Walker’s voice went cold. “Not yet. If he’s smart, he’ll stay away.” It made me shiver, but not in a bad way. I didn't remember seeing him after it had happened, but that didn’t surprise me. Walker smoothed my hair back repeatedly like he’d done the other night, and I relaxed almost immediately and shut my eyes.
Walker kissed the top of my head, his touch so gentle it made my throat ache. “You okay to sit up a little?”
“M’not dizzy,” I promised. “Just tired.”
He nodded, his jaw locked tight. “We’ll take it easy. No moving around unless I say, understand?” He arranged me on the cushions so I could stretch out, but he didn’t stop touching me.
I opened my eyes. “Stay?”
“I’m not going anywhere. Now be a good girl and close those eyes.”
That made me smile a little. “Yes, Daddy.”
Walker
I watched as Lottie relaxed and fell asleep. Maddox got up and put some instrumental music on the TV, low enough to soothe but loud enough so if we spoke quietly, it wouldn’t wake her. I put my head back and tried to slow my heart. “If she hadn’t stopped to listen when I called, the car would have struck her.” I’d cried once in the last fifteen years, not when Gran had died, but when I’d begged her to leave my grandfather when I signed up, and she wouldn’t. I was close to making it a second time. I heard the door open and a moment later Gideon strode in.
“The cops have got the car.”
Maddox grinned in satisfaction and pumped the air.“Yes.”
“Guy’s name is Rick Harman. Rented the car under a fake ID, and the plates were replaced with fake ones. Cops got him when he nearly wiped out two traffic cams driving away. T-boned a mailbox and they got him four blocks from the bakery.”
Maddox grunted. “Anything on motive?”
Gideon shook his head. “Not yet. Said he was swerving to avoid a dog, but they have him running a red. He’s not talking now. Just lawyered up. They’re running every database, but so far nothing except the fake license. Out of Tampa originally.”
I sat back, staring at the wall, letting it settle in. Could have been worse. Way worse. Lottie could have been—
No. Not thinking it.
Maddox slid a glass of water closer to me, his eyes never leaving Lottie’s face. “She’s gonna be okay.”
I nodded.
Gideon’s mouth twisted. “You wanna talk to the uncle?”
I looked at Lottie, curled up in the blanket, tiny and breakable, and I wanted to block the world out. “Tomorrow. After she’s rested.”
He nodded. “Works for me. Cops don’t know why Lottie was there, and the uncle had already gone when we arrived. The cops want a statement from her, but they have two other people whosaw the whole thing so it’s not urgent.” He hesitated. “Eric ran Lottie’s calls, and she had three from her uncle this morning. One of them was why you couldn’t get through originally.” He hesitated again. “She also had one yesterday while she was at the café—same number. He also called last week just after she moved out of the apartment too, but it could have been when the screen was cracked before you replaced the phone.”
I frowned. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
Gideon scrubbed a hand over his face. “Look, all of you had front row seats while I screwed up with Abby so badly that rat bastard landlord abducted her.” His throat worked. “It was because she didn’t trust me. Yes, our relationship happened quickly, but in the end I didn’t share. I treated our relationship like a campaign.”
“But—
Maddox sighed. “You didn’t know it was her birthday tomorrow, Walker.”
Andfuck, he was right. If she had faith in the two of us, trusted me, she would have told me. I hadn’t even told her what I did for a living. Hell, she hadn’t even met all the guys or Clare and Emily.
Gideon’s gaze dropped to Lottie and he smiled. “I’m knocking off early and going home to hold Abby for a while. I’ll call the second Eric gets in touch.”
Maddox was quiet, too. He stretched out on the armchair, phone in his hand, scrolling for updates until he finally stood, stretched, and headed for the door. “I’ll check in tomorrow. Take care of her, Walker. Let me know if you need anything.”
That was the easiest order I could ever follow.
I watched her sleep even as guilt gnawed at my insides. Another step, another second, and the car would have hit her.
