Page 45 of Don't Back Down

“One for Lili,” he said, and handed it to her. “And one for Mama, ’cause we love her.”

Lili beamed, bounced over to where Rachel was sitting, and laid a cookie in her lap.

“Wuv her,” she said, and then went back to Cameron and climbed back up in his lap before taking a bite of her cookie.

“Do I get a bite?” Cameron asked.

“Get a bite,” Lili said, and shoved it under Cameron’s nose.

He took a little bite and then rolled his eyes in pretend ecstasy. “Mmmm, good,” he said.

“Mmmm, good,” Lili echoed, then eyed Ghost lying at Cameron’s feet and pointed. “Ghoss bite?”

Cameron pulled the dog biscuit out of his pocket. “Ghost eats this kind.”

“I do Ghoss,” Lili said as she bailed out of his lap again, took the treat, and held it under Ghost’s nose.

“Bite?”

Ghost gently took the treat from her baby fingers and then chewed and swallowed.

Lili laughed. “All gone.”

Cameron sat her back in his lap before she started feeding her cookie to Ghost, because sugar wasn’t on his menu. As soon as she settled and started eating her own cookie, he was finally able to talk to Rachel.

“Lili looks great. Is she all better?” he asked.

Rachel nodded. “Yes, and with no lingering aftereffects.”

“How about you?” Cameron asked.

Rachel touched the back of her head. “Staples will be out next week. Headaches are down to about one a day. We’re getting back to normal.”

Cameron hesitated briefly, then went in headfirst. “I have a gut feeling that your normal is just an illusion.”

Rachel frowned. “What do you mean? What do you know that I don’t?”

He shrugged. “Nothing specific, but I keep going over what you said about Biggers being shocked to see you when he broke into the house.”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed, and Cameron knew she was thinking back to that moment.

“Yes, I know he was. He came in all wild and running, then saw my face and froze. He said, ‘You!’ like it was a question of disbelief, and then I rushed at him and the fight ensued. But what are you getting at?”

“If he didn’t know who lived here, it also means he didn’t know the kid he came after was yours, and he didn’t care if he left you dying to get her. It wasn’t just a random kidnapping. You’re too far off the beaten path for him to just ‘hope’ there’s a kid living here he can snatch. He broke out of prison, so someone had to scope you out first to send him here. And that begs the question, out of all the babies within a fifty-mile radius of Jubilee, why Lili?”

All the color faded from Rachel’s face.

“What are you saying?”

“Be careful. Don’t assume anything. Be wary of strangers.”

Rachel’s eyes welled. “You’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry, honey. But I’d rather you were scared than dead. I’m going to do a little digging on my own, but for now, you and Louis keep this to yourself. If there’s something shady going on in Jubilee, as the CEO of the family corporation I take it as part of my duty to root it out.”

Rachel had a knot in her stomach, but her brother’s steady gaze and calm voice were enough to settle the panic. “I never thought of what happened in this way. It’s an eye-opener, for sure, and I won’t let down my guard again,” she said.

“You didn’t let down your guard to begin with,” Cameron said. “You were invaded. There’s a difference. And there’s a whole mountain full of people like you who won’t put up with that shit.”

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