Beautiful Broken Promises(22)

Although normally I would have smiled at her saucy mouth, her words sliced through me like a rusty, jagged knife. I began to wonder what she meant by escape and was once again reminded how little I actually knew about what brought us to this moment.

I caught up to her right before she headed down the stairs and scooped up my bag along the way. Before I could say a word, she immediately held her hand up, halting me. “Not now. I’m too tired. I can imagine your questions, but just... not now, please.”

“Okay...I can do that. As long as you promise to answer all my questions tomorrow.”

She stepped out into the warm night air and looked back at me. “As long as you stop accusing me of kidnapping.”

I kept quiet because I couldn’t get the image out of my head of her laughing on that park bench with Mrs. Flores. The longer I looked at her though, the harder it was to imagine her stealing a child or even aiding, someone who did. I watched as she stroked Braden’s back lovingly and looked back to check on Kate’s sleeping form. She cared about them, that much was obvious.

She stood at the curb, looking at me expectantly. I then realized it was the middle of the night and I didn’t have a car to take us to the hotel. And there was no way in hell my child was getting in a disgusting patrol car tonight.

“Uh... I’ll go to the corner and see if there are any cabs,” I told her. She nervously looked around her at the darkened streets. Just then, another officer stepped out of the creaky, old front door. I recognized him from my training days. “Sergeant Williams, can you do me a favor?” He inclined his head my way but didn’t respond. “Can you keep an eye on her for a second? I need to run down and catch a cab.”

I began stepping away when Raegan hurried to my side and said, “I can come with. No need for a babysitter.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know you’re tired and you don’t need to walk all the way down there. Just wait here.” When I tried to step away again, she latched onto my forearm and gave Sergeant Williams a frightened look. She didn’t seem very trusting of others. Except me, the guy who had called her a kidnapper... she trusted.

“Alright then...never mind, man, thanks though.” I waved off the sergeant, who seemed less than pleased that I had just wasted two measly seconds of his life.

I used to be like that. Always go, go, go. No wasting time. No looking at anyone when you were shoving your way down the street. No time for dawdling. That was my New York life. But then I moved and realized that there were more important things along the way, and sometimes it was okay to actually look up and smile at the people around you.

I’d always assumed once I got Kate back we would settle back into our old apartment and try to go back to normal. Now, I just didn’t know what I was going to do. Could I move back to New York? Could I really leave Audrey and all of my closest friends in Texas, living fifteen-hundred miles away from them? They were my family now. I just didn’t know if that were possible.

The cab to the hotel took no longer than fifteen minutes, but everyone in the car except for the driver and me was asleep within five. Raegan slumped against the window, breathing softly, while Braden clung to her neck. As we pulled up under the brightly-lit hotel drive, I swiped my card in the slot to pay our tab. Raegan shook awake when she heard the beep.

We scooted across the seat silently, each of us carrying a sleeping child. When I stepped out, I held my hand out to help Raegan. She couldn’t seem to get a firm hold on Braden in her sleepiness, so I reached down and scooped him up right next to Kate. Raegan easily slid out and smiled at me in what appeared to be gratitude.

“I can take him back now,” she quietly stated.

“I’ve got them, it’s no trouble really,” I told her and turned to walk toward the entrance. She quickly caught up to me and slid my bag and their backpack off my forearm.

“I can help,” she told me, trying her best to lift my heavy bag. I smiled and allowed her to struggle. If she wanted to help so badly...

Dad had given me the keycards to our room before we left the station, so I knew our rooms were on the twelfth floor. The elevator ride up was silent, except for the sound of the kids breathing softly against my chest. I found our side-by-side rooms and handed Raegan her keycard while I walked past her to my room.

She froze and cleared her throat at me. Still holding the two kids, I turned to see her glaring at me.

I chuckled and said, “Go in. Open the adjoining door and we’ll figure this out.”