Page 58 of Echoes From Within
“Alright,” I laugh. “Let’s go.”
I don’t know her story but there is one thing that I do know.
I will protect this little girl with everything I have.
***Venom***
It’s been a long day. The newbies I’m training were not as prepared for the ring as they thought they were. Not a single one could make me fall. Hell, I had all three of them come at me at once and they still couldn’t get me down to the mat.
“People who have trained for years can’t get you to fall,”Miles tells me.
“That may be the case,”Xander adds.“But it doesn’t change the fact that these boys need intense training before Venom puts them in the cage. They wouldn’t last and would lose the club a hell of a lot of money.”
Xander isn’t wrong. I train men to fight for the Obsidians. Not only at the Cage but at other locations around Harborbrook. These men won’t be ready for a while yet.
“Hey, John,” I greet as I walk through the doors of UNITY. “How’s everything?”
“Quiet. Which is always a good thing,” he tells me. “Boss lady is in her office with the witness person.”
Anxiety rushes through my body as I nod my thanks and head for Sophia’s office. She already knows how much I hate her being near someone who needs to change their identity for safety reasons.
I don’t care who it is. Man or woman. They need to stay away from Sophia because if she gets harmed because of them I’ll put a bullet right between their eyes.
I open the door to Sophia’s office and take in the scene.
Fuck.
A child. The witness is a child.
“It’s okay,” Sophia tells the young girl who ran to her side the moment I opened the door. “This is my very special friend, Travis. I promise that he won’t hurt you.”
“He looks like the man who killed my parents,” I hear her whisper.
Sophia’s face contorts and I can tell she’s trying to control the anger and sadness she’s feeling for this child.
“How about we do an experiment?” she suggests. “Would you be willing to try?”
“Will you help me?” she asks.
I haven’t moved from my spot because I don’t want to frighten the poor thing.
“Of course. Do you trust me?”
The little girl nods. Her blond hair is wild around her cute little freckled face. When she turns those frightened eyes in my direction, a pool of unshed tears glistens in her big blue eyes.
“Travis, would you please come inside and shut the door?”
“Of course, baby,” I smile.
The little girl moves to stand behind Sophia as I advance to the empty chair and sit. She can’t be more than ten years old.
“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do,” she tells the little girl. “We’re going to walk over to my friend. He’s not going to move or talk. He won’t touch you. All I want you to do is to take a good long look at his face and his body. I know you think he looks like the man who hurt your family, but he’s not him. And I think if you trust me enough to just take a look, you’ll be able to see the differences. Do you want to give it a try?”
Her little head bobs up and down.
The look the girl gives me as she gets closer breaks my heart. She’s so scared.
“Okay, now just look, sweetie.”