Redemption Read Online Free

bit her lower lip as she glanced from side to side. It was the apprehension in her step. Give her another year on the street and all that would be walled up inside a crusty exterior.
    A tall, lean guy crossed Colfax Avenue and approached the kid. Jane noted how the girl’s entire body seized up as she caught sight of him. That single movement convinced Jane that this girl had never turned a trick in her life. The kid exchanged a few words with the guy, but then things turned ugly. The guy slammed the girl’s body against the wall, just a few feet from an alley that skimmed the bar. He had one strong hand on the girl’s right shoulder and the other was working its way up her short pink skirt. Jane peered more closely at the guy and got out of her car.
    “Hey!” Jane yelled with a punctuated clip.
    The john turned his head toward Jane but still kept a tight grip on the girl’s shoulder. “Mind your own business, bitch!” He turned his attention back to the girl. “A deal’s a deal!” he said in an intimidating tone.

    Jane moved closer. The girl’s eyes darted to Jane. They were brimming with tears. As Jane moved within a few feet of the kid, it became clear she was all of fourteen.
    “You like ’em young?” Jane said to the guy as the snow spit against her face.
    The guy turned back to Jane, pissed. “Unless you want to do a three-way, get the fuck outta here!” With that, he jerked the girl by her wrist toward the darkened alley. “Come on!”
    “So, Rick,” Jane yelled out, “how old is Chelsea now?” The guy stopped dead in his tracks. “She’d be, what?” Jane continued. “Thirteen. No, fourteen. As old as this kid right here. Fourteen. You know how I remember Chelsea’s age, Rick? I nabbed your sick ass twelve years ago when I worked assault at DH.” Rick turned around, squinting at Jane through the falling snow. “I also personally wrote up the restraining order that barred you from having any contact with your then two-year-old daughter.”
    Rick glared at Jane. “Perry?”
    “Yep. Take your hand off the girl, Rick!”
    “I never touched Chelsea in that way,” Rick said his hand still firming gripping the kid.
    “Ten years in prison and your old lady moving out of state with Chelsea never gave you a chance. Are you gonna let this girl go?”
    “I gave her a twenty for a blow job and she ran off with the money before services were rendered! What are we gonna do about that?”
    “She’s gonna put the twenty toward a bus ticket back home so she can finish ninth grade and start high school with a clean slate. And if that doesn’t sit well with you, Rick, I’ve got a Glock under this jacket,” Jane said, lying through her teeth, “and I’ll use it to blow off your dick so you won’t have to worry about blow jobs in the future. What’s it gonna be?” Jane unbuttoned her jacket as if she were reaching for her pistol.
    Rick quickly let go of the girl. “Fuck, Perry! You’re crazy!”
    “And you’ll be dickless if you don’t get the hell outta here!”

    Rick backed up several steps, then spun on his heels and took off down Colfax.
    Jane turned to the girl. “So, tell me. Is the reason you ran away from home worse than living out here and dealing with scum like him?”
    The girl shook her head, still trembling from what had just transpired. “No.... No, ma’am.” There was a soft, southern drawl to the girl’s frightened voice.
    Jane’s perceptive ear tuned in. “Tennessee or Alabama?”
    The girl’s eyes widened in surprise. “Tennessee. Just outside Nashville.”
    “Denver to Nashville. That’s gonna be about $150 plus whatever food you need.” Jane dug into her jacket pocket and withdrew her wallet. She pulled out every last bill. “All I have left is $160. Here,” she said, handing the cash to the kid. “We’ll have Rick’s twenty pick up dinner, okay?” The girl took the money in stunned silence. “There’s a runaway shelter one block down on this side of