Kids on the Doorstep Read online

  The front door opened and Gladys appeared with the children flocked around her, each bundled in an odd assortment of secondhand clothes that looked old enough to earn a spot in a museum somewhere, and John knew that any chance of a peaceful resolution was over.

  “Lexie?” The woman had jumped from the car and was now running toward the girls until John blocked her path with a warning that she didn’t heed. “Get out of my way,” she said in a low growl. “Those are my girls and you’re not going to stop me from at least seeing them!”

  John turned to Gladys, who was watching the scene with alarm, and instructed the older woman to go back inside with the kids.

  “Those are my kids! You can’t keep me from them. I have a right to see them. Let me go or you and I will have major problems that go way beyond your manners and rude disposition. Do you hear me?”

  “I hear you just fine. Now you listen to me. I don’t know you from Adam but I do know you’re not going anywhere near those girls until we get things sorted out. They’ve been through plenty without you traipsing into their lives acting like you’re here to pick up lost luggage after a long plane ride.”

  She paled and her bottom lip actually trembled slightly but John wasn’t swayed. Where had she been when her girls were going without food? When Chloe got sick and had no one to take her to the doctor? Those little girls needed someone to champion them and right now, he was it.

  “You don’t know anything about my life.”

  “About that you’re right and, woman, I don’t care to know. You walked out on your kids. Their daddy walked out on them. I didn’t ask for this but it landed in my lap just the same and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let those girls go to the first ditzy broad who comes my way saying she wants her babies back.” She gasped and he gave her arm a little shove as he released her. “Now, the best thing you can do right this minute is to get off my property before I have you arrested for trespassing.”

  Tears welled in her eyes but she didn’t let them fall. Rubbing at her arm where he’d kept a firm grip, she sent him a scathing look and promised to return with the authorities.

  “You can’t just keep someone’s kids like you would a stray puppy! They’re mine and you can’t—”

  “Yack, yack, yack. You do what you feel is necessary. Until then, get lost.”

  RENEE DROVE LIKE A CRAZY WOMAN straight to the Sheriff’s Department in Emmett’s Mill, part of her sobbing with elation that she’d finally found her girls and the other part railing at the asshole who had the audacity to keep them from her as if he had the right.

  Coming to an abrupt stop in front of the police station, she pushed open the double doors and stalked inside. She approached the reception desk and banged on the little bell for service when the woman behind the desk was slow to open the sliding protective glass window.

  “I need to talk to an officer right away,” she said to the dispatcher-receptionist, ignoring the woman’s look of annoyance. “A man is keeping my children from me and I need an officer to go out there and get them.”

  “Excuse me? Come again? You say someone’s holding your kids?”

  “Yes. A man named John Murphy—”

  “That name sounds awful familiar…does he own the Murphy ranch out on the outskirts of town?”

  “Yeah, I guess it was a ranch of some kind.” She vaguely remembered seeing a few horses and a dog. Renee let out a short breath as incredulity warred with extreme frustration at the woman’s failure to grasp that a serious crime was being committed. She seemed more interested in playing the Name Game, and Renee tried again. “Yeah, it was a ranch but I hardly think that’s relevant when I’m trying to tell you that this John Murphy has kidnapped my children. He has my kids and I want them right now. Can I speak with a deputy please?”

  “Don’t get huffy.” The woman’s mouth pinched, causing little lines to crease her lips in a most unflattering way. “All the available deputies are out on a call. But if you leave a name and number—”

  Renee slapped her hand down on the counter, making the woman jump and her hand flutter to her chest in alarm but Renee was past caring about making waves. She wanted her kids. “I will not. A crime is being committed and I want a goddamn officer. Do you hear me?”

  The woman’s deep-set eyes narrowed and Renee knew she’d just crossed over to the place of No Return and she was pretty sure that place was also nicknamed Up Shit Creek Without a Paddle because moments later, those deputies that were previously unavailable came pouring out and Renee found herself in handcuffs.

  “What are you doing?” Renee shrieked as the deputy led her to a small single cell in the rear of the building. “I come here for help and you’re arresting me?”

  “Nancy pressed the panic button, which means you must’ve done something to cause her to panic. This is for everyone’s safety until we figure out what’s going on.”

  A woman officer entered the room. “I got this Fred. You can go ahead and take that coffee break you were wanting earlier.” She waited for Deputy Do-Right Fred to leave and then she introduced herself. “I’m Sheriff Casey. Seems you’re making friends wherever you go. I got a call from John Murphy about a half hour before you showed up and started abusing my staff. Want to tell me what’s going on?”

  Renee’s cheeks warmed at the cloaked rebuke and took a minute to calm herself before she answered. “My ex-husband, Jason Dolling, took off with our kids and I’ve been trying to find them for the past four months. I remembered that Jason had a great-aunt in the area and so I came looking for my girls here and found them at the neighbor’s house!”

  “Are you sure they’re your kids?”

  Renee stared at the woman. “Are you kidding me? Of course I know for sure. They’re my kids. That’s not something you forget.”

  “According to John, you walked out on them. That true?”

  “I left them with their father for personal reasons,” Renee said, fuming. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

  “I’m the one asking the questions. Why’d you leave them?”

  “I told you. It was personal.”

  “Yeah…it usually is.” The woman regarded her shrewdly and Renee felt her jaw tense. She got the distinct impression this small-town sheriff was judging her and there was nothing Renee hated more than to be put on display just so someone else could offer their opinion. The sheriff sighed. “Well, we’ve got ourselves a situation.”

  “Yes, I agree. Some hillbilly horse rancher has my children and I require your assistance to retrieve them,” Renee said.

  “That’s not exactly how I see it,” the sheriff admitted with a shake of her head.

  “Oh? Is there any other way to see things? Perhaps you’d like to swab my cheek for DNA to make sure I’m their mother.”

  The sarcasm in her voice did little to soften the sheriff toward her but Renee was losing patience with this whole ridiculous routine. And to think she’d thought the hardest part of this mess would’ve been to find Jason and the girls, not pick them up. Noting the narrowed stare and gathering frown on the sheriff’s face, she tried again. “Listen, I’m tired and I just want to get my girls. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding but no harm done. So if you’ll just provide a police escort, we’ll be out of your hair before you know it and everything can go back to the way things were before me and my girls ever stepped foot in this godfor—” she checked that part of her sentence “—uh, town.”

  The sheriff smiled but Renee felt the chill before the woman started talking. “You never answered my question.” At Renee’s blank stare, the sheriff asked again, “Why’d you leave your kids behind with a man who, by the sounds of it, wasn’t fit to water a dog much less care for three babies?”

  No one hated the truth of that answer more than her, but if she lied it would only make her look worse so Renee grit her teeth and admitted her greatest shame to a total stranger. “Because I was in rehab.”

  “Rehab.”

  In that one word,
Renee heard a wealth of condemnation and she wanted to scream. She’d get no help from the sheriff. Fine. On to Plan B. Inside she was shaking with frustration but she kept her expression calm, knowing if she had any chance of getting her girls she had to first get the hell out of this jail cell.

  The sheriff sighed. “Okay, here’s the deal. John told me Gladys Stemming has temporary guardianship for the time being so until you get in front of the judge and have that amended, the order stands and I can’t let you charge out there and take the kids. But seeing as you haven’t actually committed a crime I can’t keep you here so, if I let you out of this cell, you’re going to promise me that you’re not going to rattle any more cages with your screeching and hollering. That’s not how things are done around here, you hearing me?”

  Renee swallowed and nodded though it killed her to agree to those terms, especially when her first instinct was to drive straight back to that ranch and take the girls and run. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and she rationalized that once she got in court—in front of someone normal instead of these small-town hillbilly types who made up the rules as they went along—she knew she’d get her girls back and they could leave this nightmare behind.

  “I hear you. Loud and clear,” Renee answered. “I’m sorry for freaking out your receptionist. I was upset. I haven’t seen my girls in months and contrary to what you may think about me, I’ve been desperately searching for them since Jason took off,” she added, with a dose of humility that wasn’t entirely fake for she really hadn’t meant to frighten anyone.

  “Um-hmm. Well, just see that you keep your nose clean until you can get to court. I don’t want to have to lock you up again.”

  That makes two of us.

  JOHN SAT ACROSS THE TABLE from Alexis and Taylor while Chloe helped Gladys bake cookies in the kitchen.

  “Was that your mama?” he asked the girls. Both were wearing solemn expressions, though there was a hint of anger in Alexis’s. He sighed. “If that woman was your mama, she’s going to come back and if the courts decide she’s fit, you’re going to have to go with her. Don’t you want to see your mama?”

  Taylor looked uncertain but as she slanted a quick glance at her older sister, who had remained stoic, she chose to keep her answer locked up tight. Though her silence didn’t last long.

  “I want to stay with you, Mr. John,” Taylor blurted. “I like it here. It’s warm and you’re a good cooker and I don’t mind sharing a bed with my sisters because it’s soft and I don’t get woken up by bugs running across my toes. Please don’t make us leave, Mr. John.”

  That last part—delivered with a child’s earnestness—hit him square in the chest. He didn’t want to give the kid false promises but he couldn’t imagine breaking her heart like everyone else in her short life had done. “There are rules when it comes to kids,” he started, hating that it wasn’t as simple as Taylor saw it. “If your mama isn’t fit then you have to go to a court appointed something-or-another. This is a temporary thing that we got going on right now.” Tears sprang to Taylor’s eyes and Alexis pulled her closer. Ah hell…rules were meant to be broken, weren’t they? “Listen, I’ll see what I can do but if you stay here, there are rules here, too. Chores, helping out. I run a working horse ranch and I don’t have time to be chasing after three little girls who aren’t prone to listening.” He gave Alexis a short look. “Am I clear?”

  Taylor nodded. “Can I help with the horses?”

  John exhaled loudly, feeling as if he’d just agreed to take on the world for three little strangers. “We’ll see. In the meantime, why don’t you go help Mrs. Stemming with those cookies. I need to talk with your sister.”

  He watched as Taylor hopped from her chair and skipped to help Gladys, a bright smile wreathing her small face as Gladys handed her a bowl with cookie dough and told her to start rolling it into little balls for the oven. He’d told Gladys she shouldn’t be up and about so much but the old gal wanted to feel useful and wouldn’t be deterred. He figured for now it was all right but he was going to get her to see the doctor soon.

  Once Taylor was suitably occupied he gestured for Alexis to follow him into the living room, which was a far enough distance from the kitchen to allow them some privacy.

  She took a seat opposite him, perched on the edge of the cowhide sofa as if poised to bolt if the need arose. Everything about Alexis, from her rigid posture to her sharp, alert and wary gaze, told him that this girl had lost her childhood somewhere along the way of her life. He could relate somewhat. He’d often felt like Evan’s father rather than just his older brother after their mom died. The weight of that responsibility had a tendency to suck the fun right out of growing up. He eyed her intently. This kid didn’t know what it was like to be coddled and so he’d talk to her straight.

  “You mad at your mama? It’s okay if you are. She did a bad thing, leaving you like she did. But it seems maybe she has changed a bit since you saw her last. She seemed real upset, don’t you think? Maybe you could sit down and chat with her for a bit, get a feel for what she’s saying.”

  Alexis softened imperceptibly. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I know you still have feelings for your mama and that’s okay, too. We can be mad at the people we love. But if you don’t talk with her about your feelings, they’ll just fester up inside of you and make you sick. It’s like having an invisible infection inside your heart and it never gets better unless you treat it.”

  Alexis gave a stiff nod but remained quiet.

  “I need to ask you something about Chloe.” At the mention of her baby sister, her demeanor became protective. Her little fists curled and he doubted she even realized it.

  “What about Chloe?”

  “Was your daddy mean to her?”

  “Daddy was mean to all of us.”

  “Yeah, I get that. He sure as hell ain’t up for Father of the Year but I mean did he pick on Chloe more than the rest of you?” At first Alexis seemed reluctant to answer, her small mouth compressed as if trying to hold back what wanted to fall out, so he waited. His patience was rewarded when Alexis started talking in a barely audible whisper.

  “Yes,” she said, tears glittering in her eyes. “It got really bad when our mom left.”

  “Do you know why?” he asked gently and Alexis shook her head. Drawing a deep breath, he asked the question that had been bothering him the most. “Do you think your daddy was trying to make Chloe sick?”

  Alexis bit the side of her cheek and her face paled as she struggled to hold back the tears that welled in her eyes.

  “It’s okay, you can tell me. I know you did your best to keep your sisters safe. Tell me what your daddy was doing to Chloe.”

  Alexis gulped and when she spoke again her voice shook. “Special eggs. He made her eat eggs that he made special and they always made her sick. The last time, right before we left Arizona, I watched him as he made Chloe’s breakfast. He put something in it from under the kitchen sink and I know that’s not where we keep the salt and pepper. We only keep cleaning supplies down there. So I didn’t let her eat them.”

  “How’d you do that?”

  “When he wasn’t looking I switched our plates. I knew he hadn’t put anything in me and Taylor’s eggs and then I told him I didn’t feel good. I threw my eggs away. He didn’t care about me, but he made sure Chloe ate every bit on her plate before he’d let her get down from the table. I think my daddy—” She stopped on a painful sob and John felt her struggle as if it were his own. Alexis had confirmed his worst fear. The girls’ father had been trying to poison his youngest daughter.

  He caught Alexis’s red-rimmed stare and made her a solemn promise. “You’re never going back to that man. And if your mom isn’t up to snuff…you aren’t going back to her, either. That okay with you?”

  Her answer was slow in coming but he suspected it came straight from her heart as she nodded and said, “Fine by me.”

  Good. First things first…“I’m friends with Sheriff
Casey. You need to tell her everything you just told me.”

  “Are you sure we’re not going to go back to Daddy?” she asked, her eyes scared.

  “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

  “Daddy was real mean to Chloe,” she said. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do if we go back. He told Chloe if she didn’t stop peeing her panties he’d put her outside like a dog because she smelled like one. He left her out there for hours in the rain. I went out and got her after he went to bed. It took all night to warm her up but the cough she has now…it’s from that night. Sometimes she coughs so hard, she can’t breathe.”

  “I know, honey, that’s why I took her to the doc. She’s got some medicine and we’re taking care of that nasty cough so you don’t need to worry anymore,” he said, careful to keep his voice neutral and calm when inside he was to the boiling point. He couldn’t imagine little Chloe locked outside, shivering in the rain, crying for her sisters and huddled against the door while her father sat in relative comfort inside the house. God help him if John got his hands on that man. But for now, he needed to lift the weight from this little girl’s shoulders. “All right. Here’s the deal. Sheriff Casey is a good person. There’s no way you’re going back to your daddy after you tell her what you told me. But you have to be honest with her so she can help. Okay?”

  Alexis nodded and wiped at the remaining tears glistening on her downy cheek. “Why did she leave us with him?” she asked quietly, more to herself than to John. Suddenly, she looked at him as if expecting an answer though he didn’t have one. “Maybe if she’d taken us with her…Chloe wouldn’t have been hurt.” She rose and glanced away, seeming much older than she really was. When she spoke again, her voice was cold. “I hate her. No one can make me love her again. Not you. Not anybody. I’ll hate her forever and it doesn’t matter if she’s changed.”