Part 2: The Man Everyone Feared
The man stopped in front of the bench.
Ruthie looked up at him without fear.
"Mommy," she repeated, holding out her plastic spoon, "is he hungry too?"
For the first time in years, Dominic Russo almost smiled.
People usually reacted to him in one of two ways.
Fear.
Or obedience.
Never kindness.
Especially not from children.
He crouched down slowly so he wouldn't tower over them.
"No," he said quietly. "I ate already."
Ruthie nodded.
"Good."
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
"Why's that?"
She pointed at the rice container.
"Because we don't have enough to share."
Shelby wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
"Ruthie!"
But Dominic's eyes never left the little girl.
Instead, he asked gently, "And if you did have enough?"
Ruthie shrugged.
"Then we'd share."
Something tightened painfully inside his chest.
For a moment he saw another little girl.
Dark curls.
Bright eyes.
A daughter he had buried seventeen years ago.
A daughter he had failed to protect.
The memory hit him harder than any bullet ever had.
He stood slowly.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Ruthie."
"And yours?"
"Hadley."
Dominic looked at Shelby.
"You've been sleeping in your car."
It wasn't a question.
Shelby's face drained of color.
How could he know?
Dominic noticed everything.
The exhaustion.
The wrinkles in the girls' clothes.
The way Shelby glanced toward the road every few seconds.
The emergency bag tucked beneath the bench.
The signs were obvious.
"I don't want trouble," Shelby whispered.
His expression darkened.
"Trouble found you long before I did."
Silence settled between them.
Then Dominic pulled out his phone.
"Marco."
One of the men behind him stepped forward.
"Yes, boss?"
"Find a family suite at the Grand Regent Hotel."
Marco blinked.
"Tonight?"
"No."
Dominic looked at the children.
"For as long as they need."
Shelby's eyes widened.
"What?"
"I don't take orders from strangers," she said quickly.
"Good," Dominic replied.
"You shouldn't."
Then he reached into his coat and handed Hadley a business card.
"Keep this."
Hadley looked confused.
"Why?"
"If anyone scares your mother," Dominic said, "call that number."
Shelby stared at him.
"Why are you helping us?"
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then he glanced at Ruthie.
"Because someone should have helped my family when they needed it."
And with that, the most feared man in Whitmore Heights turned and walked away.
May you like
But the story was only beginning.
Because two days later, Trent Puit found them.
