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Aaron squeezed the back of his neck. “He was so mad at me for going over there. What did he do?”
“They didn’t fight. In fact, they were so quiet I couldn’t even hear what your dad said, but I’d never seen my dad scared before then. Not like that. He actually backed off my mom and me after that. It wasn’t until you guys moved away that things got bad again.”
Aaron couldn’t speak. His whole life he had been angry at his dad for not caring that a little girl was being abused by her father. He was mad at himself for not being able to do more, but it infuriated him that he’d gotten in trouble for trying to help when his dad did nothing.
He studied her for a moment. She wasn’t so little anymore, but he still wanted to protect her.
“I don’t know what to say.” He walked over to the windows and looked down at the agents waiting below.
“You don’t need to say anything. I thought you knew about your dad. If you hadn’t come over that day, who knows how bad it could have gotten.”
His eyes traveled to the bookshelf, trying to avoid looking at her while his thoughts settled into this new knowledge.
“VBS?” He said, reaching out for a small plaque on the shelf. “You got an award at VBS?”
“I sure did. I was the fastest sword driller in all of Hope Community Church’s Vacation Bible School.”
“Sword driller?”
“Yeah, remember we used to do those drills?”
“No.”
“Maybe you were too cool for that.”
He laughed. “Probably.”
“Well, I wasn’t. All the kids would hold up their Bibles and someone would call out a verse and whoever found it first was the winner.”
“Wow, that’s quite an accomplishment. And I see it’s here next to this scientific achievement award.” He pulled out his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to see what this award is all about.”
“It’s kind of a big deal.”
“Whoa, no kidding. This says you were the youngest person to ever receive it.”
“Yeah. I’m very proud of that one. That’s why I keep my VBS trophy next to it. To remind myself where my ability comes from and to always be thankful.”
He put the award back, hesitating to pull his hand away. He wanted more than anything to be in her apartment for any reason other than why he was there. “I should go. Let you get some sleep.”
“If I can manage to get any.”
“Do you have anything to help you sleep? Any pills?”
“Just warm milk. I’ll be fine. It won’t be the first time I’ve pulled an all-nighter. Maybe I can get more work done.”
“It’s almost midnight.”
“Your point?” She grinned.
“At least try for a few hours. I’ll be here in the morning to pick you up. McCaffrey’s a good agent. He’ll look after you.” Aaron turned toward the door.
“Wait,” Sydney said.
He turned and it looked like she was holding her breath.
