Page 41 of Deny Me
“Becky,” King said, “we want you to know that, even after you give birth, your child will be protected. If we have to put the adoptive family under protective custody, we will. Nothing will happen to you—”
“You won’t have to do that,” Becky said, straightening her shoulders.
“Becky…” Charlotte gave the swollen hand in hers a gentle squeeze.
“I’m going to keep her,” Becky announced firmly, then met Charlotte’s eyes. “I want to keep her. I want to be a good mom, just like you would be.”
Pain caved in Charlotte’s chest, but she fought to keep her face serene. “You will be an excellent mother. And we’ll be right here to help you any way we can.”
Becky searched deep in her gaze, then nodded. Turning back to Dain and King, she said, “We’ll be staying here.”
The men smiled. “Of course,” King said. “I never really doubted that.”
Charlotte hadn’t either. All Becky had needed was security and resources, neither of which she’d had until her father abandoned her. A silver lining in a world of mess.
Which reminded her… “Where are we with Violet?”
“Who is Violet?” her dad asked.
Saint stepped in, and Charlotte wondered if the man was seeking to keep Ben’s attention away from his friend. “While at CF today, we discovered another young woman whose baby had been stolen.”
Becky gasped.
“We’re currently moving her to a safe house that we’ve established for her and any other women like her that need protection. They will stay there while Charlotte works to get them on their feet and safely established—”
“And while we assist the FBI in a search for their children in hopes of reuniting them,” Dain said.
Her dad cleared his throat. “I’ll discuss specifics with you later, Dain. I’d like to assist with that effort, even if money is all I can contribute.”
“Money isn’t anything to sneeze at,” Dain reminded him. A safe house, protection, living expense…the bills would add up quickly. Charlotte made a mental note to discuss with Vicky what CF resources they could divert to help the women.
Then jerked her thoughts to a stop. She couldn’t tell Vicky, not yet. She couldn’t tell anyone at work.
Which brought her to their next complication. “What do we plan to do about the Magnolia Ball?”
“I thought your attendance was canceled, Charlotte?” Her mom’s narrowed gaze asked far more questions than the obvious.
Dain quietly informed her parents of the donation the chairwoman had informed CF of, and Charlotte’s now mandatory appearance. “We’ve decided, with Charlotte’s agreement, that attending is imperative.”
“Because you might catch whoever is after her?”
Dain gave her father an approving glance. “Yes. We believe we can root him out.”
Charlotte ignored the concerned glances being shot her way. “We’re working on a plan for that, correct?” she asked Dain.
“We are,” he agreed. “So let’s discuss the options we’ve come up with so far.”
Chapter Nineteen
Charlotte slid the champagne silk from its padded hanger and draped it carefully over her bed. The intensity of her mother’s stare from the opposite side of the bed made her even more jittery than she already was, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had a charity event to get ready for.
“I don’t think this is safe,” her mom repeated for maybe the tenth time since their meeting last night with Dain and his team.
“I know, Mom.” Charlotte wasn’t sure how she felt about the plan either—except scared, definitely—but Dain was the expert. If he thought this was the best chance they had of catching West and the person feeding him information, she had no choice but to go with it.
Or maybe you just want the chance to be alone with King again. Anything for an excuse.
Yes, her conscience was as bad as her mother right now. Was there anyone not giving her a hard time at this point?
