Stolen Heart - By Bennett, Sawyer Page 0,23
Saving Grace?”
Annika shook her head. “No. Our shelter is private and not disclosed to anyone involved in the system. I’m actually surprised you were able to find information on it. I have it hidden under so many fake corporations, it should have been undetectable.”
Kieran heard the worry in Annika’s voice and wanted to reassure her. “Don’t worry about it, Annika. I only was able to find the information because of the vast financial resources I have, plus a little magic. Saving Grace is safe.”
Annika looked at him skeptically and didn’t say anything. He saw that her brow was furrowed with worry.
“Are you expecting any trouble from her boyfriend tonight?”
Annika shrugged her shoulders. “Probably not. When he goes out for the night, he usually stays gone. But if he does show up, he sometimes has a posse of thugs with him so be prepared.”
Kieran didn’t say anything but he wasn’t worried. In fact, he’d been so stuck in his boring life lately, he’d probably welcome a fight tonight.
Finally, they arrived at Sheila and Monty’s apartment. It was in a fairly bad section of the city. There was garbage littering the street and iron bars on most of the windows. After walking up two flights of stairs, Annika knocked on Sheila’s door. After a few moments, it opened just a crack. Kieran saw just a sliver of a black woman’s face peeking out, but he didn’t miss the horrendous bruise that covered the eye looking at them.
“It’s me, Sheila. Open up.”
The door closed and Kieran could hear the inside chain being unlatched. Then the door swung open and Kieran sucked in his breath.
Sheila Williams’ face was a patchwork of bruises and cuts. Both eyes were blackened, with burst blood vessels in the white areas. Blood was crusted in both of her nostrils and there was a cut running straight down the middle of her bottom lip. Her right cheek sported a cut that was gaping open but it wasn’t actively bleeding. Her eyes held such misery and sadness, it made him want to weep. And one thing Kieran was not…a weeper.
Kieran’s blood started to boil. He couldn’t even imagine a man doing this to a woman. Women were meant to be cherished, not battered.
Sheila took one look at Annika, who opened her arms up. The beaten woman burst into tears as she flung herself into Annika’s embrace.
Annika hugged Sheila tight, rubbing her back and murmuring soothing words. After a few moments, Sheila pulled back, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She looked at Kieran with suspicion.
“Sheila. This is a friend of mine, Kieran Dunne. He came to help get you moved.”
“Hi, Sheila.”
She didn’t say anything but just nodded at Kieran. She probably didn’t trust any man at this point, and Kieran couldn’t blame her.
“Okay, Sheila. Let’s shake a leg,” Annika said. “I don’t want to take a chance of Monty coming back.”
Sheila walked deeper into the apartment to get her bag. Annika and Kieran followed her into her bedroom. She had two large suitcases and a smaller duffel bag. Annika took one look and started shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, Sheila. But we can’t take all of that. The room at the shelter is very limited and we need to move quickly. I need you to narrow it down to one bag.”
“Oh, gosh. Annika I forgot you said just one bag. I was just so nervous when Monty left, I just started throwing stuff together. Maybe this was a bad idea.” Sheila was sounding panicky and Kieran noticed she was wringing her hands together.
“It’s okay. I want you to calm down. It’s going to be fine. Let’s go ahead and open your bags up, and choose what you need.”
Tears welled up in Sheila’s eyes but she nodded. Kieran watched Annika kneel down beside Sheila and they started repacking one bag. He stood in the bedroom doorway, watching the women. Annika moved swiftly and assuredly. Sheila was a trembling mess of nerves. He couldn’t imagine the courage it was taking for her to do this. And he was beyond impressed with Annika. She knew just what to say and what to do to handle the situation.
Kieran went on alert as he heard someone sticking a key in the front door and rattling it. Annika and Sheila heard it too. He heard Sheila whisper fearfully, “It’s Monty.”
They all heard the door open and then close again. “Sheila! Get your ass in here girl.”
Kieran eased the bedroom door closed and looked around. The