Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Callum
The last thing I wanted to do this afternoon was let Kara out of bed. But her heart was set on the fair, so that’s where we were heading.
I wasn’t going to be alone with this trek out today. Not with what has happened so far. I drove around the parking lot, scouting for a defendable position. On one hand, I would hope she’d be safe out here. On the other, I knew people were unpredictable on a good day. This asshole has already pushed the limits. I was taking zero chances. Finding a space, I parked my truck. Without me asking, Kara waited until I got out and came around to help her out.
Looking around, searching for anything that wasn’t right, I knew my gut would be on high alert. One thing I’d learned many moons ago was, my gut was more trustworthy than my other senses. It hasn’t let me down yet.
I tried to keep the worry off my face when Kara turned to lean into my side.
“Hey…” She turned back around, her grin growing when the large SUV pulled into the lot. I raised my arm, waving him to where we were. Dan parked right beside us, and when he got out, he tossed a cap at his sister.
“Found your cap, squirt.”
Kara laughed at the yellow and pink cap. “God, I’ve not seen this in so long. But I am not wearing it. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Thought you would want to relive those glory days.”
“You mean the times you would leave me in line for a ride and disappear?”
“Yeah, look, we know I was a sucky brother sometimes. You were an annoying little brat back then. It wasn’t all my fault.”
She punched him in the arm with a huff.
“You were not a sucky brother…you were just a jerk face.”
She tossed it into the truck and took my hand.
With them laughing and jostling each other, we made our way toward the front entrance. I knew two of the guys from the firm were already inside, keeping an eye on anyone that came in. They had a description of Ian and would be taking images of all adult men coming through the gate.
This would be a tricky place to not only canvas, but to secure with the amount of people in and out. Townsfolk, people from neighboring towns. It was chaos, and you just couldn’t bubble that shit up.
There were people of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities, and demeanors out here already. Kids were running around laughing and calling out to each other. Dan and I both moved out of the way, chuckling, when a group of boys darted between us to escape a smaller child’s question. Since they all had on the same yellow and blue shirt, I figured it was safe to put them together as family.
“So glad it wasn’t just our generation that was turds,” Kara huffed.
I gave her hand a squeeze.
The game booths we passed were loud with popping balloons, the tinkling of ping pong balls against glass fish bowls, and the smashing of the big rubber mallet on the metal plate that made the Hi-Riser game ding. That is, if you got that metal piece up high enough to ring the bell.
We’d no sooner gotten through the entrance, paid for our tickets, and had a quick look around, before Kara made a beeline for a food cart. Dan and I followed, shaking our heads in amusement.
“I don’t know where she puts it all,” I said honestly.
“Dad used to say she had two hollow legs.”
“I could go with that for sure.”
I was pretty sure she should be a professional eater. Challenging anyone and everyone with her ability to pack away food. By volume, not by speed. She eats slowly, enjoying every bite of her food. No matter what it is. She had no idea how sexy it was to watch her pink tongue dart out over her bottom lip to get the last dribble of whatever it was she was eating.
This was going to be a very interesting trip around the fair for sure. The number of food carts and trucks that I could see went on for a while. She—we—were going to go broke today. But if it made her happy, I didn’t mind at all.
“If you start stuffing your gullet…I’m not going on any rides with you, sis.”
Kara flipped him off as she ordered her first chili cheese dog.
I should place a bet to see how long before she lost all that food…which ride would it be this time?
I felt the need to blame Dan for that thought…now that he’d put it out there, I remembered those explosive vomit sessions after the tilt-a-whirl. It happened every single time.
Groaning, the thought made me rethink today; I followed close behind Kara, my eyes scanning the crowds of people around us. To her credit, she seemed to be clueless that she could be in danger, just trying to enjoy this outing. I’d caught her more than once looking out, scanning faces though, along with making sure Dan and I were never far from her.
I wasn’t surprised, not really. Kara was anything but dumb. She knew the dangers of being here, and yet, she was determined to have a good time.
Watching her and Dan do a ring toss, I was ribbing him for losing to a girl. I mean, I couldn’t let him be the only one to rag on someone today. It was payback for beating her at the dart game. It wasn’t her fault she wasn’t throwing hard enough. After a little coaching from me, she had figured it out, but it was too late by then. He lost, and she won a small bear which she turned around and gave to a little girl who was watching her much bigger brother play the same game next to us.
Following after her, I went to stand in a line with her. I needed something to drink. I got my bottle of water while she decided what she wanted. More food it was. At the moment, she was walking along, dodging kids and elbows, all while taking bites of a sausage dog in between taking sips of her Coke.
“You know…she could be an Olympic eater.”
My bark of laughter had her turning to eye us.
I winked her way, causing her cheeks to blush slightly. She took another bite, balled up the dirty napkin, and tossed it into a barrel a few steps away. She gave her mouth another wipe with a clean one then turned back our way.
I was still unsure of where she put all the food and liquids she ingested. A lemonade and now a Coke, with the cup for this drink the size of her head.
I loved seeing her like this though. She was so happy—in the outdoors, enjoying herself. She was carefree; I could only hope it stayed that way. I wanted her to have the time of her life tonight.
“Hey, I got us a ticket for the carousel.” Dan shoulder-bumped her as he made it to her side.
“Oh, thank you! I’ve not been on one of those since…”
“The year you ate all that cotton candy then barfed it all over the entire crowd waiting to get on the carousel. I remember Dad crabbing that you’d gotten his loafers dirty.”
We chuckled at that memory. “If I recall, your mom was mad that you hadn’t listened to her. But one look at your green face, and she changed her tune.”
That had been a day of fun with them I’d never forget.
“And ten minutes later, her greedy behind was in line for fried Oreos.”
“Which she threw up after the Ferris wheel.” I huffed out a laugh.
“Yeah, well, I was scared. It was so high.”
I watched Kara, her lips tugged into a grin as she spun and started walking backwards.
“I think I better wait to have anything fried this go round.” She took another huge bite of her sausage dog, turned back around, and moved toward the next game booth.
“Step right up, folks. The first one to blow up the balloon wins a prize.”
Water guns and balloons. It looked easy enough. There were about eight others lined up. I took the last open spot next to Dan.
“Loser buys Kara’s next snack,” he challenged.
“Done.” I grinned at the indignant huff from behind us. Lord knows where she would hit next, but then again, if she was happy, she could eat from every booth. I’d roll her out if I had to.
Three minutes later, I was pointing at the big stuffed giraffe on the wall. “That one, please.”
“For you, love.”
“Aww. You do know my love of gigi’s!”
“I do.”
She handed me her drink. “Help, please.”
Kara used her free hand to pull a napkin from her pocket and wipe off her food-stained hand. With clean hands, she not only took her drink back, but also the giraffe. She hugged it to her side.
“What’s next?”
“You lead, love, we shall follow.”
“Okay, I’d like to go look at the animal tents. Maybe we can find something that needs a home?”
Dan and I exchanged a look. They used to have puppies and kittens out here as a part of the local adopt-a-pet program. Did they still do that? I shrugged my shoulders. If she wanted a pet, who were we to say no? She was a grown woman. I was here to protect her, not to tell her what she could and couldn’t do.
“Maybe they’ll have a snake exhibit,” Dan teased.
Kara’s steps slowed, her nose wrinkling up.
“Come on, love, there won’t be a snake exhibit out here. Too many kids. But they might have something exotic. Let’s go see.”
I took her hand and led her toward the east side of the grounds. The large brick building had a sign on the outside of it. ‘Petting Zoo, now open.’ If her smile got any wider, her face would break in two.
It’d been an hour and some change since leaving the petting zoo and starting our exploration of the fairgrounds. Kara has been through the Ripley’s Believe It or Not tent, which was creepy as fuck. Even for me. That two-headed pig wigged me out. I’ve seen some weird shit in my life, but that…yeah, no thanks.
She’d ridden on the carousel with Dan twice. Been in line for the tilt-a-whirl but changed her mind. With the amount of food and drink in her, it was a wise choice. She’d since devoured a corndog, a caramel apple, and now we were heading to the long line for her to go pee. Overall, it was a productive use of our time.
“What’s after your nineteenth bathroom break?” Dan teased.
“I want to go to the games over by the entrance walkway. Someone,” she elbowed me softly, “needs to win me one of those colorful betta fish. They have a few purple and blue ones. He’d look cute in my living room. Then, well, I’m getting tired. My feet are barking at me.”
I chuckled. “I could just go buy you one, and we could head home?” I pulled her to me, kissing her neck as I spoke.
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“Touché, love. Touché.”
“Win me a fish, then we can go home.”
“Deal, I will win you the biggest fish they have.”
“Good man, now, go away. Oh, hold this for me, please?” Kara pushed the giraffe at me and grinned. “I’m capable enough to stand in line for the bathroom by myself.” She gave me and Dan a look. Giving in, I held up my hands and moved to the picnic tables at the back of the eating area. I leaned a hip against it and watched the line move slowly.
Taking advantage of the moment, I said, “Update,” pressing my finger against my earpiece I wore as I spoke.
“All clear at the south end.”
“I have you all in sight; nothing looks out of order from here.”
I felt much better about being in this crowd with my guys looking out for any danger I might miss. With a stalker on Sterling’s level, they were unpredictable at the best of times. Add to that the fact that no one had seen or heard from him since the day she’d decked him…yeah, I was not taking any chances.
My gut was starting to do its ‘danger is near’ dance. I didn’t like this one bit. I wasn’t ready to pull her away, not yet. She was having too much of a good time. I’d ease her out after the fish game. We could always come back tomorrow. The fair would be here until next week as it was. Plenty of time to eat more fair food.