Page 83 of Ballistic

“Don’t want anyone to see him in his birthday suit, right?”

“Birfday suit.” Daniel echoed my words on a giggle.

“It means naked, stupid,” Larissa snapped back, slapping her brother on the head.

“Ow! I not stupid! You stupid!” He swatted at her face, and she jerked her head, missing the slap.

“Hey, hey. You two need to be good to one another. Stick together and take care of one another. Okay?”

Both kids nodded, their expressions souring to sadness, as both bowed their heads.

“Is my daddy dead?” The boy picked at a scab on his knee, but didn’t seem tearful asking the question.

“Your daddy’s very sick.” Sharp slivers of bone scraped across my tongue as I ran it over my back teeth. “But we’re gonna fix that tonight.”

“Okay.” He huffed and stared out the passenger window.

Twenty minutes passed before we arrived at the same building I’d dropped off the other girl, Isabel. Gina, my old friend, stood at the back door with her arms crossed, smoking a cigarette.

“You guys give me a minute, all right? Just sit tight.” I clambered out of the vehicle and walked up to the building, biting back all the rage still festering inside of me.

She looked past me, as I approached. “Three within a week, Dax. Where the hell are you finding these kids?”

“Look, I know you don’t take in young ones, but they … their dad … he left ‘em alone. Got drunk. Think he’s been abusing the girl.”

“These bastards.” She tossed the cigarette onto the pavement, grinding it with her untied boot. “Where is he now?”

“Haven’t seen him.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets, glancing around at the slumbering neighborhood. “And as far as anyone else is concerned, you didn’t see me tonight.”

“You in trouble, Dax?”

“Nah. The usual, you know? Just trying to keep a low profile these days.”

“Okay, let’s get ‘em in and get ‘em settled. We’ll get in touch with a social worker who can place them until we find out what’s going on with the dad. Is the mom in the picture?”

“No. She skipped town on ‘em. It’s just the two kids.” I rubbed the back of my skull and caught a glimpse of them still waiting in the backseat. “Listen, any chance you can keep them together? They only have each other. I’m pretty sure they sleep together, in the same bed, and everything.”

“I can’t guarantee anything, but keeping them together is always our first choice.”

“If they ask about their dad, I don’t think it’s a good idea to allow contact. I told them he left them to go to the hospital because he’s sick.”

“Don’t worry, Dax. They’re in good hands.” She winked and gave a light squeeze to my arm, though it failed to put my coiling stomach at ease.

I signaled for the kids to get out of the car, and as they approached the two of us, I heard Gina mutter, “Jesus Christ,” under her breath.

Both kids wore dirty, ragged clothes, and the girl’s looked two sizes too small, clinging to her body and riding high on her limbs.

Setting a hand on their shoulders, Gina gently guided them inside the building.

Daniel looked back and broke away, running to wrap his little arms around my legs. “Will my daddy come to get us?”

I exchanged a look with Gina and brushed my hand over Daniel’s messy hair that felt stiff and greasy. “He’s going to the hospital, remember? You’re gonna be okay, Daniel. I promise you.”

His eyes flickered with moisture, and when he blinked, two large tears slipped down his cheek.

Gina took his hand, and the three of them disappeared inside.

My hands flexed and balled into tight fists, as I made my way back toward the ‘Cuda. About sixty miles north, in Ortonville, was a wild boar hunting preserve.