AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grabbing the few items we managed to get out of the cart one by one, I pass them over for her to place on the belt along with her cereal, which she does with care, shifting our purchases until she’s happy with their placement.Hmm,maybe my OCD is rubbing off on her a little too much.
Shit.
Keeping our lives and the things in them clean and precise help me be the man I am, but I don’t want that for Mary. I want my daughter to be better than me—happy, healthy, and stress-free.
Satisfied our last item is balanced and neat, Mary turns to me.
I grin. “Perfect, thank you.”
Her sweet face smiles up at me, happy with the praise. Remembering my promise, I nod to the shelves just behind the conveyor belt. “You get one item,” I remind her. After a small squeal, she’s perusing for her next treat.
Please don’t pick candy,I pray as she hems and haws over what she wants.
My gaze flits over to where the man and his woman had been, and they’re still there. His face is drawn into a frown. Looks like I’m not the only oneimpatient to get out of here.Good, that means he doesn’t want any trouble either.
Mary lifts her arm, her prize held up for me to see. A small rubber ball.Perfect. It’ll keep her busy while I look at where we can head next since staying in Cromwell Town is no longer an option.
“That’s a great choice, Piglet.” I praise with a bright smile.
A bored-looking teenager starts to scan our items, shoving them to the bagging section with little care.
“Hi, welcome to Cromwell and Greene Grocery. How are you doing today?” he asks in a drab and monotone voice. The kid really hates his fucking job.Fair.
“Good, thanks,” I answer, bagging our things quickly. He doesn’t care that I’m about to have a fucking heart attack if I don’t get my daughter out of a building that holds another killer.
Mary hands him her ball to be scanned, then hurries the few steps to stand on the right side of the scanner where the kid has been throwing our stuff. I chuckle when her little body slams into my leg.
So impatient and uncoordinated.
My baby girl grins up at me, pushes off my leg, and stretches her arm out to take her treat back from the cashier. Her smile fades quickly when the little prick carelessly throws it down to the end of the counter, past where I’m standing.
Instead of being stopped by the walled edge of the counter, like our bread and milk were, the ballbounces a few times, shoots off the end, hits the floor, and rolls between the feet of people heading for the exit.
Panic grips my heart when the sound of little feet running hits me at the same time that her small body zooms past me.
“Mary!” I snap, but she pays me no mind. Focused only on her runaway ball, she’s oblivious to me rushing after her.
“Hey, you gotta pay!” the kid behind the counter shouts.
I don’t answer, too busy snatching my daughter by the back of her jacket. The pink denim holds strong in my fist. Lifting her slightly, I draw in a deep breath and try to calm my pounding heart.
One more deep breath and Mary’s feet touch the ground again as I set her down gently. Turning her toward me, I crouch in front of her.
I push my gray baseball cap up slightly, needing her to see how serious I am. “We’ve discussed you running off before. There’s a lot of people here. What were you thinking?”
Wide blue eyes blink back at me for a few seconds before she tearily answers, “I just wanted my ball.” Her little thumb points behind her at the still rolling toy.
I give another deep sigh. Standing, I offer my hand, squeezing her fingers when she takes it. Together, we weave between the other customers until we’re close to the runaway item.
Stretching my leg out, I block the path of the ball. Mary is quick to take advantage of that, scooping up the ball and clutching it tight in her left hand.
And just like that, her smile is back.At least one of us is happy.My heart is still pounding, something that only gets worse when I look over to where the other killer had been . . . he and his girl are gone.
Shit.
Another dangerous man in the building is one thing, but not knowing exactly where he is, is another thing entirely.
We need to leave now.
