Phoenix: Ride With Me Series

7. River

My cell rangas I went to step out of the Jeep.

I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered it anyway. Something in my gut said it could be important. I was once again meeting with the Sheriff, the FBI, and a few of the PD Officers to go over a few questions they hoped I could help with.

Over the last week there had been so much happening that I was literally on the last nerve I had. My patience was thinner than Mr. Clean’s head, and my anxiety could set off bombs. It was that bad.

I walked toward the Sheriff’s office as I hit accept.

“Knowles?”

“This is McLean High School. Is this the parent or guardian of Rose Knowles?” I stopped and tilted my head.

“Yes, what happened?”

I knew. As if this week wasn’t already testing the Jesus in me. This girl had popped off at the mouth or whacked one of these asshole boys bothering her.

“You need to come to the school; there was an incident.”

“What. Happened?” My raised voice got the attention of the men standing outside. Phoenix jumped over the railing and hurried my way.

“There was an incident.”

“Ma’am, I mean no disrespect, but what in the fuck does that mean? An incident? What kind? What happened?”

“We need you to come and pick up your student. The principal will be more than happy to speak to you when you come in.”

“Fine.”

I ended the call and turned to run back to my Jeep. “It’s Rosie, I gotta go.”

“I’m coming with you,” Phoenix said, running around to jump in the passenger side.

“Did you get that last paper for them signed by your mom?” he asked.

“Yes. I’ve not seen her since she signed them over to me. She never wanted any of us, I guess. I’m done caring about people that don’t care about me.” I sighed. “The kicker is, I was going to the schools in the morning to unenroll everyone. I swear, I am one fart away from losing my mind.”

“Um…”

I snorted out a laugh. “Even my words aren’t working right.”

“It’s okay, I know what you mean. We have a group coming to help y’all pack up the house and get it all moved to town. I have cleaned out the spare room. So there are three rooms upstairs. Two are empty. I figured the bigger of them could be for Rosie. The boys can share the middle-sized room, and that would leave Laura with the smaller room downstairs. That way when Penny stays over, they can both have their own space from the bigger kids. I was using it as an office, but I moved the desk to the dining room. In case they need to use the computer for school work.”

I looked over at him quickly. “And what about me?” I asked, already knowing what he was going to say.

“You are with me.”

“Oh, is that how this is going to work?”

“Yep.” He grinned.

“I can work with that. If you snore, you’re sleeping on the couch.”

He chuckled. “That could be a possibility. I can’t hear myself when I sleep.”

“Fair.” I thought they would all enjoy having a new space. “I can’t thank you enough. Seriously.”

“In the eyes of others, we are moving fast. I really do have feelings for you. Even if that wasn’t the case, you need a safe place to stay. I have the room. It was as if it was meant to be or something.”

“What about Maddie though?”

“She has her own room upstairs. The two large rooms share a bathroom. The girls can work that out though. That leaves the boys with the other bathroom.”

“Okay, but this is going to be a huge adjustment for her. She’s already adjusting to all the changes. What if we stress her out? I should just look for a place of my own.”

He reached over and took my hand. “Breathe. It’s fine. Maddie is happy that you guys are moving in. She has a movie marathon planned out already. I had to go buy enough snacks to choke an entire middle school class. The house will finally be what it was intended to be; a home.”

“It’s scary, ya know?”

“I felt the same way when I came home. It was a start to be back in town, to be on my own for real. Changes are needed, scary or not. It will be okay. If things come up, we handle them together.”

“Thank you.” That made me feel so much better about everything. We still had a lot to learn about each other. The kids had to get used to a new home, new roommates, new schools and town. It was going to go smooth or be as rocky as the mountains. Guess we would handle it either way.

Pulling up in front of the high school, I let out the frustrated breath I’d been holding on to and hurried to get out.

“Looks like we were followed.”

I watched as Tripp parked his bike behind the Jeep, and the two FBI agents, Carson and Weathers, got out of their unmarked, nondescript black car.

“I know you two and your tempers, figured a level head might be needed.”

“Then you should have sent Casey,” Phoenix joked.

I looked at the FBI agents, my brow raised.

“We have questions for you. We’ve also seen that temper. We can’t have you going to jail before this case is over.” Masters smirked.

I shook my head, and we walked up the stairs that led to the main entrance. I pulled open double doors and started looking for the Office sign. I didn’t need it. I could hear my sister yelling. I hurried down to the glass door that was propped open. A resource officer was standing by the front desk, his brows pinched. The yelling was coming from behind that counter.

“I’m River Knowles. Where is my sister?”

“You can have a seat?—”

“Don’t touch me!” That was Rosie.

A man’s voice washed out hers. Oh, hell nah.

“You have to wait…”

Yeah, that wasn’t happening. I moved around to the half door at the end and flipped the safety latch.

“You can’t come back here.”

“Lady, my sister sounds distressed. I’m going back there, so kindly fuck off.”

I marched through the desks and flung the door marked ‘Principal’ open. A large man was bent over the chair my sister was seated in, his face inches from hers.

“You have exactly one second to get the fuck out of her face.”

He jerked, standing to his full height.

“River.” Rosie jumped up and ran to me. I wrapped her in a tight hug.

“What happened?”

“She assaulted a student,” a man sitting behind a large desk said. My brow arched.

“What did he do to her to elicit that act of violence?”

“What do you mean? She hit another student.”

“Again, what did that student do to her to make her strike them?”

“The boys were clowning around. It was harmless fun,” the man that had been in her face said, scowling.

“Who the fuck are you? And why were you all but kissing my sister just now?”

“That’s Coach Mathers. It was his son I hit first.”

Ah, and there it was. “All right, tell me what happened.”

“That prick…” She pointed to a kid in the other chair. He had his head back, an ice pack on his face. “He and his friends pulled me into the boys’ locker room.” Her voice dipped as she continued. “They touched me. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Did I hear that right? I felt the unease in the room skyrocket. The others were standing behind me, silent. They were letting me process this situation.

“As I said, the boys were clowning around.” The Coach stood with his arms crossed.

I let out a long breath before speaking. “Rosie, what happened after they touched you?”

“No one touched her,” the kid muttered. “She’s just mad we don’t want her.”

“Shut up, Kyle,” Coach snarled.

“Rosie, what did you do?” I was hanging onto my temper by a thread here.

“She broke my nose, you stupid cow, can’t you see that?”

I moved around my sister and toward the kid. He was a solid wall of muscle as he jumped up. He stood about 5’9”, which meant that me at just over 5’11” could look down on him. His face was already bruised. She must have walloped him good.

“River, sweetheart, don’t hit the child.”

“He’s no child, he’s eighteen,” Rosie said, her voice breaking.

My gaze hardened on the punk. “You touched a minor inappropriately, then have the fucking audacity to be offended that she busted you in the face?”

“I didn’t.”

I pinned him to the wall with nothing more than my presence.

“Rosie, I want you to tell us what he did. Right now. Then I will decide what happens next. If he’s an adult, I can beat his ass and not a soul can say a word.”

“Officer Cruze, get in here. Remove this woman.”

“I’d like an explanation as to what happened as well,” a new voice said.

“I…” I heard her sniffling.

“It’s okay, princess, tell Gramps what he did.” Tripp’s voice was gentle. I glanced back, and he had an arm around her.

The kid used my distraction to try and move. I slammed my hand against the wall next to his face. “I swear on my soul that if you move again, I will be going to jail today. Comprende?”

“Principal Moore, do something.”

He, in fact, did nothing.

“Rosie, come on. It’s okay, tell us.”

“I was walking to the locker room after gym. They pulled me inside. I don’t know who all was there, I didn’t see them. Someone put their hand over my eyes. I tried screaming, and they covered my mouth.” She started to cry. “They touched me… I tried to tell them to stop. I bit someone. It was then they let me go, and I picked up a pair of cleats.” She waved a hand at the idiot before me.

“You are going to tell me who else was in that locker room with you. Right. Now.”

“She’s lying.”

“Your face says otherwise, asshole.”

“I’m not telling you shit.”

I stepped back and turned to the principal. “Are you going to find out who was there?”

“There is no proof?—”

“If you finish that sentence, he won’t be the only one with a broken nose. I’m going to ask this once more. Who else was in that locker room?”

No one said a thing. I nodded. “Very well. Officer Cruze?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I want this bastard arrested for assault on a minor. Attempted kidnapping of a minor. And anything else you can think of. If you refuse to do so, I will call the real police.”

“I am the real police, ma’am. We will have to call the department guys in either way.”

“You can’t do that!” The kid made a pivotal mistake at that moment. He reached out and grabbed my arm. Instinct kicked in and he was on the ground, his face buried in the carpet, my knee in his back as I wrenched his arm up before anyone could react.

“Unlike my sister, I can break you in more ways than they can put you back together. You do not touch a woman without permission.” I twisted his wrist, causing him to cry out. “It will do you good to remember, no means no, you fucking asshole.”

“I want her arrested for attacking my son.”

“Your son, who is a legal adult, grabbed me. I am defending myself, without causing him bodily harm. That is allowed under the law.”

“We can see you have this under control; we’ll be outside. When the PD shows up, tell them that Special Agent Masters and I are in the car. We will be more than happy to give a statement as to what we witnessed.” Carson winked my way and slipped out the door.

I released the kid and let Officer Cruze detain him. I pulled out the copy of the signed paperwork I’d slid into my back pocket this morning. I tossed it on the principal’s desk.

“I’m removing Rosie from this school, effective today. Never fear, this is not the last you’ve seen of me. A report will be filed against you and this piece of shit coach. I will also be calling the district office.”

I moved to Rosie and wrapped her in a big hug. “Officer Cruze, my contact info is on file. If you need more, let me know.” When he nodded, I met her gaze. “Come on, let’s clean out your locker and go home.”

“There are only school books in my locker. I don’t need any of that.”

“Very well.” Without a second glance back, I moved out of the office with her.

If I didn’t leave now, I was going to do something that I would not regret. For my family’s sake, I was taking the higher road. This time.