CHAPTER TWO

“Please welcome our valedictorian, Khloe Jones,” said the principal.

Khloe smiled at the people in the audience who had raised her. They were standing, all five dozen of them, yelling and screaming like banshees. She laughed, her face flush with excitement and a little embarrassment.

They weren’t her blood family, but they were the only family she cared about.

After having been kidnapped and forced into a trafficking ring, she thought her life was over forever. But somewhere, someone was watching over her. In fact, it was about three dozen someones.

They came through the door like cape-wearing superheroes. She and more than twenty other girls and boys were rescued, either returned to their families or raised in the most amazing school and home for at-risk youth that you could imagine.

It didn’t matter that they didn’t have mothers and fathers. If there was a school event, a game, a concert, a play, there were dozens of men and women from Belle Fleur in the audience cheering for them. Many of them were their teachers and counselors as well.

It wasn’t lost on Khloe how incredibly lucky they were. Circumstances could have been very different and very tragic had these men and women not intervened.

For many of her fellow classmates, they were happy to graduate from high school, find jobs, or go off to college or vocational schools.

But for Khloe, she always wanted to stay somewhat close to the people she thought of as family. Completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Houston, she entered medical school in Virginia and then began her residencies and internships.

Somewhere in the craziness that was her life, she found herself in a relationship that she wasn’t sure she even wanted to be in. Pressured by girlfriends, colleagues, and others that it was time she had someone permanent in her life, she agreed to start dating the persistent man.

“I don’t know, Claudette,” she said to one of her favorite people in the world, “I said yes, and now I’m not sure I should have said yes. It’s just that feeling like I’ve made a mistake.”

“Then listen to that little voice, honey,” said Claudette. “Look, you deserve some time off. Why don’t you come on down and enjoy some time with us?”

“I just can’t right now. I’m almost done here, and then I’ll have a small break before the next rotation starts. It won’t be long, and when I am done, you can count on me working at the hospital there. I miss you all so much, especially Wade and Hannah.”

“Oh, we have so many new folks since you were here last. We miss you, honey. Come home soon, okay?”

“I will. Oh! Another rush in the ER, Claudette. I’ll call you again soon. Love to everyone!”

It was a whirlwind of activity after that. Motor vehicle accidents, someone fell off a ladder, someone else got their hand stuck in a bottle. On a dare, of course. It was non-stop, and she was reaching the point of exhaustion.

But the entire time, all she could hear were Claudette’s words. She needed to end this engagement and walk away. Archie was an alcoholic. Not a friendly, loving alcoholic. He was an angry man when he drank, and Khloe had been lucky so far to avoid him when he was at the height of his anger. She was also fairly certain that he was lying to her about everything else in their relationship. Seeing other women, spending money, all of it.

From an upper-crust family in Maryland, where his parents thought he walked on water, and he drank whiskey like it was water. Fast-tracked through law school, he was working for his father’s firm, and his parents were determined to make him the next senator of Maryland.

Pulling out her phone, she tried to call him to tell him that they needed to talk when he was sober, preferably tomorrow, but got no answer. Not surprising. It was early evening, so he was more than likely drinking with his friends. She sent a text message though, to be sure he knew she wanted to speak with him.

After that, she couldn’t remember anything that happened other than it seemed the world outside was in chaos, and there was an obvious full moon.

“God, is it a full moon or something?” asked Khloe.

“Sorry, doc, but it’s just a crazy night,” smirked the paramedic. “This one is easy. We had to take a pregnant woman to the morgue earlier. Lost her and the twins she was carrying.”

“Shit, what happened?” she frowned.

“Hit-and-run.”

Khloe watched the paramedics leave and then returned to the desk to finish the paperwork on her current patient. The thought of the unfortunate woman and her twins weighed heavily in her mind. She just couldn’t imagine the poor family.

“Khloe, I think you need to come to bay twelve,” said the nurse with a strange expression on her face.

“Why? What’s wrong?” She dropped her pen and followed the nurse toward bay twelve, where the patient was waiting.

“Just come.” She continued to follow the nurse to the curtained room and drew back the drapes to stare at her fiancée.

“What’s wrong? What happened to him?” she asked.

“Laceration on his forehead. I’ve stitched that. I think his ribs are bruised as well. He’s drunk, Khloe. I haven’t done the blood alcohol on him yet. I was going to wait for you, but he’s toasted. I’m not sure how he got here, but if it was in a car, it was illegal.”

“Archie? Archie, what happened?” she asked, touching his hand. He slowly turned, staring at her.

“It was an accident.” His skin was yellow and pale, a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.

“Yes, I can see that you were in an accident. What happened?” she asked again.

“I had a few beers with the guys.” She knew he was lying. He had more than a few, and it probably wasn’t with the guys. “I drove myself home. I didn’t see the car. I didn’t see her.”

“Her?”

“The woman. The woman who was pregnant. I didn’t see her.”

“Shit,” she whispered. “You were the hit-and-run. That woman died, Archie. She was pregnant with twins, and she died. We have to call the police, Archie.”

“No! No, you can’t. It will ruin me,” he declared.

“Ruin you? You killed a woman, Archie. A woman and her unborn twins. I can’t ignore this. I won’t ignore this. How could you possibly think that you can just walk away from this?” She turned to call for security and for the desk to contact the police. When she turned back, Archie was gone.

“What do you need, doc?” asked the security guard.

“I need the police. I need to report a murder.”

It would be more than four years before she finished all of her residencies and internships. She always knew that Belle Fleur would be her home. When Mama Irene called for her to come early for the holidays, she was thrilled.

It wasn’t just the excitement of finally being home. It was that Archie had been harassing her on the phone, leaving nasty notes on her apartment door, and even vandalizing her car. Certain that his parents were hiding him somewhere, she reported it to the police numerous times, but no one could ever seem to find him.

She’d thought about asking the team back home to help her a few times, but that seemed wrong to use them for free. They were always so busy, and it just wasn’t right of her to take them away from others who needed them more.

She was relieved to go to the only place she’d ever truly felt safe. No one would hurt her at Belle Fleur.

Well, almost no one.