“Claire? Mark?” he called.
“Go away! We don’t know who you are,” said Mark.
“Mark, it’s Milo from the other day. I’m with Luke and Griff.” The other two men frowned as the young man opened the door.
“I’m so glad it’s you,” he said falling against Milo’s chest.
“Hey, hey son, it’s okay,” said Luke. “Claire? Claire, honey are you here? Are you okay?” She stepped from behind the wall, fresh tears on her face.
“Whoa, whoa,” said Griff. “What’s going on here? Where’s your father?”
“We’re not sure. He left last night to get some things from the grocery store and didn’t return. We thought he just needed some time alone but now we’re scared. Really scared,” said Mark.
“A man came earlier and said he needed to talk to our mom. We told him she was dead but he said he didn’t believe us and he’d be back.”
“He did, did he?” frowned Griff.
“Don’t worry buddy, we’re going to figure this out,” said Luke. “Do you have any aunts, uncles, or grandparents that you can stay with?”
“Not here. They live far away,” said Claire.
“Well, not a problem. We’re going to take you home with us for now,” said Luke. “Griff and Milo are going to stay here and wait for your father and to see if that man returns.”
“He was scary,” sniffed Claire. “We could see him on the porch and he was big.”
“I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner, honey,” said Luke. “You two go pack a bag. Whatever you think you might need.”
When the kids were gone from the room, Luke looked at Griff and Milo, frowning. Something was definitely wrong here. From what they’d seen, their father would have never left those kids unless forced to.
“AJ? You hear me, brother?” asked Luke.
“Loud and clear as always. What’s up?”
“We need extra forces to watch this house. Send four. No five men,” said Luke.
“Who do you want?”
“Bodhi, Cade, Robbie, Remy, and Bogey. Tell them to load up,” growled Luke. “Oh, and AJ? Tell Aunt Claudette and Ajei I have two kids coming back with me. We need to find a safe place for them to stay. They can stay with me and Ajei if that’s convenient.”
“Will do,”said AJ.
“We’re ready, Mister Luke,” said Mark.
“Are you sure you have everything you need for now? We can always get you anything you might want but if it’s something special you want to bring with you, that’s fine.”
“We’re good, sir,” said Mark.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
“Mister Milo? Mister Griff? Those men tore the storage building apart.” The men frowned at Mark, looking at one another. “They said they would find what they needed.”
“What were they looking for?” asked Griff.
“We don’t know,” said Claire. “We were too scared to go outside but they were throwing things in the yard. We just left it.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.” Luke gave a knowing nod to Milo and Griff, telling them with just one look what he wanted. Find out what the hell they were searching for.
Luke made sure that no one on the street was watching the house, then loaded the kids into the SUV and headed toward Belle Fleur. Griff and Milo waited for the other men to arrive, sitting on the front porch to ensure that anyone who came by would see them.
