“Did you get it for Christmas?”
“No, I didn’t.” It was the last time she had truly believed in Santa Claus and that her life would be better than it was. She had only been five years old.
“Were you bad?” Anna whispered.
“I must have been.”
“Can I glue your pictures down?”
“What?”
“Can I glue your pictures down?” Marcus repeated. “I’m finished with mine.”
“Go ahead.” Bliss slid the paper over she had been absently playing with. “When you’re done, let’s wash our hands and do circle time.”
The children talked about their Christmas plans as they finished. Their excitement was increasing each day as it grew closer.
She had already picked out presents for Drake, Jace and Cal. Drake wasn’t going to be happy about them, but he would get over it when she gave him a blow job. The man was putty in her hands as soon as her mouth went anywhere near his dick.
Bliss was putting the books back in the reading center after closing time when Lisa West came in, despite the closed sign outside. Jessie had been about to turn the lights out; she was just waiting for Bliss to finish straightening up for the following day.
“What can I help you with, Lisa?”
“I just wanted to drop off the check for Darcy’s last week.” She took it out, handing it to Jessie.
Bliss put on Ginny’s coat as she eavesdropped.
“I was sorry to lose Darcy. We’ll all miss her.”
“I will, too.” The fakeness in Lisa’s voice made Bliss want to rip out her heavily styled curls.
“Maybe her new foster mother will bring her in for the Christmas party we’re hav—”
“I wouldn’t count on it. The State already took her away from her new foster home after only a few hours. She’s in the hospital in Jamestown. The worker told me when I took the last of her things by the office.”
“She’s in the hospital?” Bliss broke into the conversation.
“Yes, they took her there this morning. The worker seemed to think it’s the flu.” Lisa arched a sculpted eyebrow, letting her know she didn’t think it was appropriate for her to butt in to the conversation. Bliss could give a flying fuck what that high-class bitch thought of her.
Not caring that the two women were staring after her, she left abruptly without another word. In a nanosecond, she was behind the wheel of her car and driving as fast as she could toward the county road that led to Jamestown.
The thought of the little girl alone in the hospital with only strangers made her want to go back and beat the crap out of the woman who hadn’t cared enough to even call to check on her condition.
Her mind played back over the image of Darcy standing outside with Lisa in the cold. She should have gone outside and put her in the car herself.
“Please, be okay… Please, be okay.” Bliss was afraid, like all her wishes, it wouldn’t come true.
* * *
Drake was about to turn his computer off then meet Bliss at the diner when his cell phone rang.
“If you’re calling me again about freezing your balls off, I’m leaving now. You can go home in a—”
“Your woman just took off in her car.” Greer’s casual statement sent his heart pounding.
“Where was she going?” Bliss was supposed to walk over to his office after the daycare closed.
“How in the hell do I know? She was in her car and driving away before I could get out of this tree. My ass is numb.”
“I told you to watch her from your truck,” Drake snapped. When he had asked his cousins to take turns watching over Bliss when he couldn’t, they had all agreed for a price. Greer, of course, hadn’t wanted to do it without an expensive incentive, saying it would be boring. Drake had made it worth his while.
“That wouldn’t have been any fun.”
Drake ground his teeth together. “Where … is … she?”
“I … do … not … know.”
So help him God, he was going to strangle his cousin.
Drake shut his laptop, getting to his feet. “Which direction did she go?”
“Out of town.”
“Which direction?” Drake was almost at his car.
“Toward Jamestown.”
Drake started his car. “I’ll try to catch up.”
“Why are you going to do that?”
Drake strangled the steering wheel. “Because I want to know where she’s going, asshole.”
“There’s no need to get nasty. Dustin will call when she gets where she’s going.”
“Dustin’s following her?”
“Yes.”
“You could have told me that to begin with!”
“That wouldn’t have been any fun.”
“You know that new truck I promised you if you and your brothers kept an eye on her?”
“Yeah?” Greer’s voice became wary.
“It just got downgraded from a half-ton to a basic pickup. Fuck with me again, and you’ll be driving that old truck of yours until it’s so rusted you’ll be able to see through it.”
Chapter 15