Page 9 of Defended By Bam
“I left it in the car like Allie said.” She told me to keep it until I got dropped off just in case I ran into issues walking, but that the driver would take care of it once I was at her place.
He clapped his hands together. “Good then. We need to hit the road. You need to pee now because I won’t be stopping for a while.”
I jerked from the sound of his hands, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I’ll go when Sadie’s done.”
“I’ll grab some snacks from Allie.”
Bama took off around the corner, and Allie came back with Sadie. “All set, Mommy,” Sadie said with a smile.
“Can you point me to the restroom? He said we won’t be stopping for a bit.”
Allie answered, “Yeah, best to get moving and fast. It’s right that way, first door on the left.”
I leaned down to Sadie’s height. “I’m going to the restroom. You okay here with Allie?”
She nodded, still not looking at me but she wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’ll be okay here, Mommy.” She kissed my cheek, then let go.
Swallowing down tears, I took a deep breath and headed to the bathroom. My head was spinning at the turn of events in such a short time. But looking in the mirror while I was washing my hands, a sense of certainty washed over me.
I had to do this…for Sadie.
Chapter 5
Bama
After grabbing an energy drink and a grocery bag of snacks and drinks, we piled into the truck as soon as it was good and dark. I wasn’t sure if they’d been seen leaving or getting here, so there was no time to waste getting back to Mobile.
Rogers had a cousin up in Canada, Crowne, that started a program called R.O.Y.A.L: Rescue Our Youth and Ladies. It was fucked that it was a necessary operation, but it was no secret that women didn’t have a lot of options once they found themselves in abusive relationships, especially with kids involved. Even the ones that had the means to leave often ended up dead anyway. Restraining orders were a joke, even if you could get one.
I had my reservations about getting involved in this since the man that roughed her up was a cop, but she probably needed it more than anyone. Dirty cops had a way of making problems disappear. That sometimes worked in our favor, but shit like this wasn’t okay. Even though I was pissed at Allie for not just telling me what the fuck was happening, I wasn’t about to leave this woman and her kid high and dry.
Allie could hide her, but only for a while before someone was onto them since they lived in the area. She had to get far away and fast if she had a chance of making this escape work. Plus, if Allie was caught helping her, it would be a whole slew of problems for her.
Brooklyn was jumpy and closed off. The little girl seemed like any other little girl and was polite. Kids were resilient as hell.
“Mommy! Punch bug, no punch backs!” Sadie squealed.
“Sweet girl, not so loud. I’m sorry,” Brooklyn said.
Sadie was buckled in the middle seat and Brooklyn by the door, but she tugged her as close to her as she could.
“It’s all good. It’s a little too quiet, actually. You like listening to the radio, Sadie?” I asked.
“Yes, sir.”
Brooklyn said, “You don’t have to do that, really.”
I waved her off and turned up the music. It was a classic rock station.
“Can we change it?” Sadie asked.
“Sadie! Manners! I am so sorry,” Brooklyn said with a heavy sigh.
Shaking my head, I told her, “It’s really fine. But I tell ya what. You can pick the station for a while, but then we have to let your mom pick, then I get a turn. Deal?”
“How many songs do I get?” Sadie asked with a questioning look, arms crossed.
“Hmm. How about three per person?”
