Page 4 of Breaking Conviction
She was right, he did have things to do. He was the glorified IT guy for the nonprofit, granted, one who could kill a man in under six seconds with his keyboard wielding hands… maybe even with said keyboard. His current task was nothing pressing, just a little tune-up on the already well-oiled machine that was Sasha Saves security system. And when a child invited you to watch a movie, you watched the damn movie.
“Sorry,” the girl mumbled obediently. “You hafta come watch… if you wanna.”
There officially had never been a cuter kid.
New mission: 1. Make this kid smile more. 2. Make her mom worry less.
He had a feeling accomplishing one goal would achieve the other, and it was the least he could do after making the woman feel embarrassed.
“I think I have some time,” he answered. “As long as it’s okay with your mom. Um…” He looked to the woman for her approval, resisting the urge to outwardly cringe again at her injuries. Instead, he channeled the rage he’d harbored since childhood into his tightened fists and tipped his head in Thea’s direction with the iPad in his hand. “Is this alright?”
At her slow nod, the kid shined a toothy grin at them both and tugged him to a beanbag in the corner, instructing him to sit down beside her while the little queen took her throne.
“We’re gonna watch Merida now.”
“Sounds good.” He chuckled. Wes had every intention of looking like he was going to watch the movie, while also eavesdropping on the grown-up conversation around him. He didn’t know why it was so important for him to know the woman’s story, only that the need to help in some way was overwhelming.
“That’s so strange,” the mom’s whisper grated against his ears. “She’s never taken to anyone like that. Not even her—” She cut off her words with what sounded to him like a feigned cough, as if she was preventing herself from finishing the sentence. But with her injured throat, it turned very real quickly and the painful hacking made him see red.
“You sit by me? ‘Kay?” Thea stole his attention as she patted the floor beside the small beanbag. “Closer, else you can’t see the movie.” Her command had him grinning as he did what he was told. She had all the authority of a CEO tempered by her adorable high-pitched voice.
“You’re a bossy little thing, aren’t you?”
She whipped her head at him and scrunched her nose while pursing her lips. “Mommy says I ain’t bossy, I’m a boss.”
Wes worked his mouth to keep from laughing at the sass rolling off her, since she was obviously very serious on the subject.
“A boss, huh?”
She nodded once with conviction, as if it was information he should already know. “Yup, I’m a bossanda princess. Just like Merida.”
“Fair enough. Well, what should I call you, then? Your name’s Thea, right?”
She nodded. “Mommy calls me all kinds of things, Thea… T… Theresa Jane Ward.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “but that one’s only when she’s mad.”
“Hm…” He rubbed his chin to make it seem like he was choosing. “That’s a lot to pick from. What about ‘Boss Lady?’” She wrinkled her nose and he decided to try again. “Princess?” he asked, and her lips pursed in thought.
“Which one is better?” she finally asked with a furrowed brow.
He chuckled and draped his arms over his bent knees. “Now that, I don’t know. But officially, you’re the bossandthe princess. The way I see it, you can be anything you want.”
She seemed to seriously think over his words before finally nodding with a small smile. “I like princess best. Merida’s a princess, too, and she can shoot a bow and arrow.”
He chuckled back and held out his hand. “I like that reasoning. Well, people call me by lots of names, but you can call me Wes.”
She tilted her head at the gesture, analyzing it before gripping to shake, just barely able to wrap around two of his fingers.
“Nice to meet you, Wes. I am Thea and I am four.” She dropped her hand and held up the other with four fingers. Her deliberate delivery was laced with a touch of excitement, as if she’d practiced all her life to introduce herself and now that she’d finally gotten the chance, she didn’t want to screw it up. Hell, she was only four, maybe that’s exactly what she was doing.
“Good job,PrincessThea.” There was a flash of surprise in her widened eyes right before she preened as Wes continued on. “It is very nice to meet you. Now… what’re we watching?”
She giggled and began to chirp away about her “favoritest movie ever,” even though she “only liked the parts without the bear.” Wes made sure to listen to every word, but he also aimed his hearing to her mother as well.
Years of being in charge of communications and intelligence made it easy to pick out different conversations and acquire necessary information from multiple sources simultaneously. First it’d been with the Night Stalkers in the Army, then the clandestine paramilitary group MF7, and now at the private security firm, BlackStone Securities. He’d never gotten the opportunity to listen to an overview of a Pixar film, though.
There was a knock on the door before a lyrical voice called out. “It’s Nora! And I brought backup.” A whirlwind of dyed gray hair on the woman the size of Tinkerbell entered the room, followed by Jules, the victims’ rights attorney for Sasha Saves. Despite having a noticeable baby bump, the tall woman was still sharply dressed, all the way down to red sky-high heels.
Wes wasn’t there often, but he knew the drill. Jules would speak to the woman about her options—both legal and otherwise—and hopefully, the woman would decide to use Sasha Saves’s services. After all, the nonprofit had a stellar attorney backing her, and she’d be protected by the full force of BlackStone Securities.
