The Star Pirate's Folly Read Online Free

job.”
The officer gave an annoyed shake of his head as he turned to address the onlookers.
“Don’t block the walkways, please. Everyone keep moving.”
    Bee leaned against the wall
outside, rubbing the back of her head trying to make it look like it hurt a
lot. Which it did, sort of. She didn’t understand why the guy—Hargrove?—was
getting so upset; she’d been knocked around worse before. But she wasn’t about
to try and calm the angry giant when he seemed to be on her side. She almost
laughed when she noticed the color of his face nearly matched his magenta
uniform from all the yelling.
    “Well, come on,” Officer Brinkley
said. “I mean, look at her. Street kid if I’ve ever seen one. You don’t try to
run unless you did something. She was probably stealing, right, or—”
    Bee brought her hand out from
behind her head and groaned, her palm wet with a patch of deep red, strands of
long blonde hair sticking to it. Several people from the gathering crowd
gasped. The officer’s jaw dropped so far it nearly unhinged.
    Hargrove stepped between them. “I
think you’ve done quite enough here, Officer Brinkley! I’ll be speaking with
your lieutenant.” The big man looked at one of the nearby guests. “Excuse me,
you in the green there. Call an ambulance, please.”
    Hargrove scooped Bee into his arms
and whisked her away back into the hotel as an angry crowd gathered around the
officer. Brinkley shouted a command while hastily backing off and a police
cruiser swooped down from a nearby rooftop, its parking sirens dispersing the group
of citizens while it settled on the ground. Brinkley pushed through to the
cruiser, ducked inside, and it lifted off the moment he went in.
    “You’ll be alright,” Hargrove said
as he carried Bee into his office. He set her on his desk and opened a cabinet
on the wall filled with medical supplies. “I’ll get you some help, don’t worry.”
    Bee laughed. “It’s okay, I’m fine.
I don’t need an ambulance.”
    Hargrove turned around and Bee flashed
him a devious grin. She showed him the two crushed packets of wildberry jam
she’d pocketed before breakfast. Hargrove let out an astonished belly laugh.
    “That’s pretty smart!” he said.
“Let me see just in case.”
    “No, it’s fine,” Bee insisted, but
didn’t stop him from examining the back of her head. His fingers parted her
hair in the back and he probed her skull for any cuts or bumps. He was closer
to her than she liked, but she didn’t feel threatened at all. His cologne
smelled like trees and spices.
    “What’s your name?” he asked.
    “Bee.”
    “And how old are you, Miss Bee?”
    “Fourteen.”
    “So is your name short for
something?”
    “Yeah, but I don’t like it,” Bee
said.
    Hargrove let out a soft laugh. “Don’t
be silly. What’s not to like?”
    “Well my real name’s Buttercup,
but everyone makes fun of it.”
    “Buttercup—a beautiful name. And
not one I’ve heard before. Were you named for something?”
    His touch was gentler than Bee
expected. She was reminded of Mother and pulled away, suddenly uncomfortable.
    “All good?” she asked.
    “Well, aside from the jam you
smeared all over your head.” Hargrove curled his lip as he inspected his oily,
jam-covered fingers. “How long has it been since you bathed, kid? Your hair’s
all… greasy.”
    Bee reddened. “Well…”
    “You got family?”
    Her silence was answer enough.
    “A safe place to stay?”
    She shook her head.
    “You want a room?” Hargrove asked.
    “What?”
    “A room,” he repeated.
    “Here?”
    “Yes.”
    “For me?”
    “That’s the idea,” he said with an
amused smile.
    She looked away. “I can’t pay.”
    Hargrove laughed. “Well of course
not. I’m not asking for money. Business lately has been… regretfully slow, so
we have some extra space. As long as you can keep after yourself and don’t
cause any trouble for my staff or customers we have a deal. For the time being.
No more