Page 31 of Rough Rider (Bad Boy High)
”She was two years old.” Andy is mad again. She’s so pretty when she’s mad, and since I’m not the target, I can just enjoy looking at her sparking eyes and flushed cheeks. It takes away some of the bitterness of the memory of my sister’s abduction.
“No one knew what happened to her. The daycare’s CCTV had broken down months before, and they were too cheap to fix it. Mom and I went to the police, but they weren’t helpful either.”
“Because you were poor?”
“Right.” A hotel cleaner and her teenage son from south of Sixth held no interest for the police. They had other crimes to solve, like who was knocking over the mayor’s award-winning rose bushes or some similar shit. “They interviewed the daycare people, but when that was a dead end, they apologized and said maybe Julie would turn up in the morning. Like some two-year-old would just toddle up to the apartment building by herself.Mom and I went knocking door to door, asking if anyone saw anything. No one did.”
“My God, you must have been terrified.”
I take a deep breath. “You have no idea.” The fear I felt made my lungs close up. Mom cried and cried. I felt so helpless. “About ten that night, a senior I barely knew came to our door. He was someone Mom would have told me to stay away from before. Tatted up, scarred.”
Andy gives my arm tats a pointed look. I choke out a small laugh. “Yeah, exactly. That’s why she wanted me to stay away from those kinds of kids. Bad influence.”
“Fair point.” She gestures for me to continue.
“Mom would have taken help from the devil himself. He said he wanted to talk to me about school, but I knew it was something else. I went outside with him, and when we were far enough away so that Mom couldn’t hear, he said he knew someone who could help me.”
“This senior was a Rider?”
“An enforcer. He took me to meet a guy named Unit who ran the program. He’s gone now, graduated to the adult crew, but at the time, he knew everything that happened south of Sixth. For a price, he could find my sister.”
“How much did they charge you?”
I spread my arms wide. The price was me.
“Oh,” she says.
“I guess because of my size, they’d wanted to recruit me for a while, but I hadn’t shown any interest. They were right. Before Julie was nabbed, I wouldn't have joined, but now, like I said, I would have done anything. I don’t regret it either. I’d do it all over again.”
“Where did they find her?”
“It’s funny, but the guy who took her meant to take another kid. He was in a custody battle with his ex. The judge hadawarded the baby mama sole custody. He got pissed off and went to the daycare to get his kid. But this asswipe was so dumb he didn’t even know what his kid looked like. He just knew she was small. He took one look at Julie and decides that she’s his kid, and he takes her. He gets home and his mom flies into a rage, telling him that’s not her grandkid. Instead of bringing the kid back to the daycare because he’s afraid of getting a kidnapping charge, he goes to someone he knows and tries to sell her.”
“Sell her?” Andy’s jaw drops.
“Yeah, that's kind of how I felt when I heard the story.”
“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
“You stopped it.”
“I stopped it.” I give her a tight smile. I don’t want to scare her away, but she needs to know what kind of guy I am. I’m not a good guy. I’m not going around hurting people without reason, but I do hurt people. That’s my life. “I don't regret anything that happened that night.”
Andy reaches out and lays her palm against my hand. This time, she’s the one soothing me. “I would’ve done the same thing in your situation.”
“Really?”
She nods. “I’d do anything for my mom. I know she’s not always doing her best, but she loves me, and when she’s dry, she’s a good mom. It’s a tough world, and we have to see each other through these hard times. We can’t just give up on each other, right?”
I grab her hand and press it against my mouth, relief coursing through me. Maybe I found the only person in the world who can fully understand me. “Right.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
ANDY
When I first saw Niki, I could never have imagined that he would be in my apartment, sitting on my couch and tenderly kissing my hand. He’s a good man, even if he doesn’t see it. I do. He hasn’t been in my life long, but he’s already made such a difference. I no longer feel alone.
