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"Hiding won't change anything," Mikayla argued, though Nik could see it was hard for her to argue with her father. "It just puts you in danger as well."
"I'll take steps to make certain this doesn't happen again, Mr. Martin," Nik spoke up, and nearly snapped his own teeth no sooner than the words came out. What the hell was wrong with him? The best thing he could do was turn her over to her parents, finish this investigation, then ride off into the fucking sunset. He hoped without breaking Mikayla Martin's heart.
But he couldn't do it.
"She's been shot at twice since you came to town," her father stated, his look accusing. "She wasn't having problems then."
"Dad, please." Mikayla stepped in front of her father, as though she thought she could protect one of them. As though there were a reason to feel one of them needed protecting. "I'll be fine."
Her father stared down at her, much as Nik realized he was staring down at her. Patiently.
Then her father reached out, gripped her beneath the arms, and set her gently out of the way. Like a child.
If Nik hadn't been watching her face he wouldn't have seen the pain that flickered over it at her father's casual disregard of her position.
It was enough to make Nik want to lift her and put her right back. He didn't doubt her father's love for her, but Nik did doubt her father's ability to understand the woman she was, rather than the child he wanted her to be.
"Ramsey." Her mother moved to her side. "You can't force her to come home." Ramsey frowned back at his wife, before turning the look on his daughter. Mikayla shook her head, that look of wounded pride glittering in her amethyst eyes.
"I'm not a bone to fight over," she said, the hurt thick and heavy in her voice. "I'm going to my house. Thank you, Dad, for bringing the boys to fix the window. And thank you for being here for me. But you can't help me this time. And I won't hide under your bed like I did as a child when the kids at school picked on me. I have my own bed now." She turned and walked regally, as regal as a fairy could be as her wings drooped from a father's lack of respect. Ramsey Martin loved his daughter, but to Ramsey she was still a little girl. And his little girl was in danger and refusing to listen to his advice. Nik turned to her father slowly. He was staring at Mikayla as though she had just robbed him of his heart.
"You're going to get her killed," Ramsey accused Nik, his voice low, vibrating with fear and anger.
Nik shook his head. "I'm the only one who can save her, Mr. Martin. You can't help her; your sons can't help her. I can."
Ramsey rubbed at his neck once again, a grimace tightening his face. "I can't help but think you're the reason this is happening to her." He looked to the closed office door.
"But she's not going to let me take care of her, is she?" 116
"She doesn't want to be taken care of," Jorrey Ramsey stated, though her gaze stayed on Nik. "She wants to be a part of her life. Not a spectator." And what the hell that meant Nik could only guess.
Shaking his head, he turned back to the investigator as he moved from the back of the room.
"We found the bullet," Denover informed him. "Ballistics will take over from here. But I wouldn't expect anything more than we got on that last one."
"Which was?" Nik stared back at him coldly. There still wasn't a report on the last shooting.
Denover smiled mockingly. "Nothing." Nodding, he moved for the door, the officers standing behind him following closely.
Which essentially meant anything concerning Mikayla Martin was not high priority.
That would change the minute
Nik had a chance to make a phone call. If Jordan wanted him back anytime soon, then his commander could see about getting this case moved a little higher on the list of priorities where the police department was concerned.
"That is what is wrong with the world today," Ramsey Martin growled as the investigator and his officers left the shop. "A complete lack of respect. I knew that little bastard's father. He'd be rolling in his grave to see his son acting that way where the law is concerned."
It didn't surprise Nik in the least. It only went to reaffirm his belief that the world, politics, and the police had much in common, no matter the nation one was in.
"Mr. Ramsey, take your family home." Nik turned back to Mikayla's father. "I'll take Ms. Maple and Mikayla home. And I'll get to the bottom of this. One way or the other."
One thing was for damned sure. If he managed to get his hands on the person shooting at Mikayla, then he was going to kill him. There wasn't a force on this earth that would be able to keep Nik from tearing the bastard's head off. Nik had no doubt there wasn't a special place in hell reserved for men who dared to threaten to harm pretty little fairies. On the off chance that there wasn't, Nik would make certain the shooter suffered before he died.
"Think she'll say good-bye to me?" Ramsey wondered aloud as he glanced at the office door once more.
"I'd say she'd be more hurt if you didn't go to her," Nik responded as he moved away to test the plywood barrier the brothers had put up.
He left the Martins alone now as they moved for Mikayla's office. Perhaps, if the father tried, he could erase the hurt he had put there earlier.
