Page 39 of Danger Close
Now she looked up at him.Warily.
“I know your name,” Ricky said.“Sophia, right?”
Her eyes narrowed.“Who told you that?”
“Your daddy.”
Her shoulders tensed.“I don’t have a daddy.”
“You do,” Ricky said gently.“His name was Van.He was a good man.He loved you very much.”
She blinked.
“And you’ve got an uncle,” Ricky added.“Actually, six of them.All big, loud, pain-in-the-ass types who’d go to war to bring you home.”
“Uncles?”
He smiled.“Yeah.Including me.I’m your Uncle Ricky.”
Something flickered in her face—confusion, then suspicion, then something like wonder.
“You came here for me?”God, the hope in her voice almost dropped him to his knees, and he could tell from the curse through his comms that his team heard it, too.
“Yeah, sweetheart.We all did.”He had to fight to keep the rage that was boiling within him from his tone.The last thing that wee girl needed was to be frightened by the man who was trying to convince her he meant no harm.
She stared at him for a long time.“Why now?”
Ricky’s throat tightened.“Because we didn’t know where you were.But now we do.And we are not leaving without you.”
Sophia glanced over her shoulder.Then back at him.“They said if I ran again, they’d make me disappear.”
“You won’t have to run away,” Ricky said.“When I say a secret word—something only we know—you come to me.You don’t look back.Just run straight to me, okay?And I will make sure they can’t get to you.”
“What’s the word?”
He thought for a moment.Then said, “Miracle.”
Her mouth twitched.Not quite a smile.But almost.
“I can remember that,” she whispered.
“Good.You’re smart, just like your dad.”
She glanced away, but this time, she didn’t flinch.
“Be ready,” Ricky said, standing slowly.“It could be anytime.”
She nodded.
And Ricky turned, walking away without looking back.
He had work to do.A compound to torch.A miracle to deliver.
