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Earlier, when they’d been at the clubhouse waiting on Bellamy, Preacher and Levi to get showers and get changed so they could make a trip to the hospital, he’d taken a moment to see where Liza was at in her head. Skimming his hand over her hair and down her back, he asked, “How’re you doing, honey? I know that you’ve been through a lot today and seen a lot of shit I’d rather you’d never seen, so if you need to lay it on me, have at it.”
His beautiful daughter gave him a half smile as she stepped into his side and hugged him around the middle. Fuck, when had his daughter gotten so old?
“I’m fine, Dad. You don’t have to worry about me. I really didn’t see much of the gun fight. I was too busy hiding behind the pool table like Bellamy told me to do. I had to cover my ears when all the shooting started.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure. The most blood I saw was on Bellamy, but it wasn’t so bad considering it was her or the other guy. She did what she had to do. As long as I was with Bellamy, I was good. If I had to be kidnapped alone, I have a feeling I’d be falling apart right now.”
Race squeezed his daughter close, never wanting to let her go. The hours that Jacob had had her were the most frightening of his life. Never had a member of his family been involved with anything remotely considered club business. He could live the rest of his life happily if it never happened again.
“Is there anything about what happened you need to talk about? Anything that might be worrying you?” He smoothed his hand down the length of her soft blonde hair that was so much like her mother’s. Damn. He should probably get on the phone with Eve as soon as he and Liza were finished talking to put her mind at ease.
“Are you…” she paused, seemingly afraid to say what was on her mind.
“Liza?”
“Are you mad at me for not escaping when Shannon did? That was my plan, but then I saw that stupid man with the gun grab Bellamy. I didn’t think, I just reacted. I jumped on his back and started hitting him. That’s when the bigger guy pulled me off his back and dragged me out in a headlock.”
He tensed at her confession. Christ Almighty. She jumped on the back of the man holding the gun? What was she thinking? She could have been shot and he might not be standing here holding his baby girl. Instead, he could be planning her funeral with her mother. He growled and squeezed her tight. He didn’t ease up until she squeaked.
“Dad. I can’t breathe,” Liza croaked.
His hold relaxed and he took a deep, calming breath. “Liza, I’m so damn happy that you are safe and sound right now that being mad at you isn’t on the top of my list of things I can worry about at the moment. So, I’ll tell you this. Although things turned out in our favor this time, don’t you ever, I mean never ever do something like that again.” His voice cracked a little at the end and he had to clear his throat to continue. “Losing a brother does something to a man that can never be fixed. Losing one of my children would put me in a grave right next to you. I couldn’t survive if something ever happened to take you away from me. You get me?”
“Yeah. I get you, Dad. I promise I’ll never do anything like that again.” The sound of her sniffling had him pushing her back far enough that he could see she’d been crying. It broke his heart.
“I’m not mad at you, but you scared me half to death. I just really need you to understand how bad things could have gone today. That man, Jacob, that took you? He buys and sells people. Trick’s woman, Lindsey, was moments from being taken out of town and sold to God only knows who. She could have disappeared and we would have never found her. So please, please, promise your old man that you will always, always be careful.” By this time he had his hands on her cheeks, using his thumbs to swipe at her tears.
“I promise, Dad.”
“Thank you.” He pulled her into another hug. “I love you, Liza.”
“Love you, too, Dad.”
He kissed the top of her head and reached in his pocket. “Now we have to call your mom and let her know you’re home and safe.”
“What do I tell her?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Will you be in trouble with Mom?”
“Probably, but don’t you worry about it. Right now all she wants is to hear your voice and know that you’re okay.” He put his thumb over Eve’s speed dial number. “You ready?”
“Yes.”
He pushed the button, held it to his ear and waited for his ex-wife to pick up. “Eve. I’ve got our girl.” He handed the phone to his girl and let her speak to her mother. While Liza reassured her that she was okay, he went to see if Bellamy was ready to go check on Martha.
Now they were all back at his house, his kids snuggled into their beds. He was moving around the house making sure all the doors and windows were secure and heading to his own room when he spotted Derrick standing in the doorway to his sisters’ room. The only light was coming from the partially opened door to his room.
“You okay, bud?” He spoke in a quiet tone and clapped a hand on his son’s shoulder.
“Yeah. I’m good.” He didn’t volunteer anything else for a moment, just staring at Liza asleep in her bed. “Scared the shit out of me today when she was taken. All I could think about was what if you didn’t get to her in time?” His voice was raspy with emotion he didn’t normally show. Despite the bickering that went on between Derrick and his sisters, there wasn’t anything the boy wouldn’t do for them. That was what made him such a great big brother.
“I know what you mean.”
“It’s not that I wasn’t worried about Bellamy, too. It’s just that she’s an adult and could probably handle a lot more than Liza, who’s still basically a kid.” He ran his hand through his hair and backed away from his sisters’ room.
