“I don’t know what insurance you have, but I’m sure they’ll pay for her to have x-rays of her foot and ankle.It might need surgery, too.”He said that he didn’t have any insurance as they had dropped him for having so many claims.“Does she fall a great deal?Perhaps I should check her ears out, too.She might have something wrong with her inner ear that is causing her to fall a great deal.”
“You’re just wanting to jack up her bill now that you’ve got her in here.Just wrap her up and send her home with me.I’ll make sure she gets what she needs.”He wasn’t going to allow this child to go anywhere near that man if he could help it.“You got one of those ace bandages that you can take care of her with, don’t you?”
“As I said, I believe it’s broken, and I can’t wrap it up with a bandage without making sure.As you said, it might only need that, but I need to make sure.It’s the law.”He bristled when he mentioned the law and said that he didn’t have to call the police.“All right.I’ll have her x-rayed, and we’ll go from there.It won’t take but a few minutes, and you can wait right here.”
“I’m going with her.”He said that the room they did those in was too small for that many people he was going to have to wait.“You just leave the door open for me, and I’ll stand outside.”
“That won’t work either, as it needs to be dark in the room.One would think that you’re afraid of leaving her alone with me.Is that the case?”He said that she was his little girl and he wanted her to be safe.“Then let me check her ears too to make sure that she’s not having an infection needlessly.”
As soon as he stood up to take the girl, the man grabbed his arm.It was all he could do not to shift and take his throat out.Asking him to unhand him got him nowhere, and when he removed his hand from him physically, the man drew back and punched him in the face.That was all it took for his lion to make himself known to the man.
“Parker, I have a problem.”Not only was the little girl cringing from him on the examining table, but she was screaming too.Not that he blamed her, he’d just killed her father, and there was bloodeverywhere.“I’ve just killed a man with a witness.”
“I’m coming.”She appeared in the room in seconds, which didn’t help the situation with the daughter.Touching her fingers to her head, she laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.She was either sleeping or Parker had killed her.Right now, he didn’t know what to think.“He’s dead all right.You did good.He’s been abusing this little girl since he stole her from her mom.She’s dead too, but I didn’t kill anyone.Thank you for thinking that I have it in me to do that.”
“I don’t know what you’re going to do to help me out, but when we had a situation like this one, we’re supposed to call you.”He looked at the man with his throat gone and wondered what he was going to do about being in prison for the rest of his life.“What can you do to help me?He hit me, and that’s why I reacted the way that I did.”
“It’ll look like he killed himself when the police arrive.Where’s Margaret?”He wasn’t sure when she found out his nurse’s name, but told her.“She’ll take the little girl down to X-ray, and you’ll be in your office.You heard what you thought was a gunshot sound, and that’s when you found him.All right?”
“This in no way looks like he killed himself.”She told him to trust her.“I do.Right now with my life.Molly is going to have a baby, and I’d like to be on this side of the bars to hold it when it comes.”
“Call the police, Kayce.It’ll be fine, I promise.”He hoped so.Going to his office, he made the call about a man who had died in his office.The police asked him for his name, and he told them.They meant the victim.
“Sorry.I didn’t get it.I was more concerned with his daughter being hurt the way that she was.Her ankle is broken, I’m sure, but she’s covered in bruises all over her body.”He asked if his name was Sheppard.“I don’t know, but if that’s the first name that pops into your head, then it’s more than likely him.He’s been abusing his daughter, I believe.”
“It’s him then.We’re sending a car over there now.Don’t touch anything.”He said that he’d not and would wait for him.“I hope he killed himself.It would make that little girl of his life so much better.”
When they arrived, he did nothing but show them into the room.Margaret was still in the x-ray with Elizabeth, the little girl, and the officers said it looked like he’d killed himself.Parker had left him there, and he thanked her through their link.She laughed and told him that she had his back, and he hoped so.He didn’t like to think about what would have happened had she not been there for him when he needed her.
“Elizabeth won’t remember a thing that happened to her dad.She’ll just have a fuzzy memory of you taking her back to get films made of her ankle, and that’s because she was in so much pain.He knocked her around with a golf club when she didn’t make him any dinner.She’s not eaten for several days, you’re going to find out and admit her.She’s going to need someone to come and get her, and I’ll have the numbers for you in a little while.She has an aunt and uncle who will take her in with them.”He asked her if she was sure that he wasn’t going to be in trouble.“You’re going to be fine.You took a bad guy out, and the world will be a better place for it.Don’t forget to tell Margaret thanks for the heads up.She more than likely saved you from a good beating.”
The police had him call his one patient and let them know that an emergency had come up and that the offices were closed for the day.It would take him that long to get the mess cleaned up, but Parker told him she’d take care of it.He was so thankful that she was on his side.He hated to think what would have happened had she turned him down with her help.He’d surely be in prison right now.
Chapter 8
Thirteen years later
Denver looked at the work he’d gotten done today and was proud of himself.It had been a few days since he’d had time to play out in his building, and he thought that it was the best thing to relax with.As he was putting the pot he’d just thrown on the cart, he saw Bailee standing in the doorway watching him.
“I have seen you do that a million times, and it never gets old.”He thanked her.“No problem.I was wondering what you wanted to do about dinner.I’m hungry and need something to eat soon, or I’m going to expire.How about I order some Chinese and we pig out on that?I want a gallon of hot sour soup.”
“That sounds wonderful.Don’t forget tomorrow night, I’m having dinner with my brothers.I guess you have that thing with the women, too.”She said they were meeting at their home so that they could pig out on food there.“Good.I know that Sally June, our cook, has been getting with you about little sandwiches.”
“We’re going to be trying out some of the recipes from Jack’s old place.He handed over the ingredients list to me the other day.Do you suppose that he’ll ever open another place like that one?It’s difficult to get into the place now that he has people working for him all the time.I’m betting the family table is used nightly by other patrons.”Denver said he thought he was having a good time working with their sister in the catering business to care.“I thought about using them to come to the house, but they’re booked up again through the rest of the year.Can you imagine having so much business that you don’t have any openings for nearly a year?”
“I have orders that need to go out soon, so I can get an idea.I’m ready to quit here.If you want to order, I’ll be inside in a minute.I need to clean up and cover things up.”She said that she’d do that and went out the door.After finishing the pot that he was working on, he put it on the shelf with the others and began cleaning himself up.He wasn’t a messy potter; he’d been doing it for so long, but sometimes he’d get really splashed with some of the mud that he used, so he’d need to change his clothing when he was finished.
After wrapping his work in plastic around the cart, he made sure that everything was put away.He didn’t want to leave things out to dry out too quickly and turned off the lights when all was cleaned up.As soon as he was in the house, he washed up again and decided he wasn’t too dirty, but for his shirt.Taking it off near the washer, he dropped it into it and got himself a clean one.It was nice to be able to have a clean shirt on this level when he needed it.
The food arrived just as he was setting the table in the dining room.She must have ordered one of everything on the menu because he couldn’t believe how much food there was for the two of them.The kids had already eaten, she told him, and were off playing in their rooms.He was glad that he didn’t miss bedtime again.It was his favorite part of the evening, reading to the three of them.
He loved his children as much as he did Bailee.He had two sons and a daughter, whom he thought the world set in her heart just for him.Lee would smile at him, and he’d feel the earth shift under his feet.The boys loved her too, as she was their little sister and they spoiled her rotten.But she knew when she was in trouble at home and had to stand in the corner.He’d never tell her this, but when he’d been small, he’d spent a great deal of time standing in one corner or another in Grannie’s home.
Just as they were finishing up their meal, the kids came down to tell him goodnight.They’d hadtheir baths already and smelled so good that he found himself sniffing their throats for the scent.It also smelled of their mother, so he was happy to know that they smelled of her as well.Denver got to take them up to bed while Bailee cleaned up.She said it was because he’d missed bathtime, but he had a feeling that she knew what it meant to him to be able to read to them.It made his night.
Settling down on Harmans bed, his oldest, he asked him where they were in the book they’d been reading.He’d been reading the one about the whale, and they were about halfway through it now.He started on the chapter that they’d left off on when Lee, his second-oldest son, asked him a question about being a lion alpha.
“It’s called leap leader, and it’s different for everyone who does it.I set up hours to work so that I didn’t have people coming and going all the time.It afforded me time to be with your mom, too.You know how much we love to spend time together.”They all three made the gagging sounds, and he laughed.“Being in charge is a big deal.You have to know all the rules that govern everyone and be willing to make sure justice is served when it needs to be.It’s a big responsibility just being the leader of this family.”
