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“Just what do you want me to do?” Her head went back, and a look of real challenge crossed her beautiful face. And then she just listened.
As Handley did what he had to, even though it was going to break his heart in two.
7
She’d thought maybe he’d have her deliver a letter or something like that. A gift to his son Houghton maybe. It had been a few years, after all, since Handley Barratt had gone on the lam, and everything. A token, a family memento even, to the grown son he’d left behind.
But this?
Well, she was definitely delivering something, all right.
And he was definitely heavy.
Beck was afraid. Crying. His whole world had changed, and he was afraid.
Beck’s little suitcase was banging against her back. It had a strap, or she never would be able to manage this.
The bodyguard had dropped her off two blocks from the TSP. Just two blocks.
Haldyn could make it two measly blocks.
Her arms tightened around the little boy she carried.
His father had told him goodbye—probably forever. All Beck had known was that he was parting from the only parent he had ever had. Handley had told Beck that his new mommy and daddy would take care of him forever now. No matter what.
Handley had promised. He had told Beck the little boy would live in a wonderful place with wonderful people to love and take care of him.
Which he would. Handley’s son Houghton, Houghton’s wife, Melody, and her family—they were good people. People Haldyn considered friends.
But this? This poor little boy. He just didn’t understand.
It had broken Haldyn’s heart to watch. Fugitive or not, Handley loved his son. The depth of his love—Haldyn wouldn’t ever forget it. He knew he wasn’t the best thing for Beck now. But he wanted what was.
That meant Finley Creek.
That was where Haldyn came in apparently.
Harrison Beck Barratt was only three years and two months old. From the way he spoke, she suspected he was highly intelligent and advanced for his age developmentally. And very, very tall. Just like his father—and big brother. Rumor had it that Houghton Barratt had been that way—having met the tech genius, she had to agree.
That man was one of a kind.
She held the baby brother of one of the richest men in America in her arms as she carried him to the TSP.
After she’d been abducted from her previous abductors by the rich man’s crazy wanted-fugitive father. It sounded like a badly written action-adventure novel to her.
She didn’t care about that now. All she wanted to do was make it those two blocks.
Two blocks.
Haldyn had one plan and one plan only—get little Beck to Chief Elliot Marshall. Elliot would do whatever it took to make certain Beck was safe. The TSP was filled with corruption. This innocent little boy was worth billions in the wrong hands.
Her arms tightened on him.
She wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him now.
Beck rested his head on her shoulder. She just held him. Sang to him quietly, even though breathing hurt like hell.
Handley had been explicit in his instructions for the little boy. And the packet of papers in that suitcase. She didn’t know the legality of it all, but Handley had made it clear he was transferring full legal guardianship of his son Beck to his eldest son Houghton, and Houghton’s wife Melody. He had told Haldyn himself he wasn’t equipped to raise another child at his age. Especially in his current circumstances. Beck deserved more from life than to live with an ageing fugitive.
