Then he said softly, “You can do it Sadie, I know you can.”
He was wrong.
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“You fed me information on your father.”
“I know.”
“You risked your life to help that investigation.”
“I know.”
“How can you do that and not do this?”
I shook my head again. “I don’t know.” And I didn’t.
Hector stared at me and I looked at him.
Then I had to say something just so he wouldn’t think I was an utter coward.
“I’m not a total wimp,” I assured him, trying to shake the uneasy feelings beginning to crawl along my skin that I was talking about this with Hector of all people. “I have a plan. See, if I don’t press charges –”
Hector broke in, didn’t even try to listen to my plan. “You can’t play with these guys.”
“But –”
“Sadie, mi cielo, you know it far better than I do. You play with these guys, you’ll lose.”
I felt the telltale lump hit my throat. I swallowed. It didn’t work.
I swallowed again. It still didn’t work.
Then before I could stop it, to my horror, I started crying.
Really! Where was my Ice Princess? Why did she come along when she wasn’t wanted and disappeared when I needed her? She was beginning to really annoy me.
When the Ice Princess didn’t show, with no other choice so he wouldn’t see me cry, I shoved my face in his neck.
He dropped to the side on his back taking me with him. He rolled us and then we were lying on the couch, me snug between the heat of him and the soft back of the couch.
One of his arms held me close at the waist; the other hand cupped the back of my head and held my face to his throat.
“Let me take care of you,” he whispered through my sobs.
“Okay,” I whispered through my sobs too, too tired to fight it anymore.
“I’ll come get you tomorrow, take you to the Station.”
I took a ragged breath.
Then even though it scared me, I agreed. “Okay,” I repeated.
“Eddie’ll be there. You want Ralphie there or anyone else –”
“Bex,” I said immediately.
“Bex?”