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  Annnnd that was the voice of Randy. He was definitely there and he sounded good and drunk. Mei-Li massaged her temples where a really good tension headache was trying to take hold. So he and Angry Mom were reenacting their old, toxic dance all over again. Under the shouting, Mei-Li thought she could hear crying. Probably Kristin or her little sister, Megan, upset by the fight.

  This had to stop before it went any further but Mei-Li knew perfectly well she couldn’t break it up all by herself—it wasn’t safe. She pulled out her cell phone and punched in Claudia’s number.

  “Hey, boss lady—remember how you said you’d back me up if I needed it?”

  Claudia gave a long suffering sigh. “Seriously Mei-mei? It’s almost nine at night and I was just settling down to catch up on Gray’s Scandal. I have two juicy episodes all saved up and I was about to pour myself a big glass of red wine.”

  “Well, there’s plenty of juicy scandal going on down here at Kristin Hill’s house if it makes you feel any better,” Mei-Li said dryly. “Randy Dungston is back with a vengeance and he and Angry Mom are airing their dirty laundry loud enough for everyone in Tampa Heights to hear it.”

  Claudia was immediately all business.

  “Okay, I’m on my way and I’ll call a squad car too. He’s breaking the court order to keep him away from the girls so we can have him hauled away at least for the night.”

  “They might take awhile to get there—this is Friday night, not exactly one of their down times,” Mei-Li pointed out.

  “They’ll get there, I’ll make sure of it,” Claudia said grimly. “In the meantime, you just stay in the car with the windows rolled up and the doors locked. Do not go into that house alone. Okay?”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Mei-Li said dryly. “I’ll sit tight and wait for you.”

  “Good. Be there in twenty. Fifteen if traffic cooperates.”

  “Got it.”

  Mei-Li hung up and turned her attention back to the scene going on in the little house across the street. The angry voices had risen from shouts to screams and then she heard the sound of glass breaking.

  “Stupid cunt,” Randy was shouting. “Don’t be yelling at me! Like you ain’t never fucked around. I know what you were doing when I was in County. I know you were fucking around—spreading your legs for anything with a dick!”

  “No, I swear, Randy…” Angry Mom’s voice was somewhere between a shriek and a wail. “I never…I never…”

  “Lying bitch!”

  More breaking glass and more shrieking had Mei-Li on the edge of her seat. She knew it wasn’t safe to go inside and confront the angry drunk by herself but she also didn’t want to just sit here and listen to Randy beat the crap out of Angry Mom while Kristin and her sister witnessed the whole messy scene.

  Then she heard something worse.

  “Not my mommy! You leave my mommy alone!” The piercing, high pitched voice was unmistakably Kristin’s. Mei-Li could see her small shadow in the lit front windows rushing at a much bigger form which had to be Randy.

  “Get back you little bitch!” Randy grunted as the big shadow grabbed the smaller one. “Or, I swear to God I’ll slice you up while your fucking ‘mommy’ watches.”

  That was it—Mei-Li knew it was dangerous but she couldn’t wait any longer. She couldn’t sit in her safe, locked car and wait for the police while an innocent little girl was maimed and possibly killed. No matter what happened, she had to go in.

  She was out of her car and across the street almost before the thoughts finished flashing through her mind. The door was open and she ran into the house without knocking or calling, holding the pepper spray straight out in front of her like a gun.

  What she saw when she got to the cramped and cluttered living room made her cold all over.

  Randy Dungston had Kristin’s in a choke hold, one beefy arm around the little girl’s thin throat. In the other hand he had a broken bottle, its jagged green shards of glass poking out of his meaty fist. Kristin was gasping and turning blue, her eyes bulging with the effort to breathe as Dungston brought the glittering, razor sharp glass closer and closer to her face.

  Angry Mom was standing helplessly to one side, shouting something that Mei-Li didn’t even hear and Kristin’s little sister, Megan, who was only four, was wailing inconsolably as she watched her sister about to be maimed.

  Mei-Li was so angry she felt like she could have exploded with rage but she knew if she made the wrong move she might cost Kristin an eye.

  “Randy Dungston,” she said in a low voice that quivered with fury. “Put Kristin down and drop that bottle now.”

  Randy looked down at her, sneering. He was a big bully of a man with red cheeks and a nose that reminded Mei-Li of a snout. He stank of sweat and scotch and cigarette smoke and his piggy little eyes were bloodshot.

  “Well, if it ain’t the little chink social worker,” he grunted, making no move to either release Kristin or drop the jagged, broken bottle. “The same little chink bitch that got me kicked out of my own home and sent to jail.”

  “This is not your home. You lost the right to call it that when you hurt and tortured two helpless little girls—just like you’re doing now. You let her go right now or I will spray you!” She held out the pepper spray, her arm trembling, wishing she had something more lethal like a tazer or a gun.

  To her consternation, Dungston just laughed.

  “I been to jail, bitch—you oughta know since you’re the one who sent me there. You think I’m afraid of a little pepper spray? Besides, you spray me, you’re gonna get her too.” He nodded at Kristin who had almost stopped struggling now. Her face had gone from blue to almost gray. It was an alarming color and Mei-Li felt panic begin to gnaw at her throat. What if he killed the little girl while she stood here helplessly and watched?

  To one side, Megan was still wailing and Angry Mom was wringing her hands ineffectually and crying but neither reaction was having any effect on Dungston. An evil grin had spread across his porcine face as he watched to see what Mei-Li would do.

  She hesitated, uncertain of the best course of action. It was true that spraying the pepper spray might get Kristin too because Randy would doubtless have no qualms about using the little girl as a human shield. Mei-Li thought about lunging forward to try to drag the little girl from his grip but she was afraid he would cut Kristin with the bottle if she did.

  “Let…her…go!” she insisted, trying to keep her voice steady.

  “When…I’m…ready,” he sneered, mocking her tone.

  “Release the young one.”

  The deep, cold voice behind her nearly made Mei-Li jump out of her skin. She saw Randy’s eyes widen in surprise and fill with fear. She couldn’t help glancing back to see what could provoke such a reaction in a hard man like Dungston.

  And there he was. Six. Standing there looking just as he did in her dreams from the glaring red light where his left eye should be to the metallic left hand to the bulky black armor which made him absolutely huge. He seemed to fill the whole living area and suck all the air out of the room at the same time. Or maybe that was her, hyperventilating. Seeing him in her dreams was bad enough—she’d never really expected to see him in person.

  “Who’re you?” Randy sneered, obviously trying to cover his fear with bravado. “Some kinda Robo-cop wannabe?”

  Despite his tough words, he was clearly shaken. So much so that he allowed Kristen to sag in his grip, giving Mei-Li a clear shot at his face.

  She was still pretty freaked out about having the big Kindred from her dreams suddenly appear behind her but the pragmatic part of her was screaming that she didn’t have time to be freaked out. She could have hysterics later. Right now, she had a chance to save Kristin and she had to take it.

  Aiming right for Dungston’s eyes, she squeezed the button and fired a powerful stream of pepper spray right in his face.

  “Agh—God! My eyes!”

  As Mei-Li had hoped, Randy stumbled backwards