Mercy's Angels Box Set Read Online Free PDF Page B

safe.
                  “Hey Jax, I’m hungry,” called out a tiny voice from the floor to my left. A little brown haired boy with big blue eyes followed my movement through the room, bouncing on his little feet with excitement. At six years old, Eli was the youngest in the shelter and had been staying regularly with his mother Annie for over a month now. Annie had picked up work at the local diner and had almost saved up enough money to rent a small apartment. As much as I was proud of Annie for turning their lives around and making a fresh start for her and Eli, I would be sad to see them go. Eli was a breath of fresh air in the shelter. He was excitable, carefree and always sporting an honest and innocent grin. He was one of the lucky ones whose mom got him out before he could be physically or emotionally scarred by his father’s heavy handed reign. The other child currently in residence was a girl, Sam, aged twelve. She was not so fortunate. Her mother had carried her under nourished beaten body in three weeks ago. Neither Sam nor her waif of a mother, Georgia, had said much since arriving. They had obviously suffered and the fact that they were here now spoke volumes. But they couldn’t stay forever. Mercy and Dave would have to have a sit down with Georgia soon and plan their next course of action. Dave was the in-house shrink. In the beginning I was suspicious of his reasons for joining the shelter. I assumed my mother’s pretty smile and playful blue eyes had drawn him in. But David in action was something else to behold. He loved his job and he truly cared about his patients. In the shelter he operated in stealth mode, not flaunting his fancy degree or Doctor title. He was simply Dave and he was there to talk and offer advice. He was a welcomed and much needed addition to the team and the fact that he loved my mother was even more welcoming. She deserved a man like Dave after the many years of dealing with my biological father’s shit.
                  “Ten more minutes little man, you better go wash up for your momma.” Eli turned and scrambled away for one of the bathrooms. I could already feel the large open area starting to fill with warmth from the fixed thermostat. Crossing the hall to the small room that was the entry to Mercy’s Shelter I headed for the big heavy front door. It was time to lock the place down for the night. Mercy had left almost an hour ago leaving Beth and I on for tonight’s watch. I didn’t do night shifts all that often now, but two of our volunteers were down sick and our other male staff member Blue wanted a couple of nights off, so here I was. Curfew was normally late, eleven P.M, but the beds were already full and the storm was settling in. No one else would come knocking tonight.
                  As I reached the door I glanced through the fogged up window, giving it a quick wipe to check the street front. As my hand reached the heavy dead bolt something caught my eye. The snow and wind was vicious, blinding everything with a flurry of white. But somewhere out there I caught a dark shape moving along the sidewalk. Watching carefully I noticed it again, drawing closer to the building. Hunched over, the petite body pushing against the wind slipped on the ice and went down hard. I didn’t hesitate to pull open the door and trudge out into the bitter storm. With no jacket it was crazy cold. A few long strides forward I reached the fragile girl struggling to get to her feet.
                  “Hey, are you okay?” I yelled over the howling winds. The tiny figure snapped to attention, beautifully slanted dark brown eyes widened as they took me in. She was gorgeous, even under the heavy layers of jackets, the tattered old beanie and thick scarf. Her skin was porcelain white, with cheeks flushed from the cold, beautiful lips that I just knew would hold a drop dead gorgeous smile. Her eyes ran a heated trail up my body and I knew she