Southern Secrets (Southern #7) - Natasha Madison Page 0,6

just didn’t understand what was going on. "Looks like you are going into the system," the husband said from beside me. "It was just a matter of time."

One of the police officers came back out with the woman who just got there. "Hi, Asher," the woman said, sitting down next to me. "I’m Shauna, and this is Detective Moro." She pointed at the police officer standing in his blue uniform. "We are going to take you somewhere while we find your mom."

I wanted to laugh at the irony of it. I slept at someone’s house that night. I woke up the next day, hoping that my mom would be there, but for the next three days, it was the same story. No one knew anything. No one paid attention to me. The person fed me two meals a day and made sure that when Shauna came to see me, I was clean. For three days, I tried to stay awake. I constantly looked out the window for my mom, convinced she would come soon. But that wasn’t how the story would end. Four days later, they found her lying on a stainless-steel stretcher in the morgue.

She was in the car with a guy driving high and drunk and ran head-on into the median on the highway. I was a ward of the state from that day on, jumping from one foster home to the next. It didn’t take me long to realize I was a paycheck for all of them, and trust me, they let me know each day.

I feel someone push me to the side, and I blink away the memories. There is no time to dwell on the past. That was my motto from when I turned thirteen. Turning my head, I see all the men have gathered around us. Ethan stands beside me, and Beau is next to him. Casey comes close to us, but he stands just outside of the circle. His hands are going crazy on his phone. My eyes go back to the ground as I listen to Jacob give orders.

"Gentlemen," he starts. "The fire marshal wants us to secure the premises," Jacob says, and I look at him, the pounding in my head intensifying. "The fire marshal just said he doesn’t think this fire will be out anytime soon." He looks at me, then at the other guys. "It’s going to be a long night." He stops talking when he looks up and sees Casey coming back to us.

All eyes turn to him when he stands beside Jacob. "Just got off the phone with my father. He said there has been no activity on the other farms." He looks down. "But until we get any report from the fire chief, I want us to keep our eyes open." He looks at us, and I nod at him.

"Okay, let’s get this closed off and see what else we can do," Jacob says and turns to hand Ethan a roll of tape.

"I’ll go with Ethan," I say, and Jacob looks up at me and nods.

"We are going to close off the right side of the driveway," Ethan tells his father as he points in that direction. I hear Beau and Mayson talk about taking the other side, but I just put my head down and walk away with Ethan.

The heat hits my back right away. "We’ll get it all back," Ethan says, and I look over at him, then back down at the green grass. "Whatever you lost in there, my family will make sure that you get it all back."

I stop walking and turn to look back, thinking that maybe it looks worse than it is, but then one side of the barn falls, and the dust and black smoke fill the air. "Whatever I had in there wasn’t anything that I can’t replace." He holds out the tape for me. "Let’s just make sure no one gets hurt." It’s Ethan’s turn to nod. I walk toward a tree while he holds the tape, my eyes going to the barn as I see the flames still going. I wrap the yellow caution tape around the tree, then make my way over to one of the gate posts. The heat from the fire hits me right away.

We secure the one spot, making sure anyone coming by can see the tape and not enter.

The air smells of burned wood. Anyone who didn’t know would think we were having a bonfire. With the help of all the