Page 35 of His Sassy Little

“What’s the point?” Arabella finally spoke. “It won’t change anything.”

“You never know until you try.” Daddy tossed the spilled peas into the trashcan before walking to her and turning her chair to face him. “Tell me what’s bothering you, Little Hurricane.”

“I feel like a prisoner! I can’t be alone, ever! I can’t leave, I can’t even go to the damned backyard!” Maybe she shouldn’t have yelled but Daddy didn’t seem very bothered by it.

“Come on, Baby.” He picked her up and carried her to the living room where he sat on the couch and tried to settle her into his lap.

Arabella struggled to get off his lap, she needed to move, she wanted freedom, not to be even more confined, but Daddy held her securely and palmed her cheek, turning her face to him.

“How about this, let’s have a sit-down.” That caused Arabella to pause in her tracks for a moment as she looked at him with curiosity.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ll both sit here calmly, you can tell me what’s bothering you and what might be an acceptable way to ease it.”

Arabella eyed him suspiciously. Was he serious?

“Anything goes, Little Hurricane. I won’t get upset, there is no punishment involved, and there will be no judgment.”

Arabella stared at Daddy for a long moment and when she found no hint of deception in his expression, she reluctantly nodded her head.

“Okay, Daddy, but you have to promise to take my concerns seriously.”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Baby? I take everything about you seriously.” She felt some of her frustration ease at his declaration. “Now settle in and get comfortable. We aren’t leaving this spot until…”

When Daddy’s phone rang, Arabella wanted to scream again. She knew he couldn’t ignore it with everything going on, but a moment later, the noise stopped. He had indeed ignored it.

“If it’s important they’ll call back. Now, let’s discuss what’s bothering you.”

Arabella opened her mouth to begin but was once again interrupted by the ringing of Daddy’s phone.

“Shit, don’t move, Baby. I’ll take the call, but we aren’t done here. I’ll be as quick as possible.” He pulled the offending device from his pocket and cursed again. She noted the caller ID said Pup and stiffened as he answered with a terse “Hello.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“O’Conner’s gone dark.” Pup didn’t play around with small talk, and at the moment, Tanner had to appreciate that.

“What do you mean, dark?” Tanner instinctively rubbed his hand up and down Arabella’s spine as it stiffened. She’d obviously heard Pup. It wasn’t surprising with her in his lap and so close to the phone.

“I mean, he’s gone dark. The dude checks his email multiple times a day. He calls his work and checks on things, he calls his men, constant web searches. Hell, the man texts more than a teenager with a crush, but today… nothing.” Tanner tightened his grip on Arabella as he processed what he was hearing. “His phone is off and untraceable, his computer is shut off–I am still going over the data I got off it before the shut down–he hasn’t opened his email once. At this point, he’s untraceable electronically.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, and it gets worse.” Now Tanner stiffened, as fear took hold of his system again. He was becoming used to it, as it had been an almost constant companion over the last few days.

“Worse how?”

“He lost our guys about thirty minutes ago. They can’t find a trace of him, and neither can I. No matter how much surveillance footage I comb through.”

“Fuck!” When Arabella jumped in his hold, he stroked her soothingly, and mouthed, “Sorry.”

“I could see taking a day off, not checking in, but not with his guys disappearing at the same time. Something’s up, Spike. They’re making their move.”

“Yeah, sounds like it. Keep me informed, make sure everyone knows it’s about to go down. Contact Sheriff Blake and give him the heads-up too. I’ll keep things locked down here, but I want guys on outer security too. We’re taking no chances here, you hear me? Nothing happens to her.”

“I hear you. I’ll take care of it.” With that, the line went dead, and Tanner took a moment to allow the pure terror coursing through him to settle. He held Arabella for a long moment, his face buried in her neck inhaling her sweet scent with each calming breath.

When Tanner had himself under control again, he slowly looked up to find Arabella pale and staring off into space. He cursed his moment of weakness and palmed her cheek, bringing her gaze to his. “It’s going to be fine, Little Hurricane.”

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