“I don’t understand why you think she wentthere, though,” Jay said. “Knight Plaza isn’t just where Andy’s company is headquartered. We’re talking about the same complex where the arena is, right?” I nodded and Jay shook his head. “Why would she go there—to the place her dad works— if she was trying to run away?”
I turned back to Liam and managed a small smile. “Because I don’t think she’s running away fromyou.”
“What do you?—”
“I could have spent my time at the library,” I explained. “But that was on the other side of town. Too far away from my brother.” I cast a glance back to Andy, my only real family, busy on his phone. “When I was scared, or sad, I wanted to be close to him. It was the only way I felt safe. That bookstore was perfect.”
Something like hope flashed in Liam’s eyes. “So maybe she wanted to get away from everything bothering her,” he whispered. “But she still wanted…”
“To be close to wherever you were. So she would feel safe.”
“Got it,” Andy shouted suddenly. “Security cameras on the plaza green. Let me just zoom over…”
“You’re doing all this on your phone?” Rosa asked from her place by the door, disbelief clear in her tone.
“Not sure if you’re aware, Rosa, but I happen to be a tech genius. Hacking into my own system isn’t exactly hard.” Andy tapped on the screen a few more times, then exhaled in a large rush. He looked up, our eyes meeting, and hope burst in my chest. I didn’t need to read my brother’s mind to know what he was going to say.
“Found her.”
CHAPTER 29
With a police escort, the ride to the plaza took about fifteen minutes. But sitting in the back of Andrew’s Bentley, my hand firmly between Grace’s, the trip felt endless. Tension settled on our shoulders, thick and heavy.
Before we’d gotten into the car, Andy had called his personal assistant to arrange for Knight Plaza security to go out and keep an eye on Josie until the cops showed up. The police officers at the house had immediately gotten on their radios and requested the nearest patrol cars to head that way too. So we could be reasonably sure that by now Josie was in good hands. That my baby girl was safe.
But it was impossible to feel relief. Not until I saw her with my own eyes.
“We’re going in through a service entrance,” Andy said once we’d reached the plaza. “That will get us closer to the green.”
Jay, sitting next to Andy in the front, looked over his shoulder to give me an encouraging nod, and Grace squeezed my hand as we descended into an underground garage. “Almost there,” she murmured.
We emerged from the car and out onto the lawn a few minutes later and were met by controlled chaos. There was acrowd gathered, police officers and Andy’s security, plaza staff members, and visitors standing around, trying to get a glimpse at whatever drama they were witness to. Not stopping to think about it, I dropped Grace’s hand and took off, running straight into the crowd.
I had to brush past several security guards who tried to stop me, nearly punching one in the face before I heard Andy’s commanding boardroom voice booming that they let me through. I pushed aside a few more people and then, finally, I saw her. There on a bench in the middle of all the chaos, looking absolutely terrified, sat my daughter.
“Josie!”
Before I had even reached the bench, Josie threw herself into my arms and burst into tears.
“You’re okay, baby. You’re okay. I’m here. It’s okay.” I chanted, over and over, as I squeezed her tight against me. She was safe and whole and here and the relief was so strong that it knocked the breath from my lungs.
“I’m so sorry,” Josie sobbed onto my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to…I’m sorry!”
“Shh.” My legs were shaking, probably from the rush of adrenaline, and I worried I’d be too weak to hold us both. I sank down to my knees on the grass, still holding her tight, and ran a hand over her hair, kissing the top of her head. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay, Daddy,” she cried, her arms tightening around my neck until I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to breathe. I didn’t try to pull her off me, though. I would rather choke than let her go right now.
“Josie, you’re safe. We’re together. That’s all I care about.”
Behind me, I heard Andrew commanding his staff to get the area cleared but I didn’t bother looking to see if we were still surrounded. The only thing I cared about was getting Josie tostop crying. The bone-deep sobs emanating from her body were breaking my fucking heart.
“Please don’t leave,” she whispered.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She shook her head against my chest, again and again. “Please, Daddy.”
I finally pulled away enough to look down at her. The fear I saw in her eyes felt like a punch to the gut. “Josie, I’m not leaving. We’re going to go home, okay? And you can see Granny and Grandpa and?—”
