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Anne was helping a couple of girls with paints when she felt a breeze behind her. The girls stared up with their eyes wide.
A rough voice murmured, “Thanks. I have to get going.”
When Anne turned around, she faced-planted into a muscular chest. She looked up. Killian’s lips lifted into a half smile, and he stepped back. Her face flushed, and Anne swallowed hard. She heard giggles behind her. Great. Just great. There would be a lot of questions from the kids after Killian left.
“Hmmm. Sorry about that,” said Anne, feeling the flush that started at her hairline and continued downward.
Killian shrugged. “I’m not.” He looked at Silas, who was now engrossed in his painting again. “Silas seems to be doing great.”
“He is.”
“No nightmares? No issues?”
“None,” she replied.
“Okay then, I’m off.” He turned and walked out of the classroom.
The next half hour went quickly as the children painted. Anne glanced at the clock and realized it was recess time. She peered out the window. It was sunny. They could play outside. After getting the kids to clean up and wash their hands, Anne followed the kids out.
Anne sat atop a picnic table and listened to the cheerful voices as the children raced around the playground.
Crap. That uneasy feeling of being watched came back. Anne’s heart skipped a beat. She glanced around the surrounding area but didn’t see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. There was no one hiding behind a tree or staring at the playground. She looked at the apartment building across the street but saw nothing unusual. There was no one with binoculars staring at her. There was no one. So why did she feel so uneasy?
* * *
Martin put the binoculars away when the kids and teacher went indoors. He’d been sitting in this stupid truck for hours, watching the kids on the playground. First, the bigger kids came out; now, the little ones were playing.
Today was the first day he’d spotted Silas. Martin wondered if he had been sick.
Just a week ago, he’d been following Silas and two girls home. Then nothing. The girls stopped walking with him, Silas disappeared for a few days, and any plan he had went up in smoke. It was the story of his life. Damn, he just couldn’t catch a break.
He, Bobby, and Jinx were to get together. They needed a plan to break into the woman’s house. They hoped to find the bear and get out without hurting anyone. But that wasn’t a given.
That was the problem with foster homes. Lordy, he should know. One minute you’re in one getting adjusted; the next minute, you’re gathering all your shit in a plastic bag and moving somewhere else. Martin wondered if that was what happened to Silas, and if so, how the fuck was he going to find out where he was living?
However, the stars were aligned yesterday. Just by chance, he followed the girls and their mother and overheard the bitch complain to another woman that Silas had run away and told social services he was being abused. Then she mentioned the teacher was his new foster parent.
So today, he was going to follow the teacher home. The kids had called her name enough, clingy little bastards, so he knew her name was Anne. By all accounts, she seemed to like the rug rats. Plus, she was easy on the eyes. Nope, not going there. Women only got you in trouble. They took and took from you and gave you nothing in return.
He needed to find the bear. That was his goal. Actually, his plan was to find the bear and, more important, stay alive.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Killian walked out of the school. He could hear distant laughter as the children played outside. The afternoon was still sunny and warm. It had been on his mind to check in with Anne and Silas. The little guy was not only cute but a survivor and courageous. How many little kids would find a way to get out of an abusive situation? It reminded Killian of himself. He would have found the courage to run away, except he could never leave without Gina. She was too little.
Anne was another story. She was courageous in other ways. How many people would fight to have a virtually unknown kid stay with them? How did she know Silas didn’t have problems that hadn’t been diagnosed? Killian knew he wasn’t husband or father material, but if he were, he’d want Anne as a partner—a partner who wasn’t afraid to stand up for a child, for what was right.
Thoughts for another day.
He had a job to do. Killian pulled into a parking space at KnightGuard Security. He and Ben had a meeting with Sam about a potential new case, one that involved guarding a politician coming to town. It should be easy work since the man was only in town for two days.
After that, Seth offered one of the fishing cabins to him for a few days. It would be nice just to hang out and fish, something he hadn’t done in, well, never.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee welcomed him. He said hello to Marcia and walked back to the kitchen to grab a mug of coffee.
Grunts and groans came from the boxing ring. Two of the employees were gloved and bouncing around the ring. He stopped to watch them for a few minutes. It’d been a while since he was in the ring. Maybe later he’d get a partner, work out and let out a little tension. He then headed toward Sam’s office. Phones were ringing, and muted conversations were background noise. A couple of employees greeted Killian.
On the way, Danny came over and slapped him on the back, jolting him from his thoughts. “That was something, wasn’t it?”
