Sworn to Protect by DiAnn Mills

try.”
    Barbara gasped. “Jacob is heading this way.”
    “Great. I’m out of here.” Danika stood. For a moment she thought she’d stay and have a face-off with her brother-in-law, but that meant Barbara would take the brunt of his temper. “Please call me.” She took Tiana’s hand and strolled toward the snow cone machine for a treat before the softball game.
    Her little angel sensed where they were going and quickly signed “snow cone” and “blueberry.”
    Danika stopped and bent to the little girl’s side. She held her close and let the tears flow freely.
    “Mommy cry,” Tiana signed. Confusion etched her delicate features.
    “Just sad.”
    “Aunt Barbara?”
    The little girl’s perception did not surprise Danika. “We’ll pray for Aunt Barbara and all of her family,” Danika signed. Her spirit ached for Jacob’s family and where the turmoil would lead if he refused to get help along with his daughter. Danika prayed Tiana would be able to withstand the pressures of a sometimes-cruel world.
* * *
    Sandra’s cell phone woke her from a rare Saturday afternoon nap. With her eyes still closed, she reached for the phone and pressed it against her ear.
    “Sandra, this is Lucy.”
    She should have looked at the caller ID before answering.
    “Did you think about what I need you to do?”
    “No thinking about it. The answer is still no.”
    “I can make it worth your trouble.”
    Sandra had enough to do without adding more work from a woman she detested. “I’m not interested.”
    “You used to want your family here. I can make it happen—no cost.”
    Lucy’s sweet voice—as artificial as a politician’s promise—grated against her nerves. “So my nieces can clean toilets for free until you write off your investment? Or my nephews run drugs? What about my seventy-year-old mother? What would she do for you? Forget it, Lucy. My loyalty is to Danika and Tiana. And remember, whatever you threaten, I can make it worse for you.”
    “You’re nothing but a poor maid and babysitter to Danika. She could easily replace you. I’m offering to help you rise above the status of an illegal wetback.”
    “My status is my choice.” Sandra disconnected the call. She closed her eyes with the intent of going back to sleep, but her mind raced with Lucy’s interference in her life.
    She may be illegal, and her conscience may attack her on a daily basis for deceiving Danika, but she no longer had to bow to Queen Lucy.

Chapter 10
They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
Psalm 112:7
    Danika slowly swung her legs over the bed to get ready for work. She ached all over from the softball and volleyball games the afternoon before, and she spent five days a week at the gym. Her body simply could not handle all of the twisting and turning—and falling—anymore.
    Sunday.
    When she was better in church attendance, the Sunday shifts depressed her. The high point of her week had been worshiping with her husband and their baby. Then Toby died, and if she was scheduled to work on Sunday, it didn’t really matter. God as a priority fluctuated depending on the critical issues in her life. She still believed. She prayed. She talked the walk, and yet she held back from trust. Sad, but true. Yesterday’s conversation with Barbara had been one of those times when she’d asked God to intervene in her sister- and brother-in-law’s lives in hopes He would smile favorably on them, unlike He’d done with Toby.
    A phone call to Nadine had gone unanswered, as well as a text message. Danika empathized with the girl’s heartbreak over a father who couldn’t seem to grasp the importance of a relationship with his daughter.
    At the station, Danika changed into her uniform and grabbed some coffee before muster. Those who had been at the picnic looked tired, but the laughing and teasing about the games and the fun indicated how much the agents appreciated family time together.
    “You missed me