“Then she’ll do as you said and stay put for the night.”
“Nothin’ slips past you, does it, Brooks?”
“You do know I could kill you a hundred different ways, right?”
Liam chuckled as he adjusted himself to a more comfortable position. Banter was his team’s love language, which made his job all the more enjoyable.
Not that Jagger was lying about his ability to kill. The former Air Force Combat Controller was one of the most dangerous and highly skilled members of their team.
A flash of blonde caught the corner of Liam’s eye, forcing his focus to slide to the playground on his left. It was small but nice, taking up half of the lot adjacent to the building’s southern wall. And from where he sat, Liam could clearly see Allison walking hand-in-hand with a little girl that could be her mini-me.
Long, curly blonde hair. Eyes so big he could see them from here. And when the little girl looked up at her mother and smiled…
Maddie.
There wasn’t a doubt in his mind the little girl was Allison’s daughter. He watched the pair as they approached a set of swings, and when the woman he’d recently met began to push the child carefully into the air, Liam could hear Maddie’s unabashed giggles.
A sudden warmth spread across his chest, but just as quickly he began to feel anger. When he thought about what Allison had told him…when he pictured that innocent little girl’s own fatherthreatening to kill her mother, and then nearly killingher…Liam felt the deepest urge to find the son of a bitch and?—
“Dude, you still there?”
Shit. He’d gotten so lost in his thoughts, he forgot all about Jagger.
“I’m here.” Another quick clearing of his throat. “Sorry. Maddie just walked outside with her daughter.”
A low curse came through the speakers. “So sheisleaving.”
“Nope.” He shook his head slowly. “Just spending some time with her daughter on the shelter’s playground.”
“Okay, well that’s better than I thought, but still. Should she even be outside at all?”
No.
But one look at the big, toothy smile spread across Maddie’s face and Liam could see how easy it would be to give in. Even so?—
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Smart move. If this husband of hers is as bad as she claims, we can’t assume the pricks he sent to find her won’t take her out in broad daylight and then snag the kid.”
Liam’s gut clenched at the thought. “I’ll call you when I know more,” he promised.
He ended that call, rolled his window halfway down, and then initiated another. His gaze remained locked on Allison, his focus following her every move. She reached into her pocket, picking up the call on the third ring.
“Liam?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” It felt a bit odd, watching her while they spoke on the phone. “Just making sure you got settled in for the night.”
“Oh, um…yeah. I did, thanks. I’m actually on the shelter’s playground with Maddie. And before you say anything, I know I shouldn’t be out here, but she was begging me, and she’s beenthrough so much.” Allison sighed, her defensive voice growing quieter as she added a soft, “I only promised her a few pushes before dinner.”
The warmth he’d felt in his chest a moment before morphed into a tightness that made his stomach churn. She had rushed to explain her choice she’d made to allow her daughter a few short minutes of fun, almost as if she’d expected him to chew her ass for doing so.
That last part she’d spoken had sounded so small and weak. Almost childlike in its delivery. And it pissed him the hell off.
Not at her, but at her abusive dick of a husband. Because he’d knew exactly what that was like.
“I understand,” he told her truthfully. “And I’m not mad that you let Maddie take a few whirls on the swings.”
“You’re not?”
