Judging Judas (Tarnished Saints Series Book 3) by Elizabeth Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

everywhere. But when he started getting heavily into drugs, I knew I had to get her away from him or she’d end up going down the wrong path. After all, she’d already gotten tattoos and body piercings against my will, but her father –” Judas’s eyes shot toward her quickly and she realized her mistake. “I mean, Spyder allowed it. But she was already a teen and had a mind of her own, and as you can see by the size of her belly – I was too late to guide her. She’d slept with one of the roadies who just up and left afterwards.”
    “So she ended up like you after all, didn’t she? Did anyone even tell the roadie that he’s going to be a father?”
    “No,” she admitted. “We didn’t, but hopefully some day – when J.D.’s ready, we’ll hunt him down together and tell him.”
    “So I’m not the only one who keeps making the same mistakes,” he said, and she really didn’t like that comment at all.
    “I’m trying to fix my mistakes, Judas, but you’re not making it easy.”
    He pulled up to what she thought was the Ainsley’s Bed and Breakfast, but the sign out front was gone and there were a lot of kids running around, mostly boys. And then she saw J.D. sitting on the front porch with Candace and a couple of men she didn’t recognize, though by the looks of them, she guessed they were Judas’s brothers.
    “J.D! You let her go, ” she said happily, reaching for the door handle, but was stopped by Judas’s hand on her arm.
    “Not exactly, Laney. You see, while Mrs. Durnsby was kind enough not to file charges since everything stolen was returned to her, J.D.’s still not off the hook for stealing my car.”
    “So . . . what are you saying? Is she going to have to go to court and be tried or what?”
    “Maybe. We’ll see. Since I’m sheriff, and this is a small town that no one really cares about, I more or less am the law here now.”
    “That’s great. Then let her go.”
    “And if I do . . . what’s going to prevent her from doing something worse next time? Possibly rob a grocery store, maybe even kill someone.” He let go of her arm and stared at her intently. So intently that she knew exactly how serious this whole matter was.
    “She’d never kill anyone, Judas. How could you even think that about your own daughter?”
    “I’m a cop, Laney. It’s in my nature to suspect everyone of wrongdoing no matter who they are. And though she’s my daughter, you have to realize I don’t even know her.”
    “Well, so what’s your plan then? And why are we here?”
    “This is my brother Thomas’s house,” he told her. “He has six boys of his own and a girl through his marriage to Angel.”
    She looked at all the kids running around and shouting and playing and being very noisy.
    “I see more than one girl here,” she said. “And though they don’t stand still for a moment I think I count more than seven kids.”
    “You’re right. I asked Candace, who m you’ve already met, to bring their twins over as well. I want J.D. to be around kids and understand what it’s like to raise a child. I can tell she has no idea just what she’s gotten herself into.”
    “That’s because she’s not more than a child herself,” Laney said just above a whisper.
    “I’ll give her one chance. But if she screws up, she’s going behind bars. I don’t care if she’s my daughter or pregnant or not. She needs to be disciplined before she’s a parent, or there’ll be no hope for our grandchild to grow up with any morals.”
    She swallowed the lump in her throat at hearing him say our grandchild . Everything was happening so fast, and her head was spinning right now.
    “I think it’s a good idea,” she said. “The part about seeing what’s it like to raise kids, not the part about putting her in jail.”
    “I’ve told her that she has to serve 200 hours of community service, and it starts with watching over the kids tonight at the rehearsal dinner.”
    “All the kids?” she asked,