I nod. I was gonna tell her that she’d been on it too, when I rescued her and her mom in LA. But I don’t want to take her back to that traumatic night, especially after her bad dream, so I don’t say anything.
“It’s shiny.”
“Yeah. We keep everything ready in case we have to move fast. At night we stay right here, safe behind these walls.”
I crouch down to her level. “You know what else?”
“What?”
“The brothers take turns staying awake at night. They walk the fence, check the gates, day and night to make sure nobody can sneak into the clubhouse.”
Her eyes flick towards the far door. “They fall asleep?”
“No. We take turns, so no one falls asleep on the job. That’s how we operate here at the clubhouse.”
I notice a bump in the front of her shirt, where her belly is. I point to it and ask, “What do you have hidden there?”
Her face lights up with a gleeful expression and she pulls out the stuffed dog I brought her yesterday. “I bring him.”
“I’m glad you like him. Maybe we can stop by and see the puppies when we’re finished inspecting the clubhouse security.”
“Puppies!”
She forgets to be afraid and takes my hand when I offer it. “Come on, sweetheart,” I tell her. “I want to show you our special lookout room.”
She slips her hand into mine without a word because she trusts me. I lead her to the security room deep inside the clubhouse, giving three sharp knocks followed by two more. The door swings open and Mitch leans back in his seat. “Makin’ your rounds, bossman?”
“Yeah, Katie’s concerned about security, so I brought her to see the monitors.”
He slides his chair back and announces proudly, “We’ve got ten monitors going at all times. They roll from one security camera to another. That means we can see what’s going on all around the building from here.”
Katie looks at the monitors, clearly not impressed. I’m betting she’s either too young to understand the benefit or preoccupied with seeing the puppies.
I tell Mitch, “Thanks for letting us have a look around. Tell Striker I want to talk to him when he gets in.”
Mitch gives me a little salute and says, “You got it, boss.”
When we walk away and close the door, Katie asks, “You’re the boss?”
I nod. “Yeah, me, Rock, Onyx, Jasper, and Mica are all bosses.”
She frowns at me. “Don’t be bossy. It’s mean.”
It takes everything I’ve got not to burst out laughing. Instead, I nod solemnly. “You’re right, being bossy is rude. I don’t know what got into me, I’ll be sure to work on that, Miss Katie.”
When we step outside, the breeze catches her hair. She spins around with suspicion. I hate that my daughter has gotten used to living like this, expecting danger in every shadow. From here on out, I’m gonna make sure she has the kind of childhood every child deserves.
I point at the front gate, and I tell her, “Two prospects are there at all times. Their job is to check every person who comes in or out,” I explain. “Nobody gets through without being cleared.”
They straighten up the second they see me. One gives Katie a smile and a wave. She lifts her hand and waves back, looking more curious than scared at this point.
I pick her up and point towards the roof. “See those metal things on the edge of the roof.”
She squints. “Yeah. They not birds.”
“No, ma’am. They’re security drones. They take off four times a day to make sure no one comes near who shouldn’t be here. If they do, we know before they make it to the gate.”
I watch her take it all in. At this point most of the fear has bled out of her expression. She looks around again. I get the feeling she’s picked up enough to feel confident that no one can get to her.
