A soft, chiming alarm sounded.At first, I didn’t think much other than to wonder what the noise was.I honestly thought someone had set an alarm on their phone or something.
But it didn’t stop.It didn’t take long before the few people in the common room were looking around trying to figure out what was going on.
“Mom?”Zelda urged her sister from where they now played a video game.Apparently, the young girl had lost interest and gone to her mother.Both girls hurried to me.
“It’s OK.”I smiled, trying to reassure them, pulling them both in for a hug.“It’s just an alarm.Probably nothing.”
Violet entered through the back, probably from the rear entrance.They kept the door locked and on a swipe card entry, but no one but residents and staff used that door.She had her phone pressed to her ear, her other hand gesturing urgently for everyone to move back the way she came.Which meant that back door.They were sending us outside?
Her voice was steady but strained as she spoke.“Yes.I’m moving everyone there now.”Her eyes met mine across the room, and something in her expression made my stomach clench.
There were only two other women and one toddler besides me and the girls.Violet helped the three of them out as I followed with Zelda and Kira.Everyone else had either found a safe, permanent home or their abusers had been arrested.Or were otherwise out of the picture.Which I didn’t ask too closely about lest I be tempted to ask for something I wasn’t willing to have anyone here pay.
The doorway darkened as Tiny’s massive frame filled it.My heart stuttered, relief and fear tangling together at the sight of him.His gaze found mine immediately, as if pulled by some invisible tether.The steady calm in his gaze anchored me even as the alarm continued its assault.If I hadn’t known before this moment how much I needed and wanted Tiny in our lives, I knew it now.
“We need to evacuate,” he murmured as he urged us to follow Violet.“Knight traced a bomb threat to a burner phone.He did some computer shit to find where the phone was when the call was made.Did more computer shit and found Andrew Harlow on a security camera within five meters of where Knight pinged that cell.Could be nothing, but we’re not taking chances.”
“Oh, God.”I glanced down at the girls, but they held hands as Zelda urged Kira after Violet.I snagged our coats before turning to look at Tiny.I was sure my eyes were wide with shock.
“Don’t worry, honey.Knight’s all over this shit.”
“I know.”And I did.“You all are.Aren’t you?”
Tiny held my gaze for a second before seeming to remember the urgency of the situation.He cleared his throat gruffly.“Yes.We need to go.”
I nodded.“Yes.Sorry.”
“Are the girls up ahead?”
“Yes.Zelda had Kira’s hand and they followed Violet.I just stopped to get our jackets.”
“Good.Come on.We’ll catch up to everyone.”
We hadn’t gone far when we heard a small whimper, followed by a frantic cry from the child’s mother up ahead.Tiny stopped and listened.“Go on, Penny.I’ll find little Rita and bring her out.Let her mom know.”
Tiny knelt to look under the big table next to the kitchen entrance.“Hey, there.”He held out his hand for the child.“Want me to take you to your mom?”His voice was gentle, almost tender, as he spoke to her.The child nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
“That’s my brave girl.”Tiny reached for the child.
I saw her mother and flagged the woman down.She sobbed in relief.
“Your mom’s right here, and I’m watching out for both of you.”The child crawled from under the table and threw herself at Tiny, crying as he held her.
Something twisted in my chest at the simple kindness of the gesture.It also didn’t escape me that the child had gone to Tiny with no fuss at all.Rita clung to Tiny as he brought her to her mother.The girl didn’t want to let go so Tiny guided us all out of the building.He didn’t rush us but kept us moving as quickly as possible.It was like his energy was so calm it spilled over to the rest of us.
Outside, the morning sun seemed absurdly bright.There was a police vehicle just inside the gated drive at the side of the building.Knight had a tablet he held in front of the officer, pointing at something.I heard something overhead and looked up to see a drone fly overhead to the opposite end of the building.
Tiny kept us moving until we reached a grassy area under a big maple tree on the far inside corner of the property.About a hundred yards in the distance, I could see the compound of Kiss of Death adjacent to us.The fencing surrounded us too, but there was a separate chain-link fence between the two buildings.
“Stay here,” he said, his voice low.“I need to go back and see what Knight needs.Violet has the key to the gate lock leading to the compound.If she takes you guys there, go.OK?”
I nodded.“OK.”
Fear clutched at my throat.“Be careful,” I whispered, unable to stop myself from reaching for his hand.
His fingers closed around mine for a brief moment, warm and strong.“I will be.”His eyes held mine briefly and he smiled.Then he was gone, moving back toward the building with purposeful strides.
I realized how drastically my world had shifted.I had someone to stand between me and the girls and anyone who wanted to hurt us.Which is why I was never going to ask what had happened to the abusers who’d been rumored to have gone missing.Because unless I read the man completely wrong, Tiny would absolutely kill Andy.If he did, I’d never see Tiny again.He’d go to prison and they’d throw away the key.
