Page 30 of Tapped

“None taken. I’ve yet to find anything that he is good at,” she mutters and finishes making her coffee. Her head pops up and her dark eyes hit me. “I’m sorry. You’ve been up all night. I’m so distracted. Do you want a cup?”

I’m about to answer when Hugh butts in again. “Evie, I need to take Chase. You know it’s the best thing for him right now.”

Evie is about to argue again, but I’ve given them time to sort out their family drama. I can’t stay quiet any longer. “You remember what you heard on the recording, right?”

She tips her head and frowns.

“What recording?” Hugh asks.

Neither Evie nor I answer him and don’t break our gaze.

“He said a lot of things,” she whispers. “Every single word has been circling my mind. I couldn’t forget them if I tried.”

“He had one demand.”

Her coffee cup hits the counter, and she has to reach back and hold onto the edge.

“Dammit, what are you two talking about?” Hugh demands.

“I don’t have kids. Can’t imagine what you’re going through, Evie. You’re scared. You don’t want your son out of your sight, I get it. But remember what you heard on that tap.”

She looks like she has to swallow over a boulder, and her words are rough. “He demanded that it happen when we’re together.”

I nod.

“Shit,” Hugh hisses. “Is there anything else I need to be made aware of?”

I don’t take my eyes off her. “Think about it. He might be safer away from you than with you until we can find him.”

Her dark eyes well before she turns away from her father and me. She swipes at her face before picking up her mug to take a sip.

“Evie,” her father calls for her.

Gone is the agreeable daughter. She slams a hand flat on the counter followed by her mug. “I know, okay? I know what I have to do, dammit.”

I exchange a glance with Hugh right when Chase calls from upstairs. “Grandpa! Can I bring my Legos and my tablet and my rocket ship?”

Hugh pulls in a deep breath. “Bring it all, buddy.”

Evie lets out a whimper.

Hugh moves across the room, turns his daughter, pulls her into his chest, and she doesn’t argue. He looks over her head straight to me. “Is it your job to find out who Jeff paid to do this?”

Fuck.

It’s not my job. I work drugs. We have one focus—it sets us apart from every other federal agency.

This is not my responsibility.

I cross my arms. “No. It’s our responsibility to alert you. We’re drug investigators, not protection detail. Not that we have the manpower to do that if we wanted to. We handed it off to Miami PD to investigate. They’re one of the most capable departments in the country.”

He tips his head down to his daughter. “Just for a while, Evie. You know we’ll keep him safe. No one will touch that child. I love him like I love you. We’ll arrange for you to be with security day and night, and I’ll keep someone at the house with us, even though Chase won’t leave our property. We’ll get through this.”

I watch her knuckles whiten as she grips his freshly pressed dress shirt. I can’t take this.

“But it is my case,” I blurt. Hugh’s gaze angles to me. “I’ll make it my job. I’ll find whoever Jeff paid and make sure they’ll never touch your family.”

That’s when Chase comes lugging down the stairs, a bag bumping and thumping behind him on every step. He’s dressed, but that doesn’t mean he matches. He’s wearing a Dolphins T-shirt and swim trunks covered in anchors. Evie pushes away from her father. Whatever makeup she put on is now smeared under her eyes as she tries to get herself together.

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