Page 234 of Fury
“Good,” Tosh said. “When can you bring us older ones?”
“Actually,” Judy cut in, “I’m headed out of town tomorrow morning to visit my sister in Alabama. I’ll be gone until Wednesday. Me and Elwood, we’ve been fostering nonstop. I work six days a week, so I need to take a break?—”
“I’m here all the time,” Elwood interrupted. “I’ll take care of ‘em.”
Bile rose in Slash’s throat. The thought of him alone with any children made her sick to her stomach.
Slash snapped a few pictures of the children. “How old are they?”
“Shouldn’t you have all this?” Tosh asked.
“Like I said, the system shows you having older children,” Slash said. “Lucky for you I stopped by.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Tosh grumbled.
“The boy is four, the girl is three,” Judy said.
“What are their names?” Slash asked.
“Owen and Layla,” Judy replied.
“If you have their medical records, can I see them?”
“Sure.” Judy left the room.
Tosh glared at her. “We’ve never run into this much confusion before.”
“The more you help us now, the faster we’ll get these kids replaced for you.”
“Yeah, okay. I like that,” Tosh said.
The children started laughing. Carrera had built a tower with the soft blocks, then tipped it over. He was so good with them, so patient. As she returned her attention to Tosh, she prayed he hadn’t laid a finger on them.
“What do you do with the kids all day?” she asked him.
Judy returned, handed Slash the paperwork. “We just got them a few days ago. I took off work. It’s been kind of crazy.”
Slash snapped pictures of everything. Both children were healthy, no known allergies.
“They’re siblings,” Slash said. “And their parents were killed in a car accident.”
“Why aren’t the kids with family?” Carrera asked.
“I was told they was having trouble locating anyone,” Tosh replied.
Carrera stood, a child tucked under each arm like bundles. Both were giggling.
“If they puke, you clean up the mess,” Tosh said.
“AJ, they’re fine,” Judy said.
Slash didn’t want to leave the toddlers, but she couldn’t take them. With a heavy heart, she walked through the house with Judy. The home was neat, the children slept in twin beds in the same room. Judy appeared to be a caring, responsible person. But her issue wasn’t with Judy, it was with that monster Tosh. Back in the living room, she concluded the interview.
“We’ll have the children picked up as soon as possible,” Slash said.
When Carrera set the kids down, they went back to playing together.
“Do you want us to call or text to arrange a pick-up?” Slash asked.
