“Excuse me.”
The woman looked up. “Yes?”
“Did you see where the girl went who was looking at that house?” He pointed to the one Harper had lifted.
She frowned. “Um, no, I’m not sure. Sorry.”
Dammit! He found Eastern just as his brother’s radio mic sounded.
“Call received from a Matilda Taylor reporting an attack on a woman at the market.”
Cody’s skin chilled.
Eastern lifted his mic. “I’m on the scene. Location?”
“Northern restrooms.”
Cody was moving before the dispatcher had finished speaking, weaving through the crowd, ignoring the questioning looks from people around him. Something inside him told him it was her. Harper was the woman who’d been attacked.
Who had attacked her? Travis? Her father? The person from the alley? Goddammit, he should have kept her within reach at all times! The crowd was dense and he knew she was in danger.
When he saw her behind the building, his heart jumped into his throat. She sat on the ground, fingers on her neck, with Tilly crouched beside her.
He crossed the space between them and lowered to her side. “Storm! Are you okay?”
She glanced up, and when her fingers dropped, he saw deep red marks on her neck—bruises in the shape of fingerprints.
Fury washed over Cody’s skin, sinking deep into his bones.
“It was my father,” she said, as his brothers reached his side. “He grabbed me when I was at the stall and pulled me into the trees. I was in shock and didn’t fight back as hard as I should have. He shoved me against the wall. He was so…soangry.”
Eastern crouched in front of her. “Did he say what he wanted?”
Fear glazed her eyes, and Cody wanted to kill the asshole.
“He said it was my fault he went to prison. That I needed to pay. He started to choke me, but then Tilly hit him with a metal pole.”
“I parked on the other side of the trees and saw them as I was entering the market,” Tilly explained softly. “I yelled at him to leave her alone, but he wouldn’t. The pole was sitting behind a tent, so I picked it up and hit him. Twice.”
Harper gripped Tilly’s hand. “Thank you. If you hadn’t walked past when you did…”
Cody’s hand fisted at her unfinished sentence. What would the asshole have done? Inflicted more injuries? Worse?
He helped Harper to her feet as more officers arrived. Harper took them through what had happened a second time, and Tilly answered questions the officers asked. Cody could barely keep his rage in check. The man hadtouchedher.Hurther. His own fucking daughter.
And it had happened because Cody hadn’t kept her within arm’s reach.
Kayden approached, anger rolling off him as well. “You okay?”
“No. I want to find the guy and make him pay for what he’s done.”
“Eastern will find him,” Kayden said quietly. “And in the meantime, you and I will also be keeping our eyes out for him.”
Right now, that didn’t help. He hadn’t kept a close enough eye on Harper today, and he sure as hell hadn’t seen her asshole father.
When the police were done, Cody slipped an arm around Harper’s waist and led her to the car, continually scanning the market.
He helped her into the passenger seat before moving behind the wheel.
