Page 22 of Tripp

Ten minutes later, I was dressed and heading back out to the Jeep with Tripp. We had to stop by the station and pick up Penny, then we were going home. I needed this day to end, post haste. Tomorrow would be a new, brighter day.

Right? It had to be; I’d stand for nothing else.

Chapter 8

Tripp

The last two weeks had been—crazy busy.

There were no other words for it. Casey getting hurt. Finding out the case she was on was just a drop in the hat of crazy shit happening close to home.

Two of the men she’d photographed were wanted on charges and bail jumping. Then her ex, who was also wanted on multiple charges, was in the group of men she’d been so close to.

Her finding out his true identity was hard to watch. The pain and betrayal he’d left her with made me want to track him down and beat the ever-loving shit out of him again.

Trust me when I said, when I got my hands on that motherfucker, he’d regret ever setting foot back in Texas. Let alone hurting her again.

As for the men wanted by law enforcement, Trace and his team, including my son Phoenix, tracked them down. After careful planning, they raided the place where they were staying. Two were captured and taken in. No one was hurt during the capture. Which wasn’t always the case.

The others in the group, the big hitters if you will, were gone. There had been no trace of them since. In cases like this, a quiet perp was a calculating perp. My gut was telling me there was more to this whole situation. Pieces of a bigger puzzle.

The images Casey got of her perp, obviously moving around and in and out of stores and vehicles, was turned in, her part of the job done. It was now up to the insurance companies to deal with him.

After what she’d been through, I was glad. Her leg and ankle had both healed, though the ankle was a little sore if she moved just right. All in all, things were kind of back to normal. With the exception of me hanging around.

We were trying to move forward and focus on us; this new life we both wanted. I was still getting used to the fact that I was here, and that I had another kid. A beautiful, funny, little angel who has stolen my heart. She was a daddy’s girl, for sure.

I was sitting on the floor, cleaning up the blocks Penny had tossed everywhere, when Casey walked in. Two bags of groceries balanced on her hips.

“Hey, let me help.” I went to get up.

“It’s fine, this is it. I just made a quick run through after my appointment.”

“What did Shelby say?”

“I’m good to do as I want again. Everything seems to be working properly.” She shrugged, digging into the shopping bags. “My thigh is all healed up, but we knew that. She removed that one stitch that didn’t want to come out. That was not fun, let me tell you. I feel after all this time with me, it should maybe have had a name or something.”

I shook my head, chuckling at her.

“We’ll I’m glad you’ve gotten a clean bill of health. Let’s keep you safe and healthy from now on. Yeah?”

“I plan to do my best.”

Getting to my feet, I put the basket of toys beside the couch and headed into the kitchen.

“How was she? Did she do okay?”

“She did great. She asked for you a few times; I told her you’d be back, then distracted her with toys and a book. She finally did the eye rubbing and curled up in my lap. Half a bottle while being rocked in the chair and she was out.” I looked at my watch. “She’s been down for about ten/fifteen minutes.”

Casey turned from the fridge and shut the door. “Thank you.”

“Hey, you have nothing to thank me for.”

“You played babysitter?—”

“Nope.” I pressed my finger to her bottom lip. “It’s not babysitting when it's your child. That is called being a parent. I have two years of not being here to make up for.”

“No, you don’t. You didn’t know.”

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