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“Emory, take Seth and go back inside the school while I have a chat with Mr. Jacobs.”
She started to argue until I looked her in the eyes and mouthed the word, “Go.” Seth, smart kid that he was, had already begun to slink his way toward her, so when he got within arm’s reach, she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and they both took off, running as fast as her high-heeled shoes could go.
“Hey! Get back here.”
I spun in time to block his path with my body when he tried to stumble past me to follow them.
“No you don’t, asshole.”
He attempted to skirt around me again, but I was done playing nice. I used his forward momentum to my advantage and swept his feet out from under him with my leg, causing him to land on his knees. At the same time, I wrenched his arm behind his back and bent low to his ear.
“You’re done,” I whispered as sirens blared in the distance. “Cops will be here any second, so it would be in your best interest to knock it the fuck off.”
“You motherfucker!” He started to struggle, but the way I’d secured him meant his efforts were in vain.
Thirty seconds later, two Mountain Grove police cruisers came barreling into the parking lot. After a brief discussion and a continued performance by Mr. Jacobs, the cuffs came out. He was placed under arrest for public intoxication, which according to one officer, was not his first infraction.
Once they put him in the back of the car, Emory and Seth walked back out the door. The kid looked utterly dejected, and I couldn’t help but to feel bad for him.
“I’m really sorry about all of this, Ms. Daubson,” he said, watching his feet as he talked. “He wasn’t like this when Mom was alive.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about, Seth.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you have somewhere else you can stay tonight?”
“Yeah. I can go to my grandma’s.”
“Okay, I’ll drive you. Go get your bag.”
He nodded, then walked off, leaving us alone for the first time.
“Thank you, Luciano,” she muttered, gazing down at her shoes as she spoke.
Reaching out, I lifted her chin with two fingers, not liking how she wouldn’t look me in the face.
“Call me Luc, and I’m just happy I was here to step in,” I replied gently, continuing to touch her silky-smooth skin.
“Are you okay, Ms. Daubson?” Fia exclaimed, jogging to our side.
Emory flinched, breaking our connection, and turned, smiling brightly at my pseudo niece.
“I thought I told you to stay in the car?” I complained, more annoyed she’d interrupted the moment than I was the fact she hadn’t listened worth a damn.
Seth returned to the group and my focus shifted to him momentarily. He was twelve, maybe thirteen, with shoulder-length, jet-black hair, which didn’t appear as if it had been washed recently. His clothes were rumpled and loose, clearly not having been bought to fit his rail-thin frame.
The boy was obviously dealing with much more than a drunken father who’d embarrassed him at school. I could see it in the subtle way he held himself while speaking with the girls; shoulders hunched and head down.
Making a mental note to have Rico do a deep dive into the Jacobs family, I watched in awe as Emory steeled her spine and took command of a very precarious situation with ease. She read his body language perfectly, keeping her distance, yet engaging him in small talk while gathering the two canvas bags she’d dropped to the ground earlier.
A gentle smile lit her face as the boy answered mundane questions, but her eyes told another story. There was a fierceness lining the edges of her irises, a steely resolve which told me she wouldn’t give up on this kid. I’d noticed the same thing before in my mother’s eyes when she switched into mama bear mode, but seeing it on Emory was both confusing and exhilarating.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind, she’d fight tooth and nail to make certain Seth was safe, but why? He wasn’t her kid. They weren’t related in any way, as far as I could tell, so why the fuck would a seventh-grade math teacher knowingly put herself into a potentially dangerous position? That was the confusing part and the answer I wanted most.
“See you tomorrow, Sophia.”
She started to walk away from me and my chest grew tight at the thought.
“Wait,” I practically shouted. “We’ll follow you there.”
Her footsteps faltered momentarily before she called over her shoulder while moving toward her car, “I’m a big girl, Luc. I think I can handle it.”
