.
“I’ll take her. Thank you for your help, though.”
Glenda passed Sadie over, then rubbed her arm. “I’ll see you soon. Get some rest, love.”
“Good night, Glenda,” I said, then finally pushed my hand to Brooklyn’s back and led her around the side of the building so we didn’t have to walk through it again.
After getting them back into the truck with only slight movement from Sadie, I put the bag back into the floorboard, walked around to the driver’s side, and climbed in so I could drive them home. To my home.
Chapter 8
Brooklyn
My stomach was in knots and my head was swimming. I’d only had a few hours of sleep in the last forty-eight hours, very little food, my body was sore, I’d seen some crazy shit at a strange place, and now I was pulling down a long dirt road, to the house of a man I barely knew, all with my daughter in tow.
The dirt road was lined with tall oaks and moonlight peeked through them. Other than that, it was dark. The dirt road wasn’t bumpy but a trail of dust followed behind us. We came to a clearing and the headlights illuminated a small house, white with dark colored shutters and a small porch.
When Bama turned the truck off, my eyes had to adjust, but the moon was still out, shedding light on the quaint home.
“Last stop. I’ll get your bag,” he said before hopping out of the truck.
“Mommy,” Sadie whispered, wiping her eyes.
“Hey sweet girl. We’re at our destination. Let’s go potty then get you in bed, okay?”
