I walked up to her and cupped her cheeks. “Then, for my sanity, will you stay here? For me? So that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that one of my girls is safe? Will you do that for me, if not for yourself?”
Her eyes danced between my own. “Fine. But you keep me updated every step of the way, all right?”
I kissed her forehead. “Done. Stone? Texas?”
Stone strode for the front door. “Already on it. Let’s go. Guys! Round up! We’re all going just in case we get ambushed!”
“Ambushed?” Lexi asked as I made my way for the door. “What do you mean, ambushed?”
I turned around as I held the door open for the rest of the guys. “I’m bringing her back, Lexi. Okay? Look at me.”
Her panicked eyes found mine. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “I’m walking back through that door with her. I’m not coming back until Natasha’s with me, all right?”
She blinked back tears. “Promise?”
I grinned. “Always, beautiful.”
Then, as Diego made his way through the front door, I brought up the rear.
Before I made a beeline for my bike.
“All right, everyone,” Stone said as he slid on his helmet and flipped up his visor, “we’re going to be spreading out a bit. We’re combing the entire highway from the exit to our place all the way north for an entire mile. If you see anything suspicious, you radio it in on your phone. Keep your eyes open, you, guys. This could be a trap.”
As the roar of our engines rose above the chaos of my mind, I led the tribe alongside Stone for once. We eased out of the parking lot and made our way for the highway, and the entire time I kept my head on a swivel. I’d slaughter every single one of them. If they had laid a hand on my precious daughter, I’d strangle them with their own guts before stringing them up by their toes for the entire world to see.
However, the second we turned onto the highway, I saw a figure walking off to the left.
“I’m crossing the median!” I exclaimed.
“What the fuck!?” Texas roared.
I diverted my bike and cut off traffic with horns blazing and people cursing. My tires squealed as I hopped the median and soared over the grassy knoll as the small, slender figure on the side of the road darted into the trees. I barely got my bike over to the edge of the highway before I dropped it, engine still running and all. And as I ripped my bike helmet off, I went dashing into the woods.
“Natty!” I exclaimed as my legs carried me as quickly as they could. “Natty! It’s me! It’s your mother’s friend!”
“Frost!” Texas roared behind me.
“It’s her!” I called back. “I know it’s her!”
“Mommy?” the little girl asked.
I skidded to a stop near a rock and found her panting for breath. She had crouched down and wrapped her arms around her knees, tucking herself away into the darkness. I crouched down with her. As I panted for my own lungsful of air, I brought my face into the light so she could see me.
And the second she recognized me; her eyes lit up.
“Where’s my mommy?” she asked.
I held out my hand for her. “She’s safe. She’s back at a really safe place where there’s lots of food and friends. Would you like to go see her?”
I heard Texas rushing to approach us and I held out my other hand, which ground him to a stop. The last thing I wanted was to spook the already scared little girl, whose eyes were as wide as the sun and filled with all of the fear in the world.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, “you’re safe now, with us.”
Her eyes watered over. “So, you’re not the bad guys?”
“Oh, no,” Texas murmured.
