The Rules of Engagement (Mercer #2)

RoE Chapter Four

I could feel Ray staring a hole in the side of my face as I drove across town, struggling to maintain the speed limit.

What I wanted to do was put my foot down and break every speed limit there was; I was that apprehensive.  My stomach was tying itself into knots, and my hands were clenched so tight around the steering wheel my knuckles had gone white.  

When a car pulled out in front of me without warning and I laid on the horn for a good ten seconds, Ray finally caved.

“Querida, cussing the guy out in front of you isn’t going to get you there any faster.”

I continued to stare daggers out the windscreen, frustrated as we hit a red light.  “Yeah, but it makes me feel better,” I muttered.

The day was just getting crappier by the minute.  First I’d inadvertently gotten involved in a high school brawl.  I’d split my lip so bad it was still dribbling blood every time I spoke.  The TLF were probably going to regroup sometime soon for round two - and I was guessing they’d come looking for me over the CBK boys because they’d assume I was easy pickings.  I was pretty sure Principal Wolfmeyer thought I was one step this side of being crazy. 

And now, I had to deal with the day care, something that was starting to become a regular thing.  The phone call I’d received had been from Irina at Tiny Tots.  She’d done her best to remain clam and collected on the phone, but the louder the screaming had gotten in the background, the more shrill her voice had become until I thought she’d been reduced to tears.

“Oh, crap, she’s waiting right outside,” I said in dismay, my heart stuttering nervously in my chest.  I glanced at Ray as I pulled into the day care parking lot.  “Does she look like she’s been crying to you?  Her face is puffy, right?  Her eyes are red, aren’t they?  Oh God, she’s going to report me, isn’t she?  She’s going to say it’s all my fault and that I’m unfit to be a caregiver to anyone.  Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any worse.”

“Uh…” Ray started uncertainly, scrutinising me like I’d gone off the deep end.

I didn’t wait for him to respond.  Instead I parked the car up right outside the double glass doors and clambered out to meet Irina.  I had a hundred different explanations and apologies on the tip of my tongue, but as soon as I left my vehicle they all vanished in the wake of a deafening scream.

“I’m so sorry for calling you out of work,” Irina rushed to say, her curly blonde hair bouncing as she sprinted over to grab both of my upper arms.  Her eyes widened at the sight of my split lip but she didn’t comment on it.

For a nanosecond I was dumbstruck - I thought I was the one who’d needed to be sorry.  Then I let her lead me toward the agonising screams that were coming out of the nearest classroom.  The noise was enough to have the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as we made our way through the glass doors and down a cheerfully decorated hallway.

“I tried Emily first, but she isn’t answering her phone and nobody at her work has seen her.”  

Irina paused just outside the classroom door to give me an extremely apologetic look.  She was so upset with herself it was making me nervous.  What on earth could have gone wrong?

“I swear we’ve tried everything, but no matter what we do, she just won’t stop crying.”

My eyebrows hit my hairline, but rather than ask pointless questions I barged into the room, eyes swivelling around trying to locate where the hoarse cries were coming from.

Michaela was sitting on the ground with Poppy, another teacher at the day care, who was frantically grabbing any toy within reach, pleading and begging with Michaela to stop crying.  Not that it mattered, the toddler was letting loose with so much noise she wouldn’t have been able to hear anything over top of her own distress.