Page 124 of Protector

Regardless of my take on the matter, I chuckled at the thought of her raising a hand to anyone. “I don’t think you’re cut out for this lifestyle, kiddo. Hell, there are days that I don’t think I’m cut out for it. Sleep, Katydid. I’m going to get you some more medicine.”

Another coughing fit took over, and her body jerked violently against my chest. When it passed, she whispered, “You know, I’d argue with you, but I feel like dying. I can’t handle one more thing. I’m so tired, Grey. I’m tired of feeling guilty…tired of constantly being pulled in fifteen different directions. If I’m honest, I’m tired of living this life.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded, feeling as if a knife had lodged itself in my chest. There was no free will… never had been. No matter how much I fought it now, her course had been set before she was out of elementary school.

Just like her mama, she’d given up her own dreams to chase someone else’s. For Celia, it had been mine. For Kate, it was her sister’s.

We might’ve come from different places, but I knew what it meant to feel trapped. We were backed into a corner, scrambling to find a way out. I tightened my hold on her body, wishing like hell that I was a man who deserved to be her father.

Daddy, you awe squeezing me.

The broken pieces of my heart fell from my eyes and onto her face, causing her to blink up at me in confusion for a few seconds before her eyes drifted shut.

“Daddy’s here now.” I kissed her damp hair as I rocked her in my arms. “Ain’t got much of a plan yet, but I’m gonna get us out of this, Katydid. You just rest and let me take over for a while.”

While she slept fitfully in my arms, I stepped inside the confessional and laid my soul bare. I found I didn’t need a priest or a formal prayer as I prayed my Act of Contrition; the pain fell easily from my lips with every word.

There was no absolution for souls like mine, but in desperation, knowing there was a slim chance anyone upstairs would hear me, I recited the words I hadn’t spoken since I was ten. “Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

Time was running out.

I couldn’t do it on my own anymore.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Grey: December 2016

“Grey?”

I jerked awake, blinking until the room came into focus. I’d fallen asleep in my office again.

I pressed my fingers against my stiff neck and tried shifting it from side to side before grumbling, “What is it, Jarvis?”

He held up his laptop, and I gestured for him to come in. There was an excitement in his eyes that I hadn’t seen in years, and I leaned across the desk, suddenly wide awake. “You found them.”

“I did—well, Sullivan and I did. Their proxy was shit.”

Sensing that I wasn’t following, he clarified, “A proxy server is kinda likeInked on Broadway. It looks like a tattoo shop, but really, it’s a front for the club. The proxy masks their location and could ping anywhere in the world, making it impossible to track. Normally, we use high anonymity proxies to keep everything under the radar.”

I scratched at my forehead with a nod, trying to keep up. “So, how’d you do it then?”

“They used a transparent proxy,” he said with a grin, before once again realizing I had no idea what the hell he was getting at. “It means that they told the website that they were a proxy, but it passed along their actual IP address anyway. It’d be like putting a sign out in front ofInkedthat said, ‘Tattoos, but also money laundering.’ Took some digging, but we got their location narrowed down to a single block.”

I jumped up. “I want eyes on that block. We can ride—”

“Pres,” Jarvis said calmly. “We already got Nomads in place, per your orders.”

“How? I didn’t even know.”

He tapped the screen and enlarged a surveillance image. When I saw their colors, I slammed my fist against the desk. “Goddammit. It was the motherfuckin’ Serpents sendin’ pictures of my daughter?”

“That’s not all.” Another image filled the screen, and I moved until my nose was almost touching it. I knew damn well I needed glasses but was too stubborn to do anything about it. He enhanced the resolution until every patch on the kutte became crystal clear. “We got Cobra.”

“They still down around the Houston area?”

His grin widened. “Nope. They decided to be where the action was. I pinged ‘em about an hour north of Amarillo. Gives us plenty of time to get there, take care of shit, and get you back in time for Dakota’s wedding tomorrow…” He checked his watch. “Or I guess tonight as it’s after midnight now.”

I glanced up at the light knock on my open office door, surprised by the two men standing in the doorway. “The fuck are you two doin’ down here?”

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