Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“Daddy, stop!” Lofton yelled.
I froze mid-step.
Daddy?
What the hell?
Though family didn’t equal safety, and I had no fucking clue where this gun of his might have been. Changing course, I spun, hooking her around the waist before she had the chance to reach him.
“Let me go,” she argued, shoving against my chest.
I curled her into my front, putting myself between her and any possible weapon. “He’s got a gun.”
“No, he doesn’t,” she hissed. “He’s just confused.”
She fought against me as I started herding her back toward the car. “Can’t take that risk.”
“Dammit, Devon, stop! He has dementia. There is no gun. He’s not a threat. He’s my father.” She aimed her icy blue stare up at me, her chest heaving with labored breaths.
A woman’s voice came from behind us. “Jesus, Daddy! I go to the bathroom for one minute and you start picking fights?”
“And that’s my sister,” Lofton added. “Now let me go so I can go help her get him inside before he hurts himself.”
I groaned, not feeling good about letting her go but it wasn’t like I could drag her away kicking and screaming in order to protect her from her geriatric father wielding an imaginary pistol. “Stay close. I’m at your back. Got it?”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
As soon as my arms fell away, she hurried over. I followed, jogging to stay beside her.
Her sister had her hands full trying to corral her father. Lofton immediately jumped into the fray.
The old man ignored them and continued yelling at Apollo. “FBI’s been watching this house for years. Ever since I told ‘em I wasn’t selling, you people think you can run me out of here by jacking my taxes up. Admit it. You want the land. Always have.”
Apollo lifted his hands higher. “Nobody’s taking your land.”
“Bullshit!” he roared. “You rigged my house. You got microphones in the walls. I can hear the clicking at night.” He tapped his temple. “I ain’t stupid, boy. I know my rights. You don’t step foot on my property without a warrant.”
“Daddy, stop,” Lofton pleaded, tugging at his arm.
He tried to yank it away by throwing his arm up in the air, but in the process the back of his hand connected with her face.
Anger flared hot inside me as I moved fast, stepping between them.
“Hey!” Lofton objected.
I didn’t give the first fuck that he was her blood, nobody was allowed to lay a hand on her.
“You need to back up,” I told him, low and firm.
Blue eyes that matched his daughters, landed on me, wild and distant. “You one of ‘em too?”
I drew in a sharp breath through clenched teeth, my patience fading by the second. “Sir, I’m—”
He spit in my face.
My vision flashed red.
Th kind of red that didn’t allow you to think.
The kind that ruined lives.
And the kind that was going to have me taking down a senile old man without caring if I got fired because of it.
The old man put up his dukes, ready to go blow for blow. “Or maybe we should just handle this like men.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
I drew in a breath. Slow. Controlled. Professional.
Anything to ground me.
Lofton’s hand landed on my arm. “Devon, don’t. He’s not himself. Jenn and I can handle this. Just let us get him inside.”
I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand, my jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached. “He puts his hand on you again, I—”
“He won’t.” She peered up at me, tears welling in her eyes, her face the most beautiful picture of heartbreak. “It was an accident. He’s not always like this. I’m not sure what set him off today, but he’s not violent. I swear.”
Suddenly, her nerves when we arrived made a lot more sense. It was hard watching someone you love lose themselves. Never knowing what version of the person you’re about to walk up on. My grandmother developed Alzheimer’s a few years before she passed. I was a kid and didn’t completely understand what was going on at the time, but I’d never forget how watching her fade nearly destroyed my mom. And it was only the memory of my mother hiding in her closet to cry that kept me in check.
I swallowed hard. “Go. Call me if you need me.”
She gave my arm a squeeze. “Thank you.” She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. “Move your car to the back of the house where he can’t see it. Once everything is back to normal, he’ll calm down.”
“Right.” I mumbled.
I stood there for a few moments, staring at the old man’s back as his daughters gently tried to coax him back inside. There were promises of bacon and tacking up Salty—whatever the fuck that meant. Eventually, it was the name Clara that finally got his feet moving.
The screen door slammed behind them as they finally disappeared inside the house. My shoulders sagged, though I felt no relief at the idea of her being out of my sight.