“Don’t fuckin’ look at her privates,” I hissed.
He grinned. “I should’ve gotten this shit on video. Fucking priceless. Lift,” he commanded.
I lifted two legs that together were still thinner than my forearm.
André slid the diaper under her and in two quick movements, he pulled it between her legs and fastened it snug.
“That’s too tight,” I whisper-barked.
“You want piss leaking all over you?”
At this point, I probably wouldn’t care. “Fine.” I folded the blanket back around her. Her little mouth sucked on the thumb jammed in there a few times but otherwise she didn’t move. A minute later, she was back to her deep breaths.
“You got any wipes in that bag of diapers?”
“Don’t know.” I handed the bag to André.
He fished around and came up with a wet tissue thing. He gently wiped her cheeks. “Pull the blanket off her feet.”
“She’ll wake up,” I whispered.
André looked at me with patience. “She’s traumatized, Doc,” he stated quietly. “It’s the middle of the night, she’s been taken out of her environment, again, and she’s underfed. Trust me, she’s going to sleep right now.”
I looked down at her and I wanted to kill every one of those goddamn assholes in that house with my bare hands.
“Let me wipe her feet before Nicole sees her.”
I pulled the blanket back and he made quick work of it. Ten seconds later, the wipe was filthy and she was marginally less dirty-looking. It only made the blanket that much more disgusting.
“We got anything we can wrap her in?”
André looked past me to the back of the SUV. “I don’t see shit.”
“Hold on,” Neil murmured.
The SUV made a sharp turn as Neil cut across four lanes and pulled into a gas station with a convenience store attached.
“Wait.” He got out and strode into the store.
André shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him pissed off.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t see him in Afghanistan.”
“The kids?”
André knew about them but he’d never seen Neil downrange. Neil was always in and out so quick that if you blinked, you missed him. “Yeah.”
“What’s the deal?”
“No clue. Except he’s got a thing about kids or women gettin’ hurt.”
“You’re friends with his nephew, Myles. Has he ever said anything about it?”
“Not sure he knows. He didn’t even know Neil had been in Afghanistan.”
“I’m not surprised.” André glanced toward the store. “What the fuck is taking him so long? We need to get out of here.”
I stared down at Maddie. I was antsy as hell to let Siren know we got her but I was also dreading it. “She’s so fuckin’ small. Siren’s gonna freak.” I gently brushed a hand over Maddie’s hair.
“Bro, she’s going to be so overjoyed to hold her again, she’ll get over it.”
Neil got back in the SUV. He handed André a bottle of water, a small container of milk and a cup with handles on it. “Use the water to wash the cup out then put the milk in it.” He handed me one of those cheap, fleece throw blankets with a college logo on it. “Give me the soiled blanket.”
I gently pulled the disgusting blanket away from her and wrapped the new one around her. She started sucking her thumb again but she didn’t open her eyes. I handed the old blanket and the dirty diaper to Neil and he tossed them in a trash can then pulled back on the road. “I have crackers if she wakes up.”
“Copy. Thanks.” Fuck, it should’ve occurred to me to get her some food.
André must have seen the look on my face. “It’s all good. We got her. That’s what matters.”
“Yeah.” I exhaled. “But Stone is gonna pay for this.”
André glanced at Neil and Neil nodded once. “Let us handle this one.”
Neil pulled into the small airport and I didn’t have a chance to respond to André. The plane’s door opened and Siren flew down the stairs.
“Shit. Stop the car!” I knew Neil had said we weren’t being followed but my adrenaline was pumping and all I could think about was Siren exposed on the tarmac.
Neil stopped the SUV a few yards from the plane. I opened the door as quietly as I could and stepped out with Maddie tight in my arms.
The look on Siren’s face when she saw us would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Six months of grief contorted her features, her hand went to her mouth and she fell to her knees.