* * * *
Valentina ran through the woods in an attempt to get the sounds out of her head. Since leaving the therapist’s office and listening to Kenny crying, she couldn’t stop the flashbacks. She wished she could have seen the break-in coming, that she had been wearing her gun instead of keeping it locked up in the safe. If she was stronger, she could have broken down that door sooner. It didn’t matter that her cop friends were shocked that she broke down the door with the curtain rod. She pounded away over and over again to get to them. She couldn’t stand the way Kenny was crying and moaning, or Lois’s screams of fear.
She wiped her eyes as the tears fell. She ran harder, faster over the hills and through the deeper brush of the woods. She saw the images in her head. Don’s foot on top of Kenny on the floor, seeing his father assault his mother. Caden thrusting into her. Lois screaming and crying, her face beaten and battered.
She felt the pain to her stomach and she stopped running and grabbed onto the tree, hugging it. She wiped her eyes and calmed her breathing, then heard the breaking of branches.
“Valentina?”
She gasped. It was Sparr
ow.
“Hey.” She heard Beck’s voice, too. Oh, God, both of them are here. She wiped her eyes as best she could and then inhaled, exhaled, and straightened her shoulders to turn around. Both of them widened their eyes and then squinted. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Sparrow asked her. He reached out and covered her shoulder. She forced a smile and slid to the left, making his hand fall.
“Yeah, of course. I was just resting. I ran too hard,” she said and started to walk forward. Beck grabbed her hand, and she stopped but wouldn’t face him.
“You’re not fine. You’re upset. Are Kenny and Lois okay? You were gone all day,” Beck said to her.
She looked at him and he continued to hold her hand.
“It was a long day. I need to run, you know, clear my head,” she said and looked away from him again.
“If you need anything, even to talk...”
She shook her head and pulled her hand from him.
“I’m good, really. I guess the stress of it all, you know, moving and trying to get Lois and Kenny settled, is taking its toll. So, how about you guys? Out late for a run, aren’t you?” she asked.
“We saw you go out and were concerned. It gets dark fast and the critters come out at night. It could be dangerous,” Sparrow said to her, holding her gaze and looking her over.
“Why were you watching me?” she asked him, now on the defensive.
“It’s our job,” Sparrow said and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Since when?” she asked.
“Since Ford asked us to.”
“Since I asked for my brothers and me to be assigned as your guardians.”
Her mouth dropped, and then she closed it and stepped back farther from them. She shook her head.
“I don’t need guardians.”
“It’s the law around here,” Sparrow said.
“Fuck that law.” She turned around to walk away but Beck reached for her hand again. She swung at him and he ducked. “I don’t need looking after,” she told him.
“It’s more than looking after. It’s being friends, and knowing you got us to watch your back and be here for you,” Beck told her.
“Why? Why do you want to do that? You don’t know me or my sister.”
“Because you need looking after. You all look so sad and scared most of the time, Val,” Beck told her. She felt the tears reach her eyes. She felt a mix of emotions. She didn’t get how that worked. Was it like staking a claim to a woman? Were they going to follow her all the time and make her feel like she was under guard or something? That thought had her looking both men over. Both wore tight green T-shirts that showed off their muscles and sweatpants that looked military issued.
“I don’t need anything from you.”
Beck stepped closer and cupped her cheek, placing his arm around her waist. “Maybe you do and don’t know it and can’t see it because you have this wall up keeping you locked away,” he said to her.