“No, but I did try to probe a little. The little girl said she doesn’t talk about her dad because it makes her mom sad and her brother angry. She said he wasn’t a good man. Before I could ask anything else, the boy came over and said he didn’t like me whispering with his sister and asked what we were talking about. The little girl told him butterflies and went off on the topic. She might only be five, but she’s smarter than she lets on,” Sloane says.
I frown. “She won’t speak his name. I asked for the last name to avoid, and she practically hyperventilated on her porch. I switched tactics and got the first letter of the last name, but that’s all. We have to be careful. If he is powerful, which I have a suspicion that he is, then he will have people looking for her.I have Fox looking for missing persons reports from around the country. So far, none have popped up matching her description.”
“Could be saving face. Don’t want to put out a missing persons report for your wife and two kids if you have a reputation to uphold. He probably is telling people they are on vacation or visiting family. I doubt we will find him that way,” Gunner muses.
“No, probably not. Maybe have Fox look up engagement announcements based on her description. Do you know how old she is? When she was born?” Smoke asks.
“I didn’t ask for her information. I realized it when I went to get the papers made. I guessed she was about twenty-seven based on the kids’ ages if she had them right out of high school.”
I want to punch myself for not getting that information. That might have been the little bit we needed to find this monster.
“We will find him. If not before he gets here, then when he inevitably finds her,” Smoke tells me.
“Are we sure he will find her?” Sloane asks.
“She seems sure that he has the connections to hunt her down. She never relaxes. Did you see the black circles under her eyes? I don’t think she sleeps at all,” I tell her.
“Maybe I could offer to watch the kids or something. Give her time to rest?” she offers.
“You can, but I don’t think she will take you up on it. I’ll be surprised if she actually lets the kids go to school. She’s been through something traumatic, which means she is going to react. So no fast movements near her. She flinches when you raise your hands and such, but if you move slowly, she seems to realize you aren’t a threat,” I inform them.
“Seems you have been studying her a lot,” Tank teases. “You sure she ain’t your old lady?”
“I will slit your throat in your sleep.” I look him dead in the eye, making his laughter die off as his smile falls.
“Understood. No jokes at all. Even with you. I’m going back to work.”
I watch as he takes off, Sloane and Gunner following him.
“Are you sure you are okay? You seem to be taking this harder than usual. Is it because your sister brought her?” Smoke asks, patting me on the shoulder.
“No. I don’t know. Something inside me tells me that she needs me. I can’t explain it. I need to protect her.”
He smiles, but covers it with his hand before clearing his throat. “It’s the kids. They will get you every time. The good news is that they are living next door, so we will keep them safe.”
I nod. “I want someone to patrol the schools too, while the kids are in. I’m going to see if Lee will do his work study over at the elementary school with Tanner. With Emily only having half a day, I’ll get Fox to monitor the cameras and ensure their safety.”
“Is that for her comfort or your own?”
I glare at him, giving him my middle finger.
He laughs, walking backward away from me.
“Hey, don’t be mad at me for asking the hard-hitting questions.”
He’s right, though. The surveillance was an offer for Jane to feel more comfortable, but the truth is, it’s for me.
I need to know they are safe and will do so by any measure.
“Do you have everything?” I ask both kids.
“Yes!” Emily yells, excited to be going.
Tanner is more subdued, but nods.
For a split second, it feels like before. Before our life went to shit, before my husband beat me almost to death, before we started running. Emily looks like she won the lottery as she flitters around talking about all the things she hopes to do at school.
School.
