Hard Candy Saga Read Free Page A

house and ran down her block. When she got to the corner, she was out of breath, so she leaned up against the base of a silver lamppost to get her bearings. She whirled her head around in several directions. Although there was no one behind her or even looking at her, she felt like she was being chased. Her mind was flooded with wild thoughts, especially, What if my family’s killers are looking for me right now? She didn’t know where to go or what to do.
    Candice’s father had always taught her and her siblings to be wary of the police, so she never even considered calling 9-1-1. But then she remembered something her father told her one day, after she’d heard him arguing with one of his workers named Junior.
    â€œDaddy, what’s wrong?” she had asked her father as he paced the floor, clearly fuming mad. She wasn’t used to seeing him so upset and angry.
    Inhaling deeply, he walked over to her and stroked her head. Candice could tell he was fighting to keep his composure, since he didn’t like to display anger in front of his children.
    He bent down and got on eye level with her and said gently, rustling his hands in her hair, “If anything ever happens to me or your mother, you and your brothers and sister run straight to Uncle Rock. He is the only man I trust with your life, Candy Cane, even if your mother thinks you’re hard like a boy.” Then he picked her up and hugged her tightly.
    Candice could tell he was in a better mood already. “Daddy,” she said breathlessly as he held her tight in his arms.
    â€œYes, Candy Cane?”
    â€œI can’t breathe.”
    Candice faked like she was suffocating, and they both busted out laughing.
    With the memory of that day flooding her mind, Candice fled to the one person her father had trusted with her life.
    Gasping and sweaty, she banged on the door three times before Joseph “Rock” Barton finally pulled back the door to his tiny apartment. Candice’s chest was heaving and she was covered in sweat. Not only had she practically run the entire distance on foot, but it had taken her a while to remember the specific neighborhood and house where he lived.
    Candice knew she looked half-crazed, her eyes stretched wide and wild, her body trembling with suppressed emotions. She looked up at Uncle Rock and opened her mouth, but no words would come out. She then jumped into his arms, which caught him completely off guard. If he wasn’t the master of balance and coordination, the jolt would have sent both of them tumbling to the ground.
    Shocked and at a loss for words, he stiffly held on to Candice’s trembling form. Of course, Rock recognized Candice as the eldest daughter of his longtime friend and business associate, Eric “Easy” Hardaway. Candice was sobbing into his neck, while her long legs dangled from Rock’s rigid arms.
    At fourteen, Candice was tall for her age, and she loved to play basketball. This much Rock knew about her, since he was a regular at the Hardaway home. Easy had always made him feel like a part of the family, even instructing his kids to address him as Uncle Rock, which he found deeply amusing.
    Uncle Rock stood rigidly, holding Candice as she cried. This was the closest human contact he’d had in fifteen years, aside from the handshakes and shoulder bumps he shared with Easy whenever they met to discuss business. Candice finally moved her wet face from Uncle Rock’s neck and spoke through her tears. Rock’s ears were ringing, and his stomach muscles clenched anxiously. He knew he wouldn’t like what was about to follow.
    â€œDaddy told me . . . that if... if anything ever... ever happened to him and Mommy that I am supposed to come to you,” she managed to blurt through gasps of breath.
    Rock flexed his jaw so hard, his temples throbbed from the pressure.
    But instead of continuing the explanation, Candice burst into more racking sobs.
    Rock walked