Page 22 of Callahan's Haven

He’d raised his daughter to be independent and pretty damned self-sufficient. Who was he to complain when she wasexactlythat?

He shook his head with a slight smile. No, Haven wouldn’t have told him either. Knowing her, she wouldn’t have given it another thought.

His jaw hardened. But obviously this Brayden Collins kid had. Too bad for him he’d just messed with the wrong man’s daughter. His fingers itched to dial his contact with the superintendent’s office of the State Police, but he’d wait until a decent hour.

He checked the time. It was going on four o’clock. He’d do it on his way to the school.

Haven may have been an adult, but she was still his little girl. He would start up there as soon as he could pull himself together and get on the road. He needed to see her for himself—hold her long enough to be sure she was okay. He just hoped whoever was watching would understand and know it was something that would be expected of him.

The asshat, as Cal had called him, had set in motion some things they couldn’t control and now they had to adjust.

Duncan sat back in his seat and contemplated the plan Cal had come up with. The man had broken cover in a big way, and his presence had to be explained. And damned if it just might work.

Between, them, they’d decided Cal would give Haven as much information as possible about their current situationafterDuncan left the school later today. Neither of them wanted her to inadvertently give anything away when she saw him. As it was, Cal was sure she would raise holy hell once she found out.

He snorted. Cal had obviously learned a lot about his daughter the last couple of weeks.

And if he wasn’t mistaken, Cal had more of an interest in his daughter than just as her protector—something Duncan hadn’t expected. But Cal was a good man—a man he could trust. Hell, he’d trusted him enough to place his daughter in his hands.

Come to think of it, Haven might be just right for him.

Duncan righted the picture of Haven on his desk. At least he was going to get to spend time with her. He frowned. But It would need to be someplace public where anyone watching could see Haven’s reactions and be assured Duncan wasn’t telling his daughter the danger she was in.

He ran a finger over her smiling face. It wouldn’t matter soon. Everything would be over in four days—well, more like three now. The private chartered jet would be flying him out Thursday night to make the nearly twelve-hour flight to Ankara. The capital city wasn’t a neutral location, but it was the only one the Minister of Interior would agree to meet with the rebel leader.

So, Duncan was running out of time to find out who was behind the threat to Haven and no closer to being able to head off what he was expected to do once he got there—something only he and those pulling his strings knew.

Assassinate Mazhar Sadik.

8

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Haven’s eyes startled open and body jumped under her blanket at Destiny’s loud exclamation in her ear. She wasnotready to get up. It had been close to three o’clock before she’d gone to bed, and between thoughts of the attack bouncing back and forth with those of Cal and that kiss—his declaration she was his—well, it had seemed like hours before she’d finally gotten to sleep.

And now she was surrounded. She blinked several times to bring Destiny and Hope into focus on either side of her bed before groaning and pulling the cover over her head.

“Maybe we should let her sleep,” Hope whispered. “And remember what we talked about. We can yell at her later.”

“Our best friend gets attacked and she doesn’t call us afterward, or at least wake us up when she gets home,” Destiny groused. “Everyone is asking us becauseweshould know. Talk about being blindsided. And you want to let her sleep. Unbelievable. Besides, she has to get up anyway.”

“Wh-wh-what?” Haven said, uncovering her head. She raised herself up on her elbows and squinted back and forth between her friends. “People want to know what?”

“Brayden Collins,” Destiny said, her bottom lip trembling.

Haven sat up all the way and rubbed the sleep from her widening eyes. “Are you about to cry?” Haven had only seen her friend cry twice since they’d met when they were five years old—other than from the occasional scraped knee. Both times the three friends had been alone in the treehouse behind Haven’s house.

The first was when Destiny’s father had left her mother when she was eleven. The second was something they hadn’t spoken of since the summer before they started college.

“What if I am?” A tear rolled down her face.

Haven looked at Hope, who was much more open with her emotions. Her fair complexion was slightly red and blotchy with fresh tears gathering. Hope took in a shuddering breath, saying, “What would we have done if we’d lost you?”

“But you didn’t.” Haven’s gaze went between the two women before holding Destiny’s liquid stare, saying, “I didn’t want to cause you…” She shook her head and sniffled, her eyes welling up. “I wasn’t sure if I was ready to talk about it yet, anyhow.”

Destiny sat on the bed and grabbed Haven’s hand, more tears tracking down her cheeks. “Then you could havenottalked about it with us sitting with you,” she said, her unwavering gaze intense. “You know we would’ve done that.”

Haven nodded and wiped her eyes.

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