AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The woman’s shocked gasp filled the air. Her eyes widened with a mixture of disbelief and euphoria as if she’d imagined this moment before. Her breath puffed out. Blood was spurting.
Suddenly her door bust open. “Ellie!”
Derrick was there, looking down at her as Dansen gasped for a breath.
“Call an ambulance,” Ellie shouted.
She did not intend to let this woman get off easy by dying. She pressed her hands over Dansen’s wound to stem the blood flow.
She wanted Dansen to suffer in prison. She would make sure she was in solitary confinement, too.
Then her teaching would come to an end.
ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR
BLUFF COUNTY HOSPITAL
Lorna Bea sat stiffly on the edge of the bed. Ms. Emily had come and talked to her about foster care, and she’d thought she’d stay with her for a while. She seemed nice and had four kids of her own so that might not be bad.
But her sympathetic eyes made her feel like a lost orphan, like Annie in the movie.
Because she was exactly that. She wasn’t a little kid. She knew what would happen and that social worker and Ms. Emily seemed to realize she knew, because they didn’t beat around the bush with some lame promises that everything was going to be all right.
Nothing was going to be all right, not ever again.
Tears threatened again, but she blinked them away. She was twelve. She had to be brave.
She’d be in the system until she was eighteen. She wondered how many boxes she’d have to pack the next six years and how many cities she’d live in and how many houses there would be and if the people would be nice to her or treat her like she was a psycho because she’d lived with one.
A rainy mist streaked the window of the hospital room. As she watched the raindrops trickle down like teardrops, she wiped at her own damp eyes. The gray clouds were shadowy blobs of black in the sky.
Her box sat at her feet, her notebook inside where Ms. Molly had left them earlier.
She’d looked worried and had taken a phone call, saying she’d be back later. Maybe with some news.
Don’t get your hopes up, Lorna Bea reminded herself.
When people find out about your daddy,they won’t want you.
ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE
CROOKED CREEK POLICE DEPARTMENT
Ellie finished the press conference and headed to her office, hoping the people in the area felt safe again.
Her shoulder throbbed and she rubbed her arm, which was still in a sling, a constant reminder she wasn’t as strong as she wanted to be. That Cord was still fighting for his life.
There, she found Emily Nettles waiting along with the social worker in charge of Paisley’s case.
“How’s Lorna Bea?” she asked without preamble.
“Still traumatized and confused,” Emily said. “It’ll take time, Ellie. But we’ve arranged counseling and she’s talking. She even wants to go by Paisley, the name her mother gave her.”
“That’s a good sign,” the social worker commented. “We also found a home for her. One where she should be happy.”
Ellie had been consumed with worry over what would happen to the girl. “With you, Emily?” she said hopefully.
Emily gave a small shake of her head. “No. The Hammersteins want her to live with them. Without her bravery, they said they might have lost their little girl Betsy.”
