Page 23 of Monster Bully
She didn’t know how she had gotten so lucky and was about to tell him so, when they suddenly heard a scream. It was a childlike scream. Seconds later, a call for help.
Putting her cup down, Eve got to her feet. Grim had a hand to his back but he had stood in front of her. His men were already on the move to locate the sound.
“That sounded like a child,” Eve said.
The scream came again, this time more desperate. Eve felt this need to move and even as Grim yelled at her, she took off toward the sound, knowing he would follow her.
More yelling and screams erupted and that was when she saw them. It was a man, trying to drag a girl through the park. She wore a white jacket and what appeared to be a school uniform. No one was around to come to the girl’s rescue. Eve ran and Grim was right there beside her.
“Hey!” Grim yelled.
The man who had been trying to drag the girl saw them and tried to take off.
Eve went to the young girl, who had collapsed in a heap on the ground. She had a red lip and looked terrified.
“It’s okay,” Eve said.
She glanced over to see Grim had gotten the man. Eve didn’t look away as he punched him hard, once, twice, a third time, and then two of his men came and grabbed the man. Grim gave them instructions, then spun back around and saw that she looked at him. Eve was waving her hand for him to join them. The girl was visibly shaken.
“Are you all right?” Grim asked.
Eve placed a hand on the girl’s back, and she immediately sunk against her. “I was going back to school. Every lunchtime I go and see my mom, and we … I … it’s the same, and I come through the park, but he was waiting. I’ve never seen him before.”
“Should we call the police?” Eve asked. She didn’t know what to do in this situation or whether Grim would even want the police involved.
“Already done. Sweetheart, do you have your mother’s number?” Grim asked.
She had never seen him be nice to anyone but her. Watching him with this girl, even though he did keep his distance, Eve knew in that moment he was going to make an amazing father. There was no doubt about it in her mind. She watched him, unable to look away.
The young girl nodded, and the rest of the night was a whirlwind. A single police officer showed up, and he took her statement along with the young girl’s, and then Grim’s. Eve couldn’t believe what had happened.
Chapter Nine
Grim was pissed off. Children had been going missing, but since he tortured and killed the man who gave him the name Anthony Thistle, everything had gone silent.
According to his source in the police force, four children had been taken in the past week. The girl in the park would have been the fifth one, and they all had the same MO—blonde with blue eyes. Someone was completing an order.
He wasn’t happy that he hadn’t been alerted to the missing children, but now he was more than happy to hunt for Anthony Thistle. He’d already put his men on the hunt, and when he was happy with Eve, and she felt okay, he would be going to find him.
“Why that girl?” Eve asked as they returned home.
He only closed the front door and turned to face her.
“She has blonde hair and blue eyes. Also, as she admitted, she takes the same route every day.”
“School is not open every day,” Eve said.
“But if she visits her mom every single day, then he has watched her. All you need is a short time to watch someone to see if they do the same thing every day. It’s not hard, and in the winter, there are not a lot of people around.”
“But it was broad daylight,” Eve said.
Grim shrugged. “It doesn’t stop the monsters, Eve. Evil doesn’t wait for the cover of darkness.”
She shook her head and he went to her, pulling her into his arms.
“There shouldn’t be a market for this. This kind of thing shouldn’t be happening.”
He couldn’t agree more, but it didn’t change the fact that it was happening, and it was impossible to stop.