"I worked hard to get to the point I was everyone's go to person for investigations. Then you came along and with all your passion — well, everyone was so impressed right off the bat. It didn't matter if it was a client, an attorney or even a judge. If you felt something deeply enough, you just didn't quit." Meredith raised her gaze to Sarah's. "I used to have that . . . that intensity. But I was just burned out. Oh I still did my job and did it well, but the fire wasn't there and everyone knew it. Especially when you showed up."
"I just wanted what was best. I did the custody investigations and tried to make sure that—"
"That the kids came first. I know." Meredith leaned forward and grabbed her hand, squeezing gently. "There really was no excuse for the way I treated you and I am very sorry."
Sarah scooted closer and hugged the woman. "I didn't make it easy either. I certainly could have been less defensive and made more of an effort."
They sat silently for a moment. "Yeah. You could have," Meredith said matter-of-factly, lifting the spoon to her lips. Looking at Sarah's shocked face, she started laughing and before long Sarah joined in.
"Okay. Finish up your dinner and get some rest. We've got a lot of planning to do and who knows what will happen tomorrow." Sarah reached over and gave Meredith's shoulder a squeeze.
She walked between the cells, checking on the kids — both already asleep. The building was quiet except for the low murmur of voices in the control room. Calm had settled over the group for the moment. But how long would it last?
~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-winning author, Rhonda Hopkins, has learned firsthand that truth is stranger than fiction. Her two decades of experience as an investigator provide her characters with a depth and realism that gives truth a run for its money. Having come in contact with the best and the worst that society has to offer, Rhonda's imagination is filled with story ideas. She writes Horror, Suspense, Paranormal, YA Urban Fantasy, and Romantic Suspense.
Rhonda is working hard on future episodes in the SURVIVAL series as well as other books. If you enjoyed this one, sign up for her Newsletter (http://rhondahopkins.com/newsletter) so you'll get first notice of new releases. You can also find other works by Rhonda at: http://rhondahopkins.com/my-books
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Don't forget that reviews are very important - not only to authors, but so that other readers can find books they enjoy. If you liked SURVIVAL, please leave a review where you bought it and/or at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22083259-survival
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank several people for their assistance and support. First of all, thank you to TW Brown, author of the DEAD series. TW put together the anthology, LET'S SCARE CANCER TO DEATH (all proceeds go to The V Foundation for Cancer Research), and invited me to write a story for it. That story is SURVIVAL. Without him, this story (and future stories in the series) would not have been written. Thank you for believing in me. (The anthology is for such a great cause. Please consider purchasing a copy. There are 15 other talented authors with great stories to enjoy.)
Ricardo Saenz helped me out with rankings within the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office. Thank you, Ricardo!
I also need to thank those who read an early version of SURVIVAL and offered awesome suggestions: Cheri Yori, Richard Weatherly, Mary Bollman, Claire C. Riley, Liz Matis, Natalie G. Owens, Gregory Carrico, Stacey Joy Netzel, Jarold Williams, and Dale Amidei. I appreciate the invaluable feedback you all gave me.
And my writing life would suffer greatly without the WANAs (We Are Not Alone) and the ADDICTIVE READS groups. The knowledge you share, and the assistance you provide are immeasurable. Plus - you just make it fun!
Of course, as always, I have my family to thank for their love and support. You all make my world a brighter place. I love you!
Any mistakes are mine. And anyone familiar with courthouses in Fort Worth will know that I took a great deal of liberty in describing the one in SURVIVAL. I used what worked for the story and made up the rest.
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