Page 69 of Mine to Keep
“Are you leaving?” Talon asks as my phone stops ringing. Then it starts ringing again immediately after.
“Nah. I can take the call in here.”
“Okay,” he whispers.
I see it’s Peggy, and answer immediately. “Pegs, do you?—”
“Knox listen to me,” she says quickly and frantically. “There’s someone here. I think The Void sent someone after me.”
My back goes ramrod straight. “How do you know it’s them?”
“I hacked into their system. They got an alert. I found some shit in there that only a few people would know.”
“Did you?—”
“Saved it and sent it to an offshore server they’d never be able to crack.”
“Where are you? I’ll?—”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m leaving. I have alarms that alerted me when they were a mile out. Gave me enough time to send you an email. I’ll be underground until they get tired of looking for me.” A growl leaves my throat. “Don’t worry. They won’t find me, I promise. You have what you need. It might be a while before you hear from me again.”
“Take care of yourself, Pegs.”
“Always, handsome.” Her voice echoes, almost as if she’s in a tunnel. Knowing Peggy, she has some intricate system built at her own place like she does here.
When we got to this safe house, I looked over the schematics, and there’s a warren under the floor; a tunnel that leads to the main road, one that leads to a garage, and one that leads to another safe house three miles away. I’m not sure why Peggy would have a safe house in a small town outside of Toronto, but I’m glad she did.
“Call me when you’re safe,” I tell her, now worried about if she’ll get away like she says she will. She sounds confident, but The Void has all kinds of ways to find who and what they want.
“You got it, doll.” She hangs up and I stare at my phone for a few beats.
Talon sits up and slides closer to me. “Everything okay?”
My phone beeps, but I ignore it. “Yeah. Just…” I search his face, looking into his curious eyes. “Do you really want to know what’s going on? I don’t want to pull you further into my mess and put you in more danger.”
A sardonic smile crosses his face. “We got shot at last night, Daddy Koda. I don't think it can get much worse than that.”
I nod, figuring he’s right.
I run through what Peggy just told me, including my thoughts of if she's in a tunnel system much like the one that’s under this house. Talon’s eyes grow wide when he learns there is an escape exit, but he keeps quiet while I talk.
“But before she hung up,” I say, holding up my phone, “she sent me the information about the man that shot at us.” I stare at him, then look at Javier, who’s awake, but hasn’t moved from the spot he’s lying in. “I’m going to kill him for trying to kill me and putting you two in danger. Do you understand?”
Talon and Javier look at each other, fear and apprehension palatable between them. I can almost read their thoughts.
It’s wrong, he can’t kill people.
He already has, what’s the big deal?
What if he gets hurt?
He won’t, he’ll keep us and himself safe.
Sighing with a shake of his head, Talon looks back at me. “Be safe, please. We can’t….we can’t lose you, Daddy.”
My lips tip up at the title. It still makes me happy that they’ll stay with me. “I will, little one. Daddy won’t leave either of you. Ever. You believe me? Javier?”
His lip trembles, though he tries to hide it. “Yes, Daddy Koda.”
