Page 52 of Off Limits Daddy

"Have a good day."

I walked out of the classroom but lingered by the door, peeking in through the window. Aiden was still drawn in on himself, but the teacher had squatted down by his desk and was talking to him. Her expression looked soft and gentle, and while I wanted to stay, reluctantly, I left the school.

I headed to the gym. It was time to get back to work. To be honest, I was eager for it. I loved being a dad and taking care of the house, but a little reprieve from that was nice. Mostly, I needed a distraction from thoughts of Veronica. How had a woman who clearly came from a large family decided to go it alone in the world, focused only on work? She hadn’t given any indication of a difficult home life. When she spoke of her siblings, her tone suggested she was fond of them. Where were they? Had they left, and that was why Veronica appeared alone? Or was it by choice?

Fuck.Focus on work, Ashworth. I forced myself to review the reports over the last month and check on the programming we had starting for the New Year. As predicted, our membership was up, and my goal was to have programs and support in place to help these people reach the goals that had them joining in the first place, including virtual live streams of our classes.

I was just getting ready to give Brett a call to check in when my phone rang with the school’s number.

My gut clenched. Something was wrong. “This is Duncan.”

“Mr. Ashworth. Everything is okay, but I wanted to let you know that we had a little incident involving Aiden.”

“Incident?” She made it sound like Aiden misbehaved, which was impossible.

“A man tried to lure Aiden to leave with him.”

“What? Who?”

“I don’t know. We’ve called the police and they’re talking to Aiden now. He’s very shy?—”

“I’m on my way.” I was out the door before I finished my sentence.

“Aiden is safe, Mr. Ashworth. Please don’t worry.”

“Please don’t tell me how to feel about my son.”

“Of course.”

“I need to call his…” What the fuck did I call Veronica? “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I hung up and immediately called Veronica. “Someone tried to snatch Aiden from school.”

“What? Is he okay?”

“I’m told he is. The police are there. I’m heading to the school.”

Who was after him? What would his social worker, or the sourpuss Ms. Racine, do when they learned of this incident? Would they blame me?

“I’ll meet you there.”

Her steady tone helped settle me. I was a big man who most people believed could knock someone’s block off. I suppose I could if it meant protecting Aiden. But I didn’t kid myself. I was no match for members of the Crew who apparently had no problem terrorizing children. But she knew exactly what she was dealing with. She’d know what to do to keep Aiden safe. I hoped to hell that her plan was for me to stick with Aiden twenty-four, seven because there was no way he was leaving my sight.

15

Veronica

The moment I got the call, my heart raced. My mind raced with the worst-case scenario. The drive to Aiden's school was a blur as I worried for the boy and Duncan.

I pulled up front, leaving my car at the curb as I rushed toward the building. At the locked door, I showed my ID and announced that I was with the FBI. The door opened, and I hurried to the office. Duncan paced like a caged lion in the principal's office. Aiden sat in a chair, his head down, his body suggesting he was lost inside himself.

As I approached, Duncan's eyes met mine, a silent plea in their depths.

One of the officers glanced my way. "We didn't call the FBI."

"I did." Duncan's voice told the officer to back off.

"We believe this is part of an ongoing investigation."

"You enrolled a child who is part of an FBI investigation?" The principal, a well-dressed, middle-aged woman, asked. "That's something we should have known about, Mr. Ashworth. We're not equipped to handle?—"

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