Hot and Badgered (Honey Badger Chronicles, #1)

by Shelly Laurenston

But now . . . Charles was beyond angry. His brown eyes narrow, his breathing heavy, his entire body stiff, a slight tremor running through him every few seconds. And all while he gazed down at Billy. Searching the crowd and seeing no friends, Billy shook his head and raised his hands, palms out. “Wait a second, I didn’t . . . it wasn’t me!” But with his hands raised like that, all anyone could see was the blood dripping between his fingers and slowly pouring down his wrist. Desperate, Billy pointed at the middle girl. “It was her!” As one, the adults all looked at the little Asian girl holding onto her baby sister. And, for a split second, Betsey saw the middle girl’s face harden in a way that was a little too adult for a kid so young. The adults never saw it, though, because the youngest girl placed her sobbing face right in front of her sister’s. Done on purpose? Betsey wouldn’t have thought so. She seemed too young, but after everything that had happened . . . “It was!” Billy insisted. “It was her! I would never hit a kid! I wouldn’t!” With a nasty snarl from the back of his throat, Charles reached down, grabbed Billy by his leather jacket, and yanked him off the bench. The adults dragged Billy out, leaving the girls alone. The oldest pulled the youngest girl onto her lap, her arms loose around her waist. The middle girl moved closer, finally resting her head against her sister’s arm. For a brief moment, the girls looked their age, but they also looked weathered. Life h...