Keeping Hope (Broken Girl Series) (10 page)

A loud knock on the bathroom door causes me to jump.

“I have something for you, baby.” I relax at the sound of Cole’s voice. I wrap the towel around my body and open the door slightly.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” I ask, raising my eyebrows suggestively. He groans in response.

“Baby, don’t. I can barely hold it together here,” he speaks breathlessly.

I look at him with heavy eyes, knowing exactly how difficult he’s finding all of this.

“Take this,” he offers, handing me a bag.

“What is it?” I quiz.

“The owner of the motel has given us some clothes for you. She said that her daughter is about your size. She even gave us some things for Hope,” he says sprightly.

“Oh, that’s so kind.” I take the bag and start to close the door. “I will be out in a second.”

I rifle through the huge bag of clothes and toiletries. This is too kind. There’s everything from pants to face cream. I pull out underwear, a top, and pants. Everything fits lovely apart from the bottoms.

My bump is prominent and stops me from fastening the top button. I loop a hair tie through the hole and over the button. It works perfect.

I take the comb and walk out of the bathroom to see Hope dancing around and Cole sitting crossed leg on the end of the bed.

“Oh, baby, you look tons better.” He holds out his hand.

I take his in mine and we intertwine our fingers. His thumb runs over the back of my hand. My body tingles in response to his delicate touch. I run my other hand through his longer than normal shaggy hair.

Hope stops dancing and singing when I glance at her. She looks at me strangely. I look at Cole and he eyes me curiously.

“So, Hope, you going to get cleaned up so we can get something to eat, sweetie? It’s super late and a little girl as beautiful as you needs her beauty sleep.”

“If I’m already beautiful then I don’t need beauty sleep, silly,” she answers sarcastically.

I chuckle lightly as I jump down off the bed and guide her to the bathroom.

“It’s been a long day, sweetie. We must get sleep tonight. Go clean up really quick so we can get some food. Here are some clothes to change into.” I pass her a small bag full of clean things.

“O-kay…” she says sullenly, pouting on her walk into the bathroom, clinging onto the bag as she closes the door.

I sit down beside Cole, resting my head on his shoulder.

“What are we going to do about Hope?” Cole inquires.

“I guess CPS will take her. I’m not sure if she has any family. By the sound of things, her mom isn’t around any longer. I wish we could do something to help her, Cole.”

“I know, baby. Me too. Maybe when we’ve sorted out our own home she can come stay with us.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?” I remark.

“Of course. She’s a super sweet little girl and you two clearly have a deep connection.”

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” I ask, cupping his face lovingly, losing myself in the deep blue heaven of his eyes. I feel the passion flow through me as our contact heats up. He wraps his strong arms around me. Pulling me onto his lap, we fall back on the bed as I kiss him deeply, exploring his mouth. Heat and desire pour from me, slowly unfolding me as I lose myself in him. I’m controlled by him in this moment. I am his, and he is my everything.

Without him, I am nobody.

We are interrupted by the sound of Hope clearing her throat. “Huh, huh,” she coughs at us. We look over at her and jump up.

“I’m ready,” she snickers before twirling around, showing us the pretty little dress she’s wearing.

“You look really beautiful, Hope,” Cole remarks.

“Why thank you, kind sir. Can we please go get something to eat now?”

“Of course. After you, pretty lady.” He gestures with his arm, pointing toward the door.

We head downstairs to the lounge. There is a variety of food laid out on the old fashioned wooden table. Hope looks at me, eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar. She tugs gently on my top, trying to get my attention. I lean down to her.

“What’s up, Hope?”

“Is this all for us?” she asks incredulously.

“I guess so.”

“I have never seen so much food,” she gasps.

“Go help yourself, sweetie.”

She skips toward the table rubbing her hands together.

I notice the biker guys and Pete sit rowdily playing cards. Pete looks up and throws me a wink. I look at the small table they are crowded around and see empty beer bottles littering the floor and table.

I smile fondly at Pete. He notices my eyes wondering to the beer bottles before raising one in the air.

“Just toasting you, Ken. We are so pleased we found you,” his words slur a little bit.

“Careful, guys, I’m not sure Pete can keep up with you heavy drinkers,” Cole taunts.

“We are enjoying fleecing him for every penny,” Chuck laughs out.

I grab some food before settling on the couch. I eat quickly, finally realizing just how hungry I’ve become. It feels so good to get full.

“Hey, slow down there, pretty girl.” Pete smirks, as he comes to sit beside me. He leans back, crossing his legs. “I still can’t quite get my head around the fact that we found you.”

“Me too. I don’t know how I will ever thank you,” I whisper, holding my hand over his.

He grabs my hand and lifts it to his mouth, placing a soft kiss on the back. His lips feel like silk against my rough skin.

I wasn’t expecting that. I swallow heavily, growing uncomfortable at my heart’s pace. I look at Pete’s piercing eyes as he gazes at me.

Shit, what is happening to me? I pull my hand away quickly before anyone notices our exchange. I feel his heavy eyes burning into me.

“Well, at least now Cole the grumpy bitch will be happy. He’s a nightmare without you around.”

I laugh nervously. I don’t quite understand what is going on.

“Hey, beautiful,” Cole interrupts.

“Hey, Cole,” Pete answers.

I laugh loudly.

“Not you, dick head,” Cole chuckles, taking a sip from the bottle of beer in his hand.

“I’m beautiful though! Right, Ken?” Pete winks at me.

“You’re drunk.” I push on the top of his arm and notice just how buff he actually is. Cole drops between the two of us, pushing Pete off the seat.

“Hey, man, no fair,” he groans.

“There’s a little girl over there trying to get your attention.” Cole points the bottle over to where Hope sits with her mountain of food. She waves at him excitedly, gesturing him over.

He jumps to his feet and dances over to Hope, pulling up a chair beside her. She starts to giggle. Her laughter is heartwarming and infectious. Before long, Pete is laughing hysterically, the pair of them rolling from side to side, holding their stomachs.

My eyes are fixed on them, watching them both. Hearing their laughter is a welcome sound to my tortured soul. I shudder thinking of the evil we managed to escape, amazed that we got away, and so very grateful that I could be the one to help Hope. The one to be her savior, because in a way, she was mine too.

I scan the room and notice the table of bikers all staring over at Hope and whispering between themselves.

“What’s the deal with this Chuck guy?” I ask, nodding my head to where the four guys sit.

“His daughter was abducted years ago. He lost everything dedicating his life to trying to find her. He never did though,” Cole speaks so quietly I have to lean in to hear him. Not that I’m complaining.

“He has Sara tattooed on his knuckles. That’s his daughter’s name. It’s sad you know.”

I smile despondently at him.

“He even remarked that Hope reminded him of Sara.”

I lose focus as my eyes wander over to the motel owner walking toward us. “I’m so sorry to bother you guys, but the police are here to see you again. They’re out in reception waiting for you.”

“Thank you, Celeste,” answers Cole.

“Oh,” I blurt out, “thank you so much for the clothes. That was so kind of you,” I cut in.

“You are most welcome, my dear. I’m glad I could help you guys.”

I inhale sharply, readying myself for the police questioning. I squeeze my eyes tightly, nervous of what is to come, of what they might say to me.

“You can do this, baby,” Cole reassures, grabbing my hand tightly.

“I’ll be with you all the way. We will do this together.”

“Okay, let’s do this,” I say trying to fake confidence.

Cole pulls me to standing; hand in hand we walk out of the room.

“Wait up, where are you going?” Hope shrieks.

“Oh, honey, I’ll be back. You stay and have some more to eat. Pete will stay with you.”

“Abso-ruddy-lutely,” sings Pete. “Let’s go tackle the desserts. I bet I can get at least ten marshmallows in my mouth. All. At. Once.”

I look back at them, laughing and Pete nods at me approvingly.

After thirty minutes of questioning, my head is spinning like I’ve been on the damn waltzer.

“We will leave you to rest now, Kennedy, but when Mrs. Peterson arrives tomorrow we will need you to come down to the station to make an official statement,” the tall officer advises.

“Whatever it takes, Officer. I will do whatever is necessary,” I state.

“We also need to ascertain who else is involved and what charges can be brought against them, but we can discuss this with you further tomorrow. Just rest assured we have him and some of the others in police custody already. The whole commune is under police surveillance. We think there may be a lot more to this commune than we first thought.”

I ponder what he said, not really sure of what exactly he’s insinuating. I have seventeen years of torture in my memories. A lot of people came and went. There’s sure to be a lot involved in this investigation.

“What do you mean, officer?” Cole asks inquisitively.

“Right now, all I can say is that this is an ongoing investigation.”

We bid them farewell and I go back to check in on Hope, while Cole calls his mom to fill her in on our conversation with the police.

As I enter the lounge area, I spot Hope curled up on Pete’s knee. I start to make my way over to them but I’m stopped by Chuck.

“Quick word,” he whispers. He pulls on my arm, a little too forcefully for my liking. I glance down at his tight grip on my arm, then back up to his face. Our eyes meet and he notices my intense glaring.

“Oh sorry,” he huffs, releasing his hold on me. “What do you know about this little girl, Hope?” he quizzes.

“Not much,” I offer back.

He rolls his eyes in frustration, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Well did she say where she came from? How long she had been there?” he quizzes further. His annoyance was clear. I just didn’t understand why is mattered or where this was going.

“Listen, Chuck, I’m thankful for all you have done in helping to find me, but I just don’t understand why you’re asking me all these questions about Hope,” I exclaim. I think to what Cole said about Chuck’s daughter and Hope looking alike, but that could be his mind playing tricks. Or jealousy that Cole found me and Chuck never found his daughter.

“She’s the spitting image of my Sara. That’s why,” he grates out, his teeth clenched together. I swallow down hard. There is an aggressive aura about this guy. He scares the shit out of me. I watch cautiously as he digs into his biker jacket and pulls out his wallet. He opens it, pulling out several pictures. He fumbles with the plastic flipbook, flicking through until he stops. His face lights up when he finds the one he was looking for.

I gasp as I look at the photos. “The likeness is uncanny,” I pause, “but it could just be a coincidence.”

He narrows his eyes at me menacingly.

“Sure, I hear ya! But if there’s the slightest chance she’s related to my daughter, I have to find out. I have been searching for fucking years. It has been my life, my mission to find my daughter. This might be the gem I’ve been waiting to find.”