Page 26 of Yuletide Hero

December 21st

9:05 A.M.

“I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Haven't we argued about this enough already this morning?” Hayley asked, looking sideways at Brian, who was driving the car.

Argue had been pretty much all they had done since they got up this morning. Brian had already been up, showered, and dressed by the time she got up at seven o’clock. As soon as she was showered and dressed, she’d asked him to take her to see Kinsley Turner. The little girl hadn't been very forthcoming with any of the adults who had tried to get her to open up, and she thought she might have better luck because she understood what it was like to be five years old and escape the clutches of a monster, but still be terrified about what was going to happen to you.

While she thought it was a good idea, Brian disagreed.

Vehemently.

He thought it was too dangerous, but Hayley thought that as long as he was with her, Jay Turner wasn't going to be stupid enough to try coming after her again.

Besides, as far as they knew Jay was already long gone. Yes, he wanted her dead, but more than that he wanted to be in control, and going to prison was one of the worst things that could happen to a control freak. If it came down to a choice between getting his revenge on her or self-preservation, Hayley believed that he was going to choose self-preservation every time.

“We didn't argue, we discussed,” Brian said tightly.

She huffed a mirthless laugh. “I don’t think using the words, ‘I forbid you to leave this house until Jay Turner is in custody’ can be construed as a discussion.”

“I didn't say forbid.” He huffed.

She laughed again, more genuinely this time. “You totally did.”

One side of his mouth curved up. “Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t have said it like that, but I'm just worried about you, Hayley. When you called me, trapped inside your house, with that man throwing rocks roused in fire through your window, I’d never been so scared in my life. I don’t want anything like that to happen ever again.”

It was hard to argue with that sentiment.

And she supposed it was kind of sweet. Not the attempting to forbid her to do something thing, but that he cared enough about her to worry like that. She knew it went deeper than him just being her bodyguard. They’d been friends for so many years that this wasn't just a job to him.

“I don’t want that to happen again either,” she told Brian. “But you’re not going to let Jay hurt me.”

“No, I won't,” Brian vowed. There was something in his tone, it sounded a little like the way her dad talked to her mom. That air of protectiveness that you had when you cared about someone so deeply that even the thought of something or someone hurting them hurt you too.

Hayley had no idea what was going on with Brian. Last night when they’d been reminiscing about the past, he’d been looking at her with that weird expression on his face again. She still wanted to believe it was because he was finally seeing her as something other than just a friend, but she was also cautious about getting her hopes up too high.

“We’re here,” Brian announced, and her attention snapped immediately from wishing that her feelings for him were reciprocated to where she was and why they were here.

“I hope this works. I hope I can get through to her,” she said, more to herself than Brian.

“You will,” he said confidently.

She wished she had the same faith in herself as Brian. Usually, she was pretty good at getting the children she worked with to open up to her, it was like they sensed she understood what they were going through. But Kinsley was different because Kinsley had seen her father attack her sister and knew—as young as she was—just how dangerous her dad could be.

“Wait in the car until I come around,” Brian told her. “And then stay close as we walk to the door. I’ll stay just a step behind you just in case Jay Turner is here and decides to try anything.”

Hayley had to fight against her natural inclination to object to being so closely monitored. It wasn't since she was a very little girl that someone else had watched over her like this and it felt odd, even if it was Brian and she was hopelessly in love with him.

But Jay really could be out there somewhere.

And he really might take advantage of this opportunity to come after her again.

So, she nodded her assent and waited semi-patiently while Brian got out, walked around to her door, opened it for her, and shielded her body with his own as she climbed out. Hayley didn't really like the idea of Brian putting himself between her and potential danger. She didn't want him to get hurt because of her. She knew it was his job and that he was well trained, but she didn't know how she would live with herself if Jay hurt—or even worse—killed him in an attempt to get at her.

The walk to the door was uneventful, and Hayley punched in the code then slid her key into the lock and let them both inside. The group home where Kinsley was staying before she was placed with a family was a large one. Several dozen children lived here at any one time, from newborn babies to teenagers soon to age out of the system. The place was well run, the children were well taken care of, and the staff was wonderful, attempting to make the kids feel cared about and not just doing their jobs and making sure their physical needs were attended to.

“I’ll go see where Kinsley’s room is,” she told Brian and headed for the desk in the foyer to press the buzzer. Although this was a home with so many people coming and going, social workers, therapists, doctors and nurses, and often police officers as well, there was a reception desk that was usually manned so that visitors could be directed to the correct room.

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