He nodded and smiled. “That’s excellent news. The address is 58 Old Post Road, Pine Mountain, Georgia.” He nodded again. “Great, we’ll see you by dinner.”
“Why did you answer the phone that way?” she asked.
“Reaper? It’s the nickname I got in the military. I use it as part of The Omega Team.”
“Formidable.” She took a gulp. “So, what was the call?”
“Good news. Skyler is Skyler Kessler. His parents didn’t report him missing, but his uncle did. He’s intervened in the situation and has a hearing to establish himself as Skyler’s guardian, since Skyler’s dad beat his mother and put her in the hospital a couple weeks ago.”
“Is she okay?” Brynn tried to reserve judgment on a mother who didn’t protect her child, but it fueled a bit of rage in her to think that it took the uncle to report him missing.
“She will be, but they found her a program to get herself back on her feet and teach her to protect herself. Skyler will live with his uncle.”
“So he’s leaving?” She wasn’t ready for the ache that settled into her heart. They hadn’t been there long, but she’d already been through so much with him that letting him go made her hurt.
“They’re picking him up in about five hours. We need to go let him know—I have some self-defense to teach him before he goes.”
She closed her eyes.
“Hey, this is better. Because Grey is going to call here soon with a plan, and it’s better that Skyler is far away from us.”
“Can I tell him?”
“Of course.”
Brynn headed out to where Skyler sat on the edge of the leather sofa, bouncing up and down, leaning from side to side with the movements in the game. She smiled, and memorized how carefree he looked sitting there, and prayed that from today on his life would be filled with the love and safety he’d been deprived of for too long.
She hated goodbye.
seven
Maddox spentthree hours teaching Skyler the basics of self-defense. Sweaty and laughing they headed into the house, where they found Brynn staring out at the lake, lost in thought.
“She’s been acting weird,” Skyler said.
“She’s going to miss you,” Maddox offered.
“Will I see her again?” Skyler asked.
Maddox opened the door and let Skyler go ahead of him. “Do you want to?”
Skyler skidded to a stop and watched Brynn at the window. “I think I do. She didn’t leave me. She made sure I was safe first, even if that meant they would get her.”
Because she was a protector.
Maddox wondered if she realized that. He suspected it had a lot to do with why she chose the job she had. It wasn’t physical protection she provided, but she wanted a hand in keeping the world informed. Information was power. Information allowed people to protect themselves. And she wanted to arm them with that knowledge. “Well, take her number and talk to your uncle about it. It’s going to have to wait until she’s safe, though. Until she’s safe, anyone seen with her or who talks to her is at risk.”
Skyler glanced up to him. “You’re going to get the bad guys, right?”
Maddox nodded, and placed his hands on Skyler’s shoulders. “I am.”
“Are you guys going to get married?” What was it with kids? Skyler’s eyes stayed on him, boring through him.
Maddox tensed up and his mouth fell open. “What?” he finally said, fighting the urge to squirm.
“I don’t know, you guys like each other. It just seemed like maybe…” Skyler drifted off.
“We hardly know each other,” Maddox pointed out.
