Page 11 of Guard Dog

“He’s had too much time to set things up. We won’t be able to rush him,” JD says. After years of working with him, I know his brain works the same as mine.

“I’ll hand over the key, get Peony back, and let him go,” I say. We know where he works and where he lives. And if he doesn’t go to either of those places, we know where he’s heading. If he gets away now, it’s a matter of when, not if, we find him again and make him pay.

“He said he wants me to do it. He knows I won’t try anything.” It’s the first thing Violet’s said since we found the key.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Vi.”

“It’s a terrible idea but she’s my daughter. I’m doing it.”

We don’t have time to argue. I give her instructions on exactly what to do. “I’ll drive. You hand over the key. You grab Peony and climb into the backseat. Don’t worry about seatbelts. I love you, Violet. You can do this. If you do this one last thing, I promise nothing bad will ever touch you and Peony again. This is the last trouble you’ll have. Lonesome and I will be a complete fresh start.”

“I’m holding you to that. I didn’t dream that I’d fall in love again, Deacon Dobermann. That Peony and I would have another chance. Rick fucking Russo is not taking it away.”

Violet gets in the passenger seat of her car. Much to Romy’s dismay, Bishop stays behind to make sure she gets medical treatment rather than go with us to help. JD and his motorcycle have already taken off down a back road that will bring him into town from the other direction so he can approach the garage from the rear. He’ll be able to cover Violet, and Rick will never see him coming.

Ten minutes until my life stops or starts again.

Chapter Nine

My date with Deke ended an hour ago. How many times can my life be shaken like a snow globe before the hand of fate drops it and shatters it in a way that it can never be pieced back together? First my husband, then my daughter. If this goes bad, I’ll lose Deke too because there will be no stopping him if he goes after Rick.

So, nothing will go wrong. The exchange will go smoothly. I’ll manifest it into happening. I’ll give Rick this fucking key, get my daughter, leave safely, and then I’ll let the police deal with Rick. Hell, I’ll even call in NCIS. As soon as Peony is safe.

The security lights on the outside of the garage are dark. Since Deke told me that Bishop leaves them on all night, I assume Rick is stacking the deck in his favor. If I pissed off a bunch of former SEALs, I’d do the same thing. Deke parks in the middle of the parking pad, away from the gas pumps, facing the road. I get out, opening the back passenger door like Deke told me to do. He’s here to make sure nothing happens to me, and he told me JD and others are out there too, watching out for us. I trust him.

Rick’s fancy SUV squeals into the lot. I move in front of the SUV’s hood, holding the key in front of me. “Where’s Peony?”I ask, praying that he isn’t playing games and hasn’t left her somewhere by herself.

He reaches across to the passenger seat and his face briefly appears in the moonlight. Romy got a piece of him according to the scratches on his face and the blood under his nose. Rick lifts my daughter out of the vehicle by the neck of her unicorn onesie. I place the key on the far corner of the hood. “Come to mommy, sweet pea.”

My little girl is crying but she toddles on the rough pavement. I dart forward two steps, grab her, and then run to the passenger side of the SUV. If Rick wants me, he’ll have to chase me all the way around.

He gets as far as the key, grabs it, and jumps back into the driver’s seat. He takes off like a bat out of hell. I throw Peony into the back, baby-seat be damned, and Deke loops onto the road and immediately turns again into the Lonesome Bar and Grill parking lot. I think I hear a bang as Deke pulls out of the parking lot, but he doesn’t take his foot off the gas.

Deke slams the car into park. He’s around to the passenger side before I can even open the door. He scoops Peony into his arms, then pulls me out. I check her all over as he holds her, but aside from some dirt and a messy diaper, she seems fine. Deke pulls a blanket out of nowhere and bundles the both of us back into my still-running car.

I don’t ask why he’s not going after Rick. Mostly because I don’t want to know what’s going to happen to that asshole. I know I’ll be pressing charges, but whether or not the authorities ever catch up to him is another question.

“Are you okay?”

I realize it’s not the first time Deke has asked me that. He pulls me close, and the warmth of him warms me to my core. “I’m fine. We’re all fine,” I say.

“I love you, Violet. I love you both. This will never happen to you again. I swear.” His arms tighten around me.

“I love you too, Deke. Take us home.”

I expect him to take us back to his place, but he drives back to the house. A man in a Lost Souls biker vest is treating Romy, who gives me a painfully slow thumbs-up. Bishop and another man are dumping armfuls of papers and clothes into hastily reformed boxes is a rough effort to clean up Rick’s mess.

I give Peony another bath, and she’s asleep by the time I tuck her into my bed. I climb into one side, too tired to get undressed. Deacon climbs in the other. He throws his arm across both of us, pulling us closer.

We’re finally home.

Epilogue

Last Monday:

Bare hours after we recovered Peony, I groaned when I heard the alarm clock on Violet’s bedside table go off at six o’clock. The woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with rolled out of bed without a word. I figured she was going to the bathroom, but then I heard the shower running.

I got up and saw Romy in Peony’s bed. I heard Bishop snoring on the sofa. There were too many people in the house for me to join Violet in the shower, so I waited for her. When she stepped out in a bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her hair, I ushered her back to the bedroom. “What are you doing?” I asked.

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