Always With You - Part Three(17)

Oh.

"So he's … "

"Yeah. He's taking care of it."

"But-"

"It's what he does. And he does it well. Just let him do it."

Shit.

"All right, man, but … "

He can sense my unease with taking a hands-off approach with someone I hardly know.

"You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Then trust me now."

And that's the end of it. Because I do trust him.

I swallow my sigh.

"Done. Let me know when it's over."

"I'm sure he'll be in touch. He's got some … information."

"I'll be waiting."

When he hangs up, I notice that Isabella is shaking. Hard.

I stroke her hair and then down her back over and over and over until she calms. "I've got you, baby girl. You're safe. You're safe."

And, dammit, as long as I'm living, she'll always be safe.



φφφφφφφφ



I can't sleep. Of course. It's been hours and still no word from Jason. Or Gavin for that matter. I can only imagine what they're doing, how they're taking care of this.

My brain is busy trying to rationalize why involving the police would've been a mistake. It makes me uneasy, thinking that Jason King knows something or discovered something that I don't yet know. Sophie was obviously involved in some sketchy shit. I mean, hell, someone tracked her down and stuck a needle in her neck. That's not something that just routinely happens to law-abiding citizens.

Legally speaking, there's the issue of justice. Normally excluding law enforcement would preclude anything other than vigilante justice. However, in this case, justice was already served. The woman who took Sophie's life got hers snatched in the process. There's no greater justice than that. An eye for an eye. That's why my main concern now is Isabella-what will happen to her, who could come into her life or what entity might try to take her away. That alone is why I'm not getting involved in the clean-up. That kid needs a stable influence in her life. And it looks like I'm it. 

I went from no chance of being a father in the foreseeable future to being a father to two in a matter of months-Isabella and the little life that resides in my wife's belly.

I roll onto my side to face Olivia. Her head is turned toward me, her beautiful face relaxed in sleep. Despite the emotional whirlwind she's suffered through these last days, there's a happy glow about her that I'd swear has never been there before.

I let my eyes trail over her small frame, stopping on the still-flat belly covered only by the sheet. As gently as I can so that I don't wake her, I lay my palm over it and close my eyes, imagining what it will feel like for our baby to kick against my hand. My chest gets tight just thinking about it.

The phone rings and I jump, reaching for it as quickly as I can to stop it from ringing a second time. Not only do I not want to disturb Olivia, but Isabella is asleep in the guest room.

As I roll toward the nightstand, a warm hand covers mine and I glance back at Olivia's smiling face as I bring the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

Olivia presses my palm more snuggly against her belly as she smiles up into my face, her expression still soft and sleepy. She squeezes my fingers as her eyes drift shut and I rest my head on the pillow, content to watch her and keep touching her as I listen to whoever is calling me this late. It has to be Jason or Gavin. Has to be.

"It's Jason," comes the deep, clipped voice.

My abs clench like I'm getting ready to fight to the death. "Tell me," I say simply.

And so he does.

"The woman was already there when I arrived at the club. Both were already dead. I caught the merc sneaking out the back. I was able to get enough information from him to go back and piece together what happened.

"Rhonda Evans is the name of the other woman. Born in Alberta, Canada. Had a few run-ins with the law just after she dropped out of school. All drug-related offenses. She married a career criminal almost twenty years her senior when she was eighteen. He got thrown into jail in Mexico, but not before he got her pregnant. It didn't take her long to hook up with another dealer. That's how she met Sophie. They started out as friends since Sophie used the same guy to supply her. Supposedly, Rhonda wanted to get rid of the baby, but Sophie talked her out of it. Said she'd stay and help her take care of it. One big happy family of three drug addicts and a baby. I guess the family was one too big, though. Sophie moved in on the dealer and the two of them took the baby right out from under Rhonda's nose when she was on a four-day bender, coked out of her mind.

"The merc said he never checked any of this. He just wanted the paycheck, but I ran across a couple of things when I was looking into her that make me think her story's legit."