User3896: We should run this whore out of town
There are more, all from different users and all just as vile.
My blood goes cold.
“Has she seen this?”
Dana shakes her head. “Don’t think she’s big on social media. The news site removed the comments, but it’s being re-posted on a community page.”
“Who would do that?”
Dana shrugs. “People are assholes”
“Watch your language.” Joel gives her a stern look that she misses because she’s focused on the screen.
“Sorry, Dad. People are dickheads.”
Joel presses his lips together but has the good sense to keep quiet. Joel was a SEAL Team commander, leading some of the most elite warriors on this planet, but I get the feeling nothing he faced was as challenging as his teenage daughter.
Ten minutes later, I’m hobbling down the path that leads to the maintenance sheds. Every step is slow and achy, but I’ve come too far to head back now.
I find Paige outside crouched by a bag of potting mix. Noah sits beside her, rolling a toy car through the dirt, and I pause to watch them.
He rolls the car up his mom’s arm, and she moves her arm in a rolling motion, pretending to be an out-of-control bridge. Noah giggles, and their laughter makes me forget the ache in my leg.
I chuckle, enjoying their play, and Paige spins around at the sound.
Her eyes go wide when she sees me, and the way her entire face lights up shoots straight through my heart.
“You’re walking!”
I grin back at her, the struggle from the morning forgotten as I drink her in. But something isn’t right. Her wide smile masks dark smudges under her eyes, and her skin is too pale.
“Something else happened,” I state.
She glances at Noah, and we step out of earshot.
“Someone was prowling around my place last night.”
My stomach clenches. This is escalating. “While you were in the house?”
Paige wipes a piece of dirt from her cheek, leaving a brown smudge. “I switched my light on, and it must have scared them away. By the time I ran outside, they were already gone.”
Anger rages inside me. What kind of asshole scares a woman and child on their own? It’s followed swiftly by another thought. What kind of asshole leaves a woman and child on their own?
“Did you see them? Did they leave anything?”
She shakes her head. “They sped off in a large black car, but I didn’t get the make or license plate.”
She looks down, and I tuck my hand under her chin and tilt her head up so she’s looking up at me. It’s great to be standing tall again, to be eye to eye with her.
As her eyes lock with mine, and the pain in my leg is forgotten, I feel as though I’m back in the hotel room, and she’s as lost and vulnerable as she was then. The intensity of the feeling, the desire to protect and care for her, takes me aback.
“I’m moving in for a while.”
She doesn’t protest; she just nods her head. I hate to see her like this. Paige is strong, and some asshole wants to take her down.
“We’ll find out who’s doing this. And until we do, I’ll be there to keep you and Noah safe.”
