“I’m fine. They’re fine. I would never let anything happen to them. They were so brave.” Her words were whispered, but I heard every one of them.
“I’m so sorry. I will never allow anything like this to happen to you again.”
She threw a look over her shoulder. “I tried to…”
“Shush. We’ll talk about it in a little while.”
Lainey sensed we were trying to keep the two children from realizing just how bad things had gotten.
“Baby. I’m going to ask Bristol to take you and Emily to their house to extend your birthday party.”
“Can Lainey join us?” Nina was so hopeful.
“In a little while. Okay? Don’t worry. We still have presents to open later.” I nodded to Mikhail who took the cue.
“Let me take you downstairs and find Bristol.” He had a look of relief on his face. The two girls didn’t fight him as he led them to the door, but my baby girl looked back, breaking away and running toward Lainey. As she’d done with me, she threw her arms around a woman I would now forever call a heroine.
“Best birthday ever.”
Lainey wrapped her arms around Nina’s head cradling her tightly, but I sensed the adrenaline rush that had turned her into a warrior was beginning to fade.
Nina raced off after that, which allowed us to take a deep breath.
Halle had tears in her eyes. We all knew her to be a tough girl. She was a firefighter, racing into a fire without thinking to save the man who’d driven her crazy. Yet as with Nina, the thought of anyone hurting her child could destroy even the strongest person.
With a heavy sigh of relief, she moved directly in front of Lainey. “Thank you for what you did.”
Lainey was shaking. “I just reacted to everything my father and brothers taught me.”
I noticed the bat just inside the panic room, bending down and yanking it into my hand. The girl could be on my softball team any day.
“How about I make our… unexpected guest more comfortable?” Aleksey offered, a sly smile on his face.
“Do it. We need him eager to answer questions,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
Halle backed away, glancing from Alexsey back to me then a quick darting look toward Lainey. She was obviously uncertain what should be said in front of our singer turned heroine.
“Why don’t you allow Halle to take you downstairs.”
Lainey sighed, brushing hair from her face. “What happened?”
“Somehow a gunman managed to break through our defenses.”
“How many people were hurt? I heard gunshots.” She darted her eyes back and forth.
“From what it seems, only those involved in breaking and entering were hurt.”
“They wanted the girls,” she offered.
I jutted my head forward. “How do you know that for certain?”
“The asshole who came up the stairs. After he burst into the room, that’s what he told me. That he wouldn’t hurt me and was only here for the girls.”
My jaw was clenched so tightly my teeth grated together. As expected, both Halle and Alexsey tensed.
He turned slightly away, grabbing his phone. Whoever he’d called immediately answered. “I need a cleanup crew at the house and a safehouse operational.”
“Well, it didn’t happen thanks to you, sweet butterfly. Just listen to me. Go with Halle. I’ll be down in a little while.”
