Forever My Angel by Kelly Walker Read Free Book Online Page A

holding Angel close, angry at the motherfuckers who’ve made this night worse by breaking in. And angry at myself for letting things spiral so out of control.
    I find Molly in the linen closet, huddled behind a stack of towels. Oh thank God. Her and Angel have a bond, and if anything had happened to her... I don’t even want to think about it. Angel is safe. Molly is safe. Everything is going to be okay. Once I’ve scooped the pup up into my arms, I take her down to Mrs. Peters’ place. She huffs lightly against my cheek, soft fur and warm puppy breath mixing together to ease some of my anxiety as Molly gives me a tentative lick.
    “Molly!” Angel cries out, darting forward to take the whining, wriggling pup from my arms. She immediately presses a million kisses to the dog's forehead. Well, I’m sure she’s glad that I didn’t encounter the robber still hiding in the townhouse or something, too, right? She just knew that as a big, strong man I can take care of myself.
    More likely, the dog just ranks a hell of a lot higher on her ‘people and things I like’ list than I do today.
    Mrs. Peters pats my arm. “Don’t take it to heart, dear.” She gives me a knowing smile. “We called the police. They’re en route.”
    They weren’t going to be my first call, but I’m glad just the same. If I had to guess, Mrs. Peters probably insisted. My phone is to my ear, but my eyes don’t leave Angel. What if whoever it was had broken in this morning, before she left to head to the farm? She was here alone and unprotected. And then there's the question I'm sure we're both thinking, even if neither of us want to voice it: did Nick do this? He’s in prison, but sometimes it seems like people in prison have awfully long arms. Long enough to reach out and fuck with those they think have wronged them.
    If I dwell too much about how much worse this could have been, I might fucking break. I’ve got to harden my heart and just handle shit.
    “What?” Kevin answers, brusque as ever.
    “I need you. There’s been a break-in at the townhouse. Locals are en route.”
    “I’m at Lexi’s. It’ll take me an hour.”
    “See you in forty minutes.”
    He doesn’t argue, we just disconnect the call, and then all I can do is wait. I’m afraid to ask Angel if she’s okay. I don’t want her to feel like I think of her as weak or helpless. I keep my focus on handling the situation, that if she needs to lean against me she’ll let me know.
    When they arrive, I take the officers through the house one room at a time. Angel trails silently behind us, Molly pressed close to her chest. She hasn’t put the dog down since I handed her over. I’m not quite sure who’s comforting who.
    “Mr. Chadwell, would it be possible to get Ms. Arnold over here? It would really help if she could identify more of what is or isn’t missing. If we don’t catch this guy pretty quickly, odds are we won’t, and the more information we have the easier that will be.”
    “Of course. I’ll call her right now.” I step a few feet away from them so I’ll be able to hear, keeping an eye on Angel. She’s stroking Molly’s fur, but her eyes are bright, though a bit fearful. She isn’t shaking or crying, so I think she’s doing okay.
    I hang up when I reach Chelsea’s voicemail, rather than leaving a message that she probably won’t check until morning. I’ll just try her again in a few minutes.
    She doesn’t answer the second time I call either, and by the third time I’m getting worried. After the fourth time her chipper greeting invites me to leave a message, I start to freak. This is not like her at all. I mean shit, after the day I’ve had, I’d sort of thought she might have expected my call. We’ve always been close, and we talk all the damn time. About her shopping trips and her fights with her mother, about everything that's not important for any other reason than that it matters to her. And we talked until I couldn't utter another