Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Rocky watched the slight figure devour two large slices of pizza before leaning back to rub her tummy. He didn’t need a detective license to know her normal meals were limited and was glad he’d ordered a large pizza. Devouring the whole pie would have been easy, but he limited himself to two slices as well so she’d have leftovers.

“Could you take tomorrow off?” he asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head in horror. “I enjoy going to work. I don’t want to stay here for hours.”

“What else is that jerk doing?” Rocky felt his blood pressure spike in anger.

“It’s okay. He’s just here in the evenings. Well, on the weekends, too, I’m sure. I usually ask for additional shifts, so I’m out of the building. Or I go to the park if the weather is good.”

“What’s so bad about this apartment?” he asked.

A scurrying sound came from the kitchen. Then, a rhythmic banging like something was trying to open the cabinets. Rocky glanced at Melissa and froze at the fear etched into her features. As he watched, she scrambled up into a chair and hugged her knees to her chest.

“You don’t have a cat?” he guessed.

“No. That’s not a cat. I’m sorry. You should leave. The smell of the pizza must have attracted them.”

“Them?” Rocky asked and got to his feet.

“Take the pizza with you. They’ll leave as soon as they investigate.” She hesitated a moment before adding, “And the chocolate. You should take that, too.”

He could see the regret on her face. What was going on here? Rocky suspected she thought he had stood up to leave. He wasn’t walking out of here and leaving his Little injured and menaced by something.

Heading for the kitchen, he stopped when she whispered, “Don’t turn on the light. That makes them mad.”

Rocky flipped on the switch. Two enormous rats stood in the middle of her kitchen. They hissed at him. Oh, hell no.

“Get out of here,” he yelled and stomped his feet. They stood their ground for a few seconds before racing under the cabinets.

Turning back into the living space, he asked, “You’re living here with rats?”

“I haven’t seen them since Archer put in the extra boards to keep them out. They must have chewed through them. Or they ate through the drywall. They’ve done that before.”

Her explanation jarred him. No one should live like this. He tried to keep his expression calm but knew he’d failed when she blurted, “I don’t keep food in here. Just peanut butter and bread. I store it in the fridge so they can’t get to it.”

“Your employer and her Daddy are letting you live here?” he asked.

Melissa straightened her back and placed her feet back on the ground before rising stiffly. “I am an adult. I take care of myself. No one can force me to do anything I don’t want to do. I’m sorry my apartment isn’t up to your standards. I’ll ask you to leave now, please.”

Melissa stalked to the door and flipped open the top lock she’d engaged after letting him in. Opening the door, she waited for him to leave. She looked at the floor after making sure the hallway was clear.

“Close the door, little girl. I’m not leaving you here to deal with rats. They are dangerous and often infected with different diseases.”

“I know. I’ve heard all this before. Getting out of here is at the top of my list. I just don’t have enough to move yet.”

“Close the door, Melissa. Come sit down and talk to me.”

“The pizza’s going to bring more here. Can you just leave and take it with you?”

“Food is safe in the refrigerator, right?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Rocky grabbed the pizza box and bag of candy from the floor. He opened the fridge and shook his head at the sight of a small jar of generic peanut butter and a store brand bag of thinly sliced bread. Nothing else. No jelly, no mustard, no sodas, no nothing.

Forcing himself to control his anger, Rocky fit the large box into the fridge. He opened the bag of chocolates and pulled out three before adding the candy to an empty shelf. Returning, he told her again, “Close the door, little girl. I’ll leave after we talk if you want me to.”

Rocky set the kisses on the chair she’d crouched on and perched himself precariously in the other. To his relief, she closed the door. As he watched, she automatically relatched the first lock. It wasn’t safe here for many reasons.

Melissa collected the chocolates and lifted them to her nose. Inhaling their scent, she sat down.

“Eat,” he told her gently when she didn’t open them. “You don’t want them to melt in your hand.”

She shook her head, obviously appalled by that idea, and unwrapped the foil to pop the first one into her mouth. A moan of delight came from deep inside her. Immediately, Rocky wanted to hear that sound for a completely different reason.

“It’s so good. Thank you,” she mumbled, covering her mouth.

“I’m glad.”

He waited until she’d popped the second into her mouth before telling her, “I mentioned that I’ve waited a long time to find my Little girl. I don’t think I told you how long I’ve searched to find you.”

She looked up and knew she was replaying their conversation in her head. “No. Has it been a long time?”

“Twenty-four years, three months, and twelve days.”

Melissa’s jaw dropped. “That’s a long time.”

“It is. I keep track of it carefully because I know what’s important. In high school, I found the most precious person at a football game. She was a clarinet player in the band. Not the best. Probably the worst,” he said, feeling his lips curve fondly.

“Why aren’t you still with her?”

“Her stepfather picked her up one night. I didn’t know he was drunk. He was always in a crappy mood. There was an accident and Ellen died. He didn’t.”

“She was your Little girl?” Melissa asked.

“We didn’t know what kind of relationship we had. We were kids. But yes. She was Little.”

“That’s so sad,” Melissa said, with tears in her eyes. She stood and walked the short distance to offer Rocky her last chocolate.

He took it and unwrapped the gift carefully before lifting it to her lips. “You eat it for me, Little girl.”

When she opened her mouth, he set it gently inside, feeling his heart swell in his chest. She trusted him and let him take care of her with that small piece of chocolate. Rocky dared to reach out and gather her into his arms, lifting her to sit on his lap. Please let this damn rickety chair hold together. Please let her accept comfort.

To his delight, she curled up on his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. Rocky rubbed her back lightly as he tried to memorize this moment in time. Her scent, her warmth, the feel of her body relaxed against him.

“Little girl,” he breathed out softly. “I’m so glad I found you.”

“I’m glad I found you, too.”

The sound of the rodents returning to the kitchen made her lift her feet up. She lifted her head to look toward the open doorway.

“I can’t let you stay here. It’s taken years for me to forgive myself for letting Ellen get in that car. I can’t leave you in jeopardy. It’s not safe here.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” she whispered.

“You do now. You can stay with me. No strings attached.”

“I don’t even know you,” she protested weakly.

“We can get to know each other. You know the PLAYTIME app does a background check. You can send my information to someone you trust. Tami and Archer.”

The scurry of feet made her shudder. “I hate it here.”

“Then let me get you out of here. Tonight. You’re hurt. I would bet you don’t sleep well. You’ve endured this way too long.”

Silence stretched between them as she studied his face. Finally, she whispered, “Okay. I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you, Melissa. Go pack a bag with whatever you need through the week, and we’ll come back to grab the rest. Is it all right for me to look through your phone to find Tami and Archer’s contact information and send them a photo of my driver’s license with my address?”

She nodded before running toward the bedroom in her eagerness to get out of there.

There was only one Archer and one Tami in her directory. Rocky started a combined message with both numbers. He sent them a screenshot of his ID, the Match Found notice, and this message:

This is Rocky Harrison. The PLAYTIME app matched Melissa and I together. Faced with the infestation in her apartment, I’ve convinced Melissa to stay in the guest room of my home. My address is above. If you’d like to have a character reference, you are welcome to call the city manager. I own a business in town, and we’ve worked closely together. I’ll send his personal number. He can attest that I’m reliable and honest. I will take care of Melissa while she decides whether she’d like to be my Little girl.

After adding one more bit of information to an app on her phone, he picked up her medicine before following Melissa to her bedroom to help her pack. At the doorway, he paused, stunned to see a raised dais constructed from cinderblocks and wood planks. She’d included large bowls of water in the design around each column. A thin mattress draped over the wood. Several layers of duct tape covered the unfinished edge of the platform. He guessed to guard against splinters.

“How can I help?” he asked, trying not to look shocked by the furniture she’d created to keep a variety of creatures away from her at night. How had she ever slept on the board-hard bed?

“Would you grab the two work shirts and the jeans from the closet? It’s best to give them a shake. I’ve packed everything else,” Melissa said, taking the sack of medicine and supplies.

When he returned with those items, she folded them carefully and added them to her suitcase. Rocky noticed she carefully smoothed the shirts over one section in the interior. Melissa closed the zipper.

“That’s all I have.”

“Toothbrush? Makeup?” he prompted.

“I keep my toothbrush in my car. I don’t want bugs crawling over it. No makeup. I just sweat it off.”

“You don’t need it, anyway.” Rocky lifted her small, light-weight case and lowered it toward the floor. “I have a supply of new toothbrushes in my guest bathroom.” He hoisted the case back up when she lunged forward.

“Could you carry it? I sweep a lot, but I don’t trust the floor.”

“Of course. You get your medicine. I’ll get the stuff in the fridge.”

“Without setting the suitcase down? I can carry it,” she volunteered.

“I promise.”

In just a few minutes, he’d balanced the suitcase under one arm as he collected the food from the refrigerator. They were walking out the door when the borrowed phone in his pocket rang.

Rocky handed it to Melissa. “Tami wants to talk to you.”

“Hi, Tami,” Melissa said quietly as Rocky escorted her down the hallway.

“You found your Daddy,” her friend stated firmly.

Rocky smiled. In her excitement, Tami talked very loudly. It was easy to hear what she said as Melissa held the device away from her ear.

“Maybe. He insisted I get out of this apartment. I’m so tired of being scared here,” Melissa admitted as they walked down the stairs.

“It’s about time. He knows Dr. Richards. Not as the doctor for us Littles, but as an orthopedic surgeon who helped a boxer when his leg was shattered,” Tami reported.

“That’s a small world,” Melissa commented.

Bits of information clicked together in Rocky’s head. He’d known there was something special about the doctor. Now he knew why. Dr. Richards was a Daddy himself.

“Do you trust him?” Tami demanded.

“Yes,” Melissa admitted, peeking up at Rocky as he held the front door of the complex open for her to walk through into the parking lot.

“Daddy wants to talk to Rocky,” Tami said firmly.

Melissa held the phone out to Rocky and swapped the device for the pizza box to free up one of his hands. “Archer wants to talk to you.”

“I’d hope so.”

He lifted the phone to his ear and said, “Rocky here.”

“Are you going to take care of her?”

“Yes. She’s safe now,” Rocky answered.

“Good. Thank you. And congratulations.”

The phone disconnected. Whatever Dr. Richards had said to them was enough to allow them to trust him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rocky saw the curtains twitch in the room at the end of Melissa’s hall. Her neighbor was watching them leave.

A hiss from the shadows by the dumpster made Rocky question his bravery. How fucking big could those things get?

“I don’t come out here at night,” Melissa whispered, hiding behind him.

“Get in your car, little girl. You’re going to follow me home. My address is in your navigation program if you need it. You won’t. I’m not going to lose you.”