Page 6 of Echoes of Temptation
“Do you have any enemies, Ms. Burton?”
“No,” I answer. “Well, I made one of my students stand against the wall during recess one time because he pushed someone down. He threatened to stab me in the eye with a crayon.”
One of King’s eyebrows raises in question.
“He has trouble with his anger,” I explain. “He’s only eight. But he’s definitely enemy number one.”
I smile hoping that King understands that I’m joking. The poor boy was simply distraught that he wasn’t allowed to play with his friends. He quickly forgot all about how angry he was the next day. However, I’ve yet to see him push another student.
“What about that one person who was angry at the school board for giving you the position over her?” mom asks.
“She wasn’t angry for very long,” I tell her. “She was accepted at the private Christian Academy a few weeks later. Her pay is more than double what I make.”
“What about ex partners, Ms. Burton?” King asks.
“Maddy,” I smile. “Or Madeline if you prefer. But, no, I’ve never had time to date. I spent my years in college studying and now I spend my time teaching special needs children.”
“What about men you may have turned down?” King asks. “Some men might feel the need to get revenge against the person to make themselves feel better.”
“Have you seen me, King?” I ask, eyes wide. “I am a large woman who carries her weight throughout her whole body. Nothing about me is small. No man will ever be interested in me. Hell, I’m still a virgin. Whatever reason I’m being targeted, it’s not because I’ve broken any hearts.”
Silence. No one says a word.
It takes me a second to realize what I’ve just said. Did I really just announce to King, and my freaking parents, that I’m a virgin?
Kill me now.
“Okay, so, let’s pretend that I didn’t just say all of that.”
“You’re wrong about one thing, Madeline,” King says, smirking.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“You’re incredibly short,” he says. “So, you do have something that’s small.”
Okay, so that shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did. I know I’m short. That’s not the issue. It’s the other thing he said. I know I’m fat, dude. You don’t have to throw my words back at me.
“Anyway,” I say, ignoring the stupid tears burning behind my eyes. I refuse to let them shine. “So, no. I can’t think of a single person who would want to hurt me. I’m an introvert. I don’t really like going out and doing things with people. Too many people would exhaust me.”
“Well, I have some bad news then,” he tells me. “I don’t normally do bodyguard jobs. I also don’t involve my family inthis part of my life. However, both of those are happening this time.”
“Does that mean you’ll take the job?” daddy asks.
“I wouldn’t have arrived here had I not already come to that decision,” he tells dad. “However, with the knowledge that the ones after you know where you currently are, you will need to be moved.”
“Moved? I don’t have any other place to go other than my apartment.”
“Which will not do,” he says. “Mr. and Mrs. Burton, I have a safe house that I would like the two of you to travel to until things are resolved. Madeline’s life isn’t the only one being threatened now.”
“What about my daughter?” Daddy asks. “Isn’t she coming with us?”
“No,” King answers. “She will be coming with me. I’m going to eventually need her help if I’m to catch these people. Don’t worry, she will be safe with me and my family. I will have her contact you once a week.”
And so, we spend the next hour packing and preparing ourselves. King gives my parents the information about where they’re going but won’t let me know. He says it’s for their own safety. So, as I watch my parents leave, I cry not knowing if, or when, I’ll see them again.
“Just so you know,” I tell a silent King. “I’m a crier. I cry a lot. Over the stupidest things.”
“Tears don’t bother me, Madeline,” he says tossing my things into the back of his car. “Get in.”