Page 40 of Daddy's Little Sunshine

Donovan let out a sigh of relief at her simple words.Okay, Daddy.He had his girl back, at least for now. He set aside the terror he’d felt at seeing her all lit up like a Christmas tree and grabbed her hand. Together, they ran from the room and down the long, white hall.

When they turned the corner, he skidded to a stop, but Lainey slammed into his back. “What the actual fuck?”

Marching down the hall was a platoon of soldiers. Led by sweet, old, nosy Ms. Edith from across the hall. His tiny, white-haired neighbor grinned at him and held up a hand. The soldiers stopped, every boot snapping together at precisely the same moment.

“Donny! You found her. Good.” She waved her hand and three men stepped forward. “These men will escort you out. We have a transport waiting for you outside. We need to take you back to headquarters for a debriefing, and then we’ll get you wherever you need to go.”

“What the fuck?” Donovan repeated, looking from Ms. Edith to the soldiers and back again.

Ms. Edith laughed. “You said that already. I don’t have time to explain now, but I will as soon as possible. For now, go with the nice soldiers here and we’ll talk later.”

“The children?” Lainey asked from behind him.

“They’re safe. Go on, I have things to wrap up here.”

The three soldiers who’d stepped forward ushered them out of the building and into a black van. Lainey curled up in Donovan’s lap and fell asleep as soon as the van pulled away. He held her close as she slept, running his hands over every part of her as she slept, reassuring himself she was alive, and safe, and whole.

He’d thought he’d lost her. Not physically, though when she’d started to glow like a sparkler on The Fourth of July, he had worried she wouldn’t survive her own powers. But the real terror had set in when she’d fried the guard and told him she wanted to “burn the place to the ground.” He’d been so scared he’d lost his sweet girl. His sunshine. Thank God he’d been able to bring her back.

He had no idea how long they drove, but the sun was coming up by the time the van stopped and the doors opened. “Lainey. Wake up, sunshine.” Donovan gave her a little shake and her eyes fluttered open.

“Daddy?” She blinked and yawned, and everything in him just wanted to whisk her away so she wouldn’t have to talk or even think about what she’d been through. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know, exactly. Military base, I’m guessing. We have to go inside and answer some questions, and then we can leave, okay?”

“I don’t want to.” Curling into him, she whimpered softly, “I just want to go home.”

He’d never really considered his dingy little apartment much of a home, but she’d made it one, just by being there. Knowing he’d never see it again was a bit of a knife in the gut. But theycould make a home somewhere else. “We can leave as soon as we’re done here. I promise.”

She sighed, but finally pushed herself off his lap and let the soldiers help her out of the van. As soon as they were inside, they were separated, and no amount of yelling and threatening on his part changed anyone’s minds.

Their debriefings took several hours. Donovan was ready to start raising hell again when the door to his interview room opened and Ms. Edith walked in with Lainey.

She rushed to him and climbed into his lap once more. Donovan frantically ran his hands over her again, checking for any signs she’d been hurt. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she assured him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Relax, Donny. We keep the thumbscrews at the other facility,” Ms. Edith joked dryly.

“Ha. Funny. Can we go, now?”

“Almost. I wanted to apologize to the pair of you, first.”

He’d never seen her look embarrassed, and the expression didn’t sit well on her weathered face. “Why?”

“I put you both in danger. When I mentioned Lainey to the group at church, we never expected them to come for her the way they did. In the past, they’ve always lured people to The Farm. We’ve never known them to outright kidnap someone.”

“It wasn’t the first time,” he said, drawing Lainey closer to him. “They tried it once before, at least.”

“We know that now. It seems they’ve been getting bolder without us realizing it.” Her eyes flashed. “Which is something I’ll be addressing with the task force.”

Donovan stared at her a moment before asking the only question he could think of. “Who the hell are you?”

“Special Agent Meredith Miller. Head of one of several teams looking into Rose Corp and The Church of the Divine Variance.”

It was a long moment before he could speak again. “If you know this shit is going down, why haven’t you shut them down yet?”

Edith studied him for a while before answering. “It’s not that easy. The Church has religious standings which make it hard to investigate them. We’re doing the best we can under the circumstances.”

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