Page 11 of Single Teddy (Mayberry Protectors #6)

TEN

WESLEY

“ A re you doing it today?” Monica entered my office as I packed my bag, and I jumped. “I’m sorry. Did I startle you?”

“Oh, it’s not your fault.” I chuckled. “I jump at my own reflection sometimes.”

“Do you want me to come with you? I don’t mind,” she said, and I shook my head, following her out of the classroom into the hallway.

“Nah, I don’t want them feeling ambushed. I just want to make sure they’re okay. They’re constantly late and have missed school three times already. That’s not normal.”

“It really isn’t,” Monica agreed, reinforcing my conviction that this wellness check was highly overdue.

It had been two and a half weeks since school had started, and the twins had a worse attendance record than even the most serial truants in high school. And their guardians could ignore my emails, but they couldn’t ignore me at their door.

“Let me know how it goes,” she said, and we walked to our cars.

I sat in the driver’s seat for a few minutes, trying to compose myself and rehearse what I was going to say.

It wasn’t something I did very often, but it had to be done when speaking to parents, especially if I wanted to avoid a confrontation.

Then I typed in the address on my GPS and took the suggested route to Aster Lane on the western side of the island.

It wasn’t known for its riches. In fact, it was one of the areas that was targeted for gentrification by one of the mayoral candidates in his pre-election promises, which was utter bullshit.

Instead of investing in the people struggling to make ends meet, they wanted to kick them out of their homes and turn everything into luxury apartments and hotels.

As I turned on Aster Lane and kept my eye out for number 68, I braced myself for what I was about to face. I really, truly, hoped there was no cause for concern. That it was just…an oversight. A couple of new parents who weren’t entirely sure how school worked. Like Teddy.

Halfway down the street, I stopped in front of number 68, a house that was missing its number, while the gate of the front yard was missing. The garden and lawn were completely wilted and brown, full of trash and broken furniture.

“It’s fine, Wes. Not everyone takes care of their property the same way.”

Especially if they barely made enough money to put food on the table.

I walked up to the porch, trying to keep my composure as alarm bells went off in my head. A beaded curtain stood before me instead of a door, and even when I pulled it to the side, I still didn’t find a proper door left ajar.

“O…kay,” I mumbled and knocked on the wall next to the curtain. “Hello?”

I waited and waited, and when no one came to answer my call, I took a step forward into the house and spoke again.

The inside was in a far better state than the outside looked, but the wood flooring was caked in dust, as were any surfaces I came across before I saw the boys in a room to my right.

They were holding two trucks in the air, making them fly and attack each other, but before they banged them together, they’d whisper a bang and pull them back.

“Hi, Niko. Valentin,” I said, and before I entered the living room, I checked the hallway for any sign of life.

“Mr. Crawford,” Valentin exclaimed, and Niko elbowed him, shushing his brother.

I frowned.

“Is everything okay, boys? Where are your parents?”

Valentin pursed his lips and looked behind me, but he didn’t say anything.

“Sleeping,” Valentin said, only to be shushed again.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep it quiet. Are you boys okay?” I lowered my voice and approached them before taking a seat across from them on the other end of the coffee table. It was also covered in dust. “You missed school today.”

Valentin nodded while Niko shook his head.

“Is something wrong? Can I help you?”

I didn’t want to offer answers to my questions, as experience had shown me kids and adults alike would take those answers and ride with them instead of telling the truth. And I needed to find out what was going on here and whether the child protective services needed to be involved.

“We’re o—” Niko started to say when a booming voice behind me made me jump.

“Who the hell are you?”

I scrambled back to my feet and turned to face the mountain of a man with the long beard, bed hair, and dilated pupils.

“Hi, I’m Niko and Valentin’s teacher, Mr. Crawford. Are you their legal guardian?” I offered him my hand, but he simply stared it down instead of shaking it.

“The fuck do you want?”

I tried to hide my discomfort at the language used in front of the kids and focused on my task at hand.

“Well, the boys missed school today, and I just wanted to make sure they’re okay,” I offered.

“What is it to you?” he grumbled.

I took a deep breath and straightened my glasses, trying to put on my most charming smile, which, I was sure, would do fuck-all for him, but one could only try.

“Like I just said, I’m their teacher, so I wanted to check on them. They’ve missed a few days already, and they’re late almost every morning, which is concerning.”

The man looked at me with an utter disgust that made my stomach clench. I didn’t know what he was capable of, but I imagined I wouldn’t like whatever it was.

“You should mind your own business,” he said.

I took a step back and smiled again because I was certain he wouldn’t like what I had to say. I didn’t, but it needed to be said.

“The thing is, Mr. Barnes, it is my business and the school’s business if your children aren’t attending school as required by law.

We have a strict policy that triggers after five absences, and I wanted to ensure that doesn’t happen because then it kicks off an entire process with child protective services. ”

The man’s brows sank even lower and his nostrils flared.

“Are you threatening me?” he asked in what sounded like a hiss.

“Threaten—god, no. I’m just describing to you the process and the reason I’m here. Will you please sit down with me so we can hash this out?” I showed him the stained old armchair and hoped he would take it, but he just crossed his arms and puffed his chest like a peacock ready to fight.

“Hash? I’m not giving you any hash. You’re an intruder.”

I opened my mouth, but I paused.

What the hell was he talking about?

“Like I said, I didn’t mean to intrude. I just wanted to talk to you for the kids’ sake.”

“And I said I’m done talking. Get the fuck out of my home.”

Oh boy, did I want to run out of there like my ass was on fire. But…but the boys deserved better. Definitely better than this ape of a man.

“The problem is I need to make sure you understand the repercussions of the boys continuing to be late and missing school,” I insisted because I had a death wish, apparently.

“I’m gonna give you a problem if you don’t get out.”

Clearly, this was going nowhere. And from the way his gaze kept wavering, there was a good reason why. Maybe I could try again when he wasn’t wasted, but I didn’t want to leave the kids with him.

“As you wish,” I said and glanced at the kids, who had stopped playing with their trucks and were looking at us wide-eyed.

They were breaking my heart with their silent plea, but I couldn’t help them. Not right now, not on my own. This required backup, and I didn’t have it at the moment.

“I’ll go, but please, keep an eye on your emails.

We need parents to respond. And here.” I stretched my shaky hand toward him and waited until he snatched the piece of paper from my fingers like a Neanderthal.

“If you need anything, please shoot me a message, or call the school and leave a message for me, and I’ll get back to you ASAP. ”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t nod. Or huff. He just glared at me until I moved around him. I waved at the kids and ran out of there, feeling like an absolute failure.

I needed to get those kids the help they needed. I didn’t know what kind of parent that man was, but I could take a pretty good guess.

I got in my car, and as I put my seatbelt on, I noticed Mr. Barnes staring at me from his doorstep.

I tried to smile as I turned my engine on and got the hell out of Dodge.

I hadn’t even managed to apply the parking break when I got to my house before a black Jeep swerved into my driveway with a loud squeal.

I stared at my rearview mirror, unable to move a nail, let alone a finger.

Had…had he followed me? Had he come to teach me a lesson?

Fuck!

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I reached for the first thing I could use to defend myself and closed my eyes. When there was a knock on my window, I jabbed the wooden coffee stirrer at the glass.

“Oh,” I said when I saw the big blond dream staring back at me.

“What did the window do to you?” he asked.