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There was a moment of dead silence before Bryant let out a howl of laughter. James’s mouth fell open for a moment before his face turned a shade of red she’d never seen before.
“Let’s get you in the rig, sweetheart,” pink hair cooed. “Before you give your man there a heart attack.”
“He’ll be fine.” Waving a hand dismissively, Olivia grinned at her daddy.
The EMTs lifted the stretcher into the ambulance, and as soon as the handcuffs were off, James tried to climb in behind her.
“Sir, you need to ride up front.” With a smile that bordered on manic, pink hair popped up and pulled the doors shut on James’s shocked face.
“I think I’m a little in love with you,” Olivia said, her head rolling to the side as whatever drugs they’d pumped into the IV started to kick in.
“Back atcha, cutie. Now you just sit tight and let us take care of you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
* * *
She woke alone in herown bed the next morning. Well, unless one counted the blinding pain in her cheek. Whimpering, she stumbled to the bathroom to inspect the damage.
“Motherfucker.” The whole right side of her face was various shades of black and blue. According to the doctors, it wasn’t broken, but they could’ve fooled her. She poked at the bruise, hissing when searing pain shot through her skull.
“That looks painful, little one.”
“It is.” Lifting her gaze, she met his eyes in the reflection and sent him a smug smile. “But you should see the other guy.”
“According to the detectives, he’ll live. Unfortunately.”
“MaryAnn is either a crap shot, or an excellent one.” Worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, she turned to slip her arms around his waist. “Daddy?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you gonna fire MaryAnn?”
The muscles in his back tensed. “I assumed that was a given. She helped a killer abduct you, Olivia.”
“I know, but I don’t think she really knew what was going on.”
“How could she not know? We had no less than five meetings about how a deranged killer was after you.”
“She loved him. From what I could tell, he didn’t tell her who he was. He just said he wanted to talk to me, probably about the job.”
“Be that as it may, she will most likely spend some time in prison. We can’t hold her position open for an indefinite amount of time, baby.”
Pulling away, she frowned up at him. “She doesn’t belong in prison, James.”
His eyes narrowed in a dangerous look she knew all too well. “Don’t take that tone with me, little girl. Or you can sit your pretty little bottom down at your desk and write lines all day. Understood?”
“But it’s not fair. She saved my life!”
“I know.” When he sighed, she knew she was winning the battle. “I’ll have Bryant find us a lawyer for her. He’s bound to know someone who can help.”
“Thank you, Daddy!”
“I’m not promising anything, little one. Just that we’ll do what we can to help her.”
“That’s enough.” Her tummy chose that moment to loudly protest the lack of food it had received in the last twenty-four hours. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Waffles.” Slipping an arm around her waist, he led her from the room.
