Free As I Breathe (One Breath at a Time: Book 2) by Leilani Bennett Page A

stop to this man so that he couldn’t hurt little girls anymore. Paybacks sucked for him. Fortunately, the puppy was not hurt.
    The male officer spoke in a quiet tone. “There is something else...a young girl was in the trunk of the car. She didn’t have a scratch from the accident, but we’re afraid she may be scarred forever. You don’t live through what she did without being scarred. At least, she is safe and with her family now.”
    “ Oh, Lord! Thank God!” my mother exclaimed as she petted the top of the puppy’s head. She really loved animals.
    “ So, do you want to hold her?” The female officer asked my mother.
    “ I—I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m curious, why on earth did you bring the puppy to our home?” My mother’s hand grasped onto my dad’s forearm. “Mitchell, this could really upset Brielle if she sees her.”
    My dad replied, “You are absolutely right—officers are we through? We really appreciate that you have updated us, but—I’m sure you can understand—we’ve been through enough already.”
    The male officer glanced at his partner. A confused expression crawled over his face. He said to my parents, “I’m really sorry, we certainly do not want to upset your family. We thought it was okay to bring the puppy along. Someone called the station and said that you wanted to adopt—”
    Dad interrupted him. “Why would we do that? We didn’t even know you caught the guy. Sorry, but no one called from here. That just doesn’t make sense.” Dad rubbed his jaw. “Your mother wouldn’t have—would she?” he asked, turning toward my mother. The muscles in his jaw clenched.
    “No, of course not. My mother may do a lot of odd things, but she would never do anything like this,” my mother answered with certainty.
    The male officer had a surprised look on his face. “We’re very sorry for the confusion.”
    I clearly heard the female officer say, “That’s fine, but if you don’t want the puppy, we’ll have to take her straight to the pound...poor little thing,” she crooned and rubbed the top of the puppy’s head.
    This frightened me. Without missing a beat, I ran down the staircase and begged my parents if we could keep the puppy. The female officer helped plead my case.
    “It would be a nice—a reward for helping to capture the bad man. Of course, that is only if it’s okay with you both?” The officer’s eyes darted between my parents.
    Immediately, my mother was strictly against the idea. “It’s a bad omen, forget it. I can’t believe you would bring the puppy here without our permission first.”
    “Again, someone called and told us to bring her here. It’s okay if you’ve changed your minds. Honestly, we were told…”
    “ It’s alright officers. Please, give us have a minute to talk about this.” Dad seemed to be riding the fence.
    “ It’s not the puppy’s fault that the bad man did horrible things to little girls,” I stammered. My argument fell on deaf ears.
    Mom suggested that we could go to the pound and rescue a nice puppy.
    Relentlessly, I continued to beg them for this puppy. I was almost spastic. Honestly, I went as far as dropping to my hands and knees, making a real spectacle out of myself. God, I should’ve been an actress.
    “ I don’t want another puppy,” I screamed and stomped my foot, “I want her. I want this puppy!”
    I was determined to have this puppy. It was no use. My tears were not getting me anywhere, except for into more trouble once the police officers would leave. How could they hold me accountable for acting out of control? After all, I had been traumatized by the incident. Still, my outburst was of no use.
    I heard Storm whisper in my head. “Brielle. Stop behaving like a baby. If you want the puppy, you need to outsmart your parents.” Of course, I couldn’t reply to him with everyone standing around. “Think about what happened last time you acted out of control.”
    What I could remember about