Emmitt's Treasure: Judgement of the Six Companion Series, book 2 Read Online Free

Then, Mom had smacked him on the back of the head and called us to dinner.  He’d been telling the truth, and I realized it would take some time to win Michelle over.
    After unlocking the door, I apologized to Aden for the delay then moved the truck to a spot in front of their room.
    As soon as I cut the engine, I handed the motel key to Michelle and got out to open her door.  The boys were quick to hop out behind her.  She still moved a little too slowly as she walked toward the room and wasn’t able to immediately fit the key, which was killing Aden.
    Taking pity on the kid, I went to reclaim the key.  Michelle handed it over but then took a quick step back as if she’d given me a weapon.  She was so skittish.  I needed to find out who David, Blake, and Richard were to her and what they’d done to make her that way.  Ideas flipped over in my head.  None of them good.  Each one made me want to hurt David all over again.  The decorative end of the key bent slightly as I shoved it into the lock.  With more care, I turned the key and opened the door for them.
    “If you need anything, I’ll be right here.  Yell, and I promise I’ll hear you.”  I moved aside so they could enter.
    As she walked past, I caught her hand and placed the room key and truck key in her palm.  I could have let her go then.  Instead, I took my other hand to wrap her fingers around the keys.  I just wanted to prolong touching her, to try to assure her I wasn’t someone to fear.  I’d take care of her.  Protect her.  Forever.
    She tightened her hold on the keys and stepped into the room.  She was quick to close the door.  I didn’t mind.  I could hear her lean against the thin wood, watching me.  Giving her the assurance she needed, I went back to the truck and got in.  The seat wasn’t comfortable, but I leaned back and closed my eyes.
    After a few minutes, I rolled down the window so I could hear if any of them called for me, then I watched the sun slowly set.
    *    *    *    *
    A little after midnight I heard rustling from within the room.  I quietly left the truck and stood beside the door to listen.
    “I’m hungry,” Aden said.
    “We can’t wake her unless it’s an emergency,” Liam said sleepily.  “Do you want to watch TV or draw?”
    Good kids.  I moved away from the door to look up and down the street as my stomach empathized with Aden.  We hadn’t stopped for anything until we’d reached the motel, and lunch was long gone.  A block away, I saw a fast food place.
    Giving the motel door one last glance, I took off at a run.  It was dark and the traffic light.  As long as I stuck to the shadows, no one would notice a man running way too fast.  I’d be a blur out of the corner of an observer’s eye and back before the kids’ stomachs could growl twice.
    A twenty-four-hour drugstore had me stopping before I reached my destination.  I hesitated on the sidewalk.  I didn’t want to be absent any longer than necessary.  But, I’d emptied their car.  They had nothing with them.  No clothes, no toiletries, nothing.  It would only take me a few minutes, I told myself as I walked inside.  Still, as I hunted down supplies for them, I worried they would look for me and find me missing.
    After the drugstore, I went straight to the restaurant.  I ordered two coffees and a mess of breakfast sandwiches.  I used a burst of speed to get back to the motel in less than a minute.
    Aden and Liam were still quietly entertaining themselves inside the room when I knocked.  A second later, Liam’s little face peeked out the curtained window beside the door.
    I winked at him and lifted the food bag.  He glanced at the bag then behind him and let the curtain fall back into place.  I listened to him try to wake Michelle.  He called her Mimi, so close to “Mommy.”  She’d mentioned their father, her stepfather, dying.  But where were her Mom and Dad?
    After his third attempt, I heard her