The Keeper Read Online Free Page B

woman.
    "Honey, what's going on? Do
you want me to get rid of these people?"
    "Tell him who we are,"
the woman demanded.
    Sharon turned stiffly toward him,
her gaze frightened and unfocused.
    "Come on over here. Let's
talk," he suggested, urging her away from the car and the people who were
obviously upsetting her. "Stay over there," he ordered the couple,
using an authoritative voice that you learned in his profession. When he got
her to the other side of the street, he turned her so they were out of her
sightline, but he could keep an eye on them.
    "Share." He cupped her
shoulders to steady her. "It's okay now. What's the matter?"
    She chewed on her lower lip and
wouldn't meet his gaze.
    "Who are they? Are they
threatening you? Do you want me to get you out of here?"
    She shook her head, a fast shake.
"Pete, I'm okay. Maybe you'd better go. There's nothing for you to be
involved in."
    "I don't want to leave you.
You look terrified."
    "I'm not really afraid,"
she said in a low, quiet voice.
    "Tell me what's going
on."
    She hesitated.
    "It's all right. Let me help
you."
    Her shoulders slumped, a breath
burst out of her. "They're my parents."
    "And it's not a good thing
they're here," he added, figuring that much out. "You're shaking,
honey. I can take you to my place."
    "No. Thanks, Pete, but I can
handle this by myself."
    "You don't have to."
    "But I can. I'll talk to you
later."
    She was dismissing him. He didn't
have any right to interfere in her life. He hadn't known her long, but she was
obviously in distress. He also recognized a courageous woman. She was shaking
out of her shoes, but was going back into the fight.
    "Call me. If you don't call me
by tonight, I'm calling you." He gently massaged her shoulders. Man, are
they tight.
    "Okay," she finally
agreed, relaxing somewhat under his ministrations.
    Count on it! Reluctantly, he
left, checking his rear view mirror as long as she was in sight. She'd started
back across the street toward the couple. It sure didn't look like the same
type of relationship he had with his family. They wouldn't have been glaring at
one another over the top of a car. At least not with the animosity he'd sensed
back there. He'd just have to trust her and check on her later.
     
    Chapter Five
    Sharon had to get her act together
before she talked to her mother and father. A surge of rage boiled up in her at
the thought of seeing that man and even calling him father . He didn't
deserve that name.
    "Can we go inside and talk,
Sharon?" Linda asked.
    She didn't want them in her home.
"There's a picnic table." She pointed to a little park across the
street. "We can go over there." They walked silently to the table.
The man she refused to call father, Alan, hadn't said a word yet.
    She sat on one side of the table,
and Alan and Linda sat together on the other. "Why did you come back
now?"
    "Honey, your dad came back to
see you."
    "Isn't it a little late?"
Sharon let the hostility come out loud and clear. "You haven't said
anything. Where have you been all these years?"
    "I've been traveling
around." His voice sounded rusty. He had to clear it a couple of times
just for that short sentence.
    "Did you think I'd be happy to
see you?" Her rage was the only thing holding her together. At least it
kept her from crying.
    "Yeah, I kinda thought you
would be."
    "Well, you're wrong. You left
us a long time ago. There's never been a word from you; not through birthdays
and Christmases, graduation, Mother's Days—nothing." Her teeth clenched,
her lips drawing tight and flat.
    He didn't respond.
    "You have nothing to say for
yourself, do you?"
    "You turned into a beautiful
woman, Sharon."
    "A big difference from the
chubby ten year old you left, huh?" she snapped bitterly.
    He folded his hands in the prayer
position on the table in front of him. "Yeah, I guess so."
    "Were we so terrible you had
to run away? Was I so terrible?" she lashed out.
    "Sharon, honey," Linda
interrupted.
    "Don't defend him, Mother.
Make