Damon

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

World Castle Publishing

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © by
Kathi S. Barton
2012

ISBN: 97819375939
95

First Edition World Castle Publishing February 1, 2012

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

License Notes

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover:
Karen Fuller

Editor:
Brieanna Robertson

Dedication

To all the readers who loved the Grant Brothers as much as I did, I thank you so very muc
h.
All the men, Nicky, Devin, Spence, Byr, Jamie and Damon have touched my heart in ways that I never expected and it is so wonderful to know that you guys loved them too. But they aren’t finished.

The next series I’m writing, the Waite Family has the brothers a little older but no less handsome, a little more settled but more determined to be there for the helpless and just as smart mouthed as ever
. J
oin Cain in his fight to open a practice with his mentor Damon and his journey to win the woman who holds his heart.

Thanks again for all your support!

Kathi

~CHAPTER 1~

Connor Kirkpatrick walked along the si
dewalk and kept his head down.
He was cold and he was starving, but he could
n’t lose focus on his mission.
He’d been walking for hours and he couldn’t
let his mother down.
She needed him and if he needed to walk more, he would.

Sitting down for a few minutes, he
looked up at the street names.
Some of the words were too big for his eight-year-old vocabular
y, but he could make them out.
His momma had been teaching hi
m to read since he was little.
When they’d gotten away this time, she said it was important
to keep up with his education.
Before that, she’d been too hurt to do much mo
re than keep Mr. Ormond happy.
And that wasn’t all that easy or often
either.
Th
e street name was High Street.
The other one was…
Board, no it was Broad Street.
He didn’t think he was ever going to find the o
ne called North Fourth Street.

The phonebook had said there was a clinic at that street and that they would give out
medicine if someone needed it.
Connor wasn’t sure what his momma needed, but he thought that anything was better than what she had
right now, which was nothing.

He looked across the street and saw a man in a heavy coat go in a tall building with a l
ady.
Connor thought it would be warm in there and looked t
o see if anyone would see him.
He thought if he could just get warm for a little while then he’d have no problems going on to the other street.

He crossed at the light and made his way along the f
ront of the building.
There was a man there in a uniform and it almost made Connor turn and run in the other direction, but his back was turne
d as he was facing the couple.
Connor pulled open the door just enough for his slight body to fit though and dar
ted inside.
As soon as he made it to the other side of the room, he
slid under one of the benches.
Just as he tho
ught it would be, he was warm.

Connor huddled tight under the bench, trying to make himself as small as possible. He watched for anyone to
notice him.
No one seemed to have seen him, but he knew that
he’d not be able to stay long.
His momma needed him and he had to get back to her. The warmer he got, the drowsier he got until he fell asleep.

~~~

“Dr.
Grant, it’s David on the line.
He is say
ing something about a runaway.
He wants to know if you’ll com
e down and have a look at him.
He’s afraid the boy looks like someone has hurt him.”

“Where is he?
I’m about to go out, Tansy. Can you ask him where the kid is and why he hasn’t called Childr
en’s Services?”
Damon just wanted to have this day end.

It had been a hell of a week and he had never been so hap
py to have Friday roll around.
His brothers and he were going to go to dinner at his favorite restaurant and he was having a thick, juicy steak and lots of s
our cream on his baked potato.
He thought he might eve
n drink a beer or two as well.
It wasn’t every day that one turned thirty-five.

“He said the boy is asleep under on
e of the benches in the lobby,” Tansy told him sadly. “
He said it’s the holidays and he doesn’t want to call
Services if he doesn’t have to.
David is worried that the kid is hurt.”

“I’ll go down and see
,” Morgan said as she bundled up the twins. “
I’m on my way out anyway
. Y
our mother and I are going to go to the Polaris and make sure the decorations are up for the benefit in two weeks.
If I have any trouble, I’l
l have David give you a call.”
Morgan moved to the elevator as she spoke.

“Thanks, sweetie.
I’ll make sure there is something extra speci
al in your stocking this year.
And if I can’t get Nicky to get it for you, I’ll get it.”
Damon loved his sisters-in-law, and Morgan would always have a special place in his heart.

He was going down the hall toward the elevator himself ten minutes
later when his cell when off.
The first thing he heard was a high-pitched scream then Morgan beg
ging for someone to calm down.
He skipped the opening doors and his brothers standing there waiting for him to ente
r and took off for the stairs.
He would lose the connection if he took the elevator, and he was afraid of something happening.

“Damon, get
down here quick.
He’s hurt bad
and he won’t let me touch him.
Oh, God, Damon, someone hurt him bad,” Morgan said as she came back on the line.

Damon went back up the one flight of stairs and grabbed his ba
g off the floor of his office.
He was back down the stairs and was slamming out of the stairwe
ll when he heard a kid scream.
He knew that sound.
It was pain, pain and terror.
Coming out of the stairwell, he walked up to where his brothers were standing and moved his way to the front.

“Enough,” Damon
barked.
The boy snapped his mouth closed, b
ut he never stopped whimpering.
“I’m a doctor and I’m going to see w
hat all the shouting is about
. Y
ou’ll not move or you may hurt this nice lady here, you understand?”

Wide-e
yed terror looked back at him.
Damon saw the tiny nod of the little boy’s head. He went down on his knee
s and made his way toward him.
He could see the blood now. It pooled unde
r him where he had been lying.
Damon couldn’t see where he’d been hurt, but could see enough to know it was extensive.

“This is my medical bag.
These men are my brothers a
nd they won’t hurt you either.
This is Spencer and B
yron and my baby brother Jamie.
This pretty lady is Morgan, the man behind
her is another brother, Nicky
. Y
ou have any brothers or sisters?”

This time,
a negative shake of his head.

“My name is Damon Grant.
I’m going to get a little closer to yo
u and have a look at your arm.
Don’t move, I don’t want you to hurt you anymore, all right?”

Damon reached slowly toward the boy and crawled on his
knees a bit closer.
This close, Damon could see that he was underweight and that he looked like he’d been out in the cold for a while; h
is lips and face were chapped.
Moving slowly, Damon gently wrapped his fingers around the boy’s forearm and settled down on his own feet.

“Are you hungry?
I can get one of them to go and get y
ou something to eat and drink.
It won’t be much, just a candy bar with chocolate and a bottle of water, but t
hey’ll go get it for you now.”

Damon heard one of them move and was
glad they understood.
He also knew that they’d bring the boy
just what he’d asked for, too.
He opened his bag and pulled out his steth
oscope. He put it to his ears.

“I need to take your shirt off…I forgot your name.”

“Connor.
Connor Joshua Kirkpatrick
. And I’m eight, not stupid. I want to go now, all right?
I didn’t take a
nything and my momma needs me.
I have to get to the clinic for her.”