Executive Protection(42)

“He was hairy and had green eyes.” Sophie sniffled, no longer crying and now intent on impressing upon Thad what she’d seen. “They glowed.”

“You had a nightmare?”

“He came after me,” she said, traumatized by the realness of her dream.

“Layne can’t get you here. You won’t see him anymore. When you get home, he’ll be gone.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

She relaxed on his lap, leaning back to look up at him. “I don’t like Layne.”

“Yeah, neither does Lucy.”

“He fishes.”

That’s what the girl didn’t like about him?

“I don’t like the fishing house,” Sophie said.

The fishing house must be a rental or second home Layne frequented. “What don’t you like about it?”

“It smells like fish.”

Thad smiled. “Do you like Rosanna?” The investigator in him made him ask. That and an inexplicable protectiveness.

Sophie didn’t answer.

“Do you?” he pressed.

“I like Lucy.”

“Who doesn’t like Lucy?” Thad couldn’t stop his chuckle. “But what about Rosanna?”

“She’s okay.”

“Better than Layne.”

The little girl nodded emphatically, eyes big with certainty. “Lots better.”

“Well, that’s good. You won’t have to live with Layne anymore, just Rosanna.”

The animation faded from Sophie’s face and she looked down.

“What’s the matter?” Thad asked.

She raised her eyes, so solemn and full of gravity no child should have to bear. “I want my mommy.”

A spear drove through his heart at her declaration, followed by a fierce impulse to do something about her sorrow. He’d never felt anything like it before.

Thad rubbed her back gently. “I know you do. I wish I could bring her back to you.”

Sophie snuggled closer to him again. “I like you.”

She liked him. He watched her eyes close, a gesture of utter trust in the adult who held her. Thad didn’t want to let her go. He waited while she drifted off to sleep, staring at her sweet face, overwhelmed by her loss, wishing he could find a way to fill the void. No child should lose their parents, the only family they had. Sophie had been thrown into a cold world and desperately sought warmth.

Thad was concerned over her aversion to Layne and her increasing withdrawal from Rosanna. Rosanna’s situation may have been suitable when she’d first taken Sophie into her home, but that was no longer the case. This poor child was adrift and in need of a soft place to land. And damn if Thad didn’t entertain giving that to her.

Lifting her, he set her down on the mattress and adjusted the blankets so they weren’t twisted. She made a little groaning sound and then fell into deep sleep again. Thad stood and looked down at her, torn apart inside.

His rational side argued that he’d never been against kids. He was only against bringing them into a family that was doomed to break apart. But what was his answer to Sophie’s situation? Her mother had died. Her father hadn’t stuck around when she was born and would never claim responsibility for her. She had been brought into a dysfunctional family and now had no family at all.

Thad could turn away from marriage and babies and prevent an emotional breakup of his own, but what was he supposed to do when a child who wasn’t his was left motherless and the foster home where she lived was no longer a safe haven?

“Now you know why I cried,” he heard a woman’s voice say from behind him. Lucy.

She stood in the doorway. How much had she witnessed? Enough. His wall shot back up into place. “She had a nightmare.” With that he walked to the door. Lucy stepped out of the way, and he passed her.

In his room, he closed the door, but not before seeing Lucy once more. She knew what comforting Sophie had done to him. The lock to his heart had been opened, and his beliefs questioned.





Chapter 10


The next day, Thad drove Lucy and Sophie to Rosanna’s house. It had been pure drama getting Sophie into the car. She didn’t want to leave. Thad was supposed to meet Darcy, but he’d called to push the time back so that he could go with Lucy to drop the child off. Just one look at Lucy confirmed that she felt the same as he did. Were they doing the right thing by taking her back to her foster mom? Lucy said Rosanna had sounded stable on the phone. Happy, revived, relieved. Layne was gone. She’d reclaimed her life and was eager to get Sophie back.

He looked in the rearview mirror as he had several times already. Sophie’s eyes were red but she’d stopped crying. Such a young mind didn’t understand what was happening to her. She was being yanked from one home to another, never having time to adjust, settle in and feel safe. He couldn’t shut off the nagging instinct to do something. The more time he spent with Sophie, the stronger that instinct became.

He pulled to a stop in front of Rosanna’s house and got out. Lucy did, too, and opened the back door.

“Come on, Sophie,” Lucy said.

“No!” Sophie whined. “I don’t want to go!”

Thad opened the other back door and retrieved Sophie’s overnight bag.