Page 40 of Menace

His heart ached for his friend but he said nothing, just leant forward and gently surrounded the two of them with his arms, hugging her gently.

“I’ll always be there for the two of you. You can count on me. Always.”

Little did he know the two of them would be needing him sooner than they both realised.

Harper and Ryder had been back at Asa’s compound for about five weeks when the call he’d been dreading came.

“Asa, is everything okay?”

“The fuckers are getting closer, Ride. The Italians have stepped up their surveillance of my compound. We cleaned out a nest of them last night but the fuckers just moved to a new location. They launched drones this morning, we were lucky it wasn’t when Harper was out walking with Ry. This time. It’s time to move them.”

His gut clenched. He didn’t want to lose them but he was a realist.

Harper and her boy wasn’t safe anymore.

He agreed with Asa, it was time.

“You think it’s time for them to go to the States.”

“Yes.”

“He’s so damned small still, Asa. There’s no way he’ll be able to make such a long flight without screaming his head off. It will freak out the other passengers and not even thinking about what it will do to Harper. She’ll lose her mind.”

Asa hummed. “I have a plan, Ride. I’ll reach out to Dom and see if we can arrange something with him. If not we’ll charter a private jet and get them there in easy stages. I have to go to Dublin towards the end of next month, that can be stage one. They stay over for a couple of days or so then go on to Miami, stay over there for a day or two then fly to Savannah. It should give Ry time to get used to flying.”

“Hmm, that sounds like it could work.” Rider agreed reluctantly.

He didn’t like the idea of them on a plane for hours but there was no other way.

“I’ll call when I have an update.” Asa said.

“Thanks, brother. You keep your eyes open and I’ll see what we can do from our side. Those fucking Italians need something else to focus on. Let’s see what my prez says about stirring shit up with them. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Ending the call he sat behind his desk staring at the photos on it.

Him and Penny, another of the two of them with Delene as a new-born, several of Delene and the new one, him with Harper and Ry.

He touched a finger to Penny’s smiling face.

“You would have liked her, Penny, and she would have liked you too. She’s a good mother, just like you.”

Withdrawing his finger he stared into the laughing eyes in the photograph.

“I love you, baby. Forever.” He whispered.

TWELVE

Harper

Present Day - Hello USA

It had taken several days to get here. To Miami.

Our plane had hopped from Johannesburg to Dublin where we stayed in a hotel for two days and from there we flew to Miami.

Staring out of my hotel room window I marvelled at the fact that I was actually here, in Miami. I, a girl who had never set foot outside of South Africa, was standing in a fancy hotel room in yet another country. And not just any other country, the United States, a country I had always dreamed of visiting. Every time Pixie had gone to conventions I had found reasons to stay in Cape Town. The biggest reason had been my fear of the authorities picking me up for using a fake passport.

I was still fearful even though Asa had assured me our passports were perfect.

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