“I hurted you. I’m hiding.” Shiloh gathered her hair in two handfuls pulled across her face, literally hiding behind her hair. “I’m sorry, Miss Alace.”
“You’re going to injure yourself doing this. I’m okay. Just—” Her sweaty hands slipped slightly, and Alace’s stomach flipped over, afraid she would drop the girl. “Get back up here, Shiloh.”
Hair released, the little girl latched onto Alace’s shirt and yanked herself back upright. Her emotional changes were mercurial, turning on a dime as she reacted to everything in her narrow universe.
“Come here, troublemaker.” Owen stepped in behind Shiloh and lifted her, easily taking her back from Alace.
The sudden emptiness of her arms was wrong and disturbing, causing her skin to prickle into gooseflesh. Alace scanned the visible room, relaxing when she saw Kelly seated on the floor next to the car seat where Lila still slept.
“She’s been real focused on hair recently. No idea why, except her own is drop-dead gorgeous. Doc and I are learning all about hair care. Who knew there were so many details and options?” Owen kissed Shiloh’s cheek, then a brief raspberry blown against her skin had her giggling again. He set her feet on the floor, receiving no resistance from the girl, who immediately abandoned the adults and ran to where Kelly sat. He pulled her to his other side, away from Lila’s car seat, and she settled next to him, head leaned against his shoulder. “Watch.” He tipped his head towards the kids, and Alace saw what he meant, gaze tracking Shiloh’s hand as it rose to wrap fingers in Kelly’s hair. “She likes you. That’s bigger than you know. She doesn’t like or trust most people. Doc said given her age when her folks OD’d, paired with bad foster experiences and then all the shit with Warrant—it shouldn’t be a surprise that attachment is hard when Kelly’s been the only constant in her life. Her wanting to be friends with you is huge.”
Alace transferred her gaze to Owen, staring into his face. He was telling her she mattered here, inside this family he was building from scratch, including her in his hard-won refuge. She let the muscles around her mouth and eyes soften and gave him a single slow blink. “Let’s get busy.”
“Yah, boss.” His chuckle cut through the sting of that title, the humor reminding her he didn’t see her in the role as an impediment to his own, but an accoutrement instead.
Her current position wasn’t anything she’d ever aimed for, but Alace had fearlessly taken the opportunity when things in her own history went sideways. An image of a smoke column rising in the rearview mirror of a car surfaced and reminded her what not to do. Daily, she touched on the flaws and faults rampant in her previous handler/hunter relationship. Determined not to repeat the past, Alace would push towards a better solution. Always.
She looked past him at Kelly, who had an arm around Shiloh’s shoulders and a hand on the blanket covering Lila. Two steps later, she quietly dropped the diaper bag to the floor at the end of the couch, then leaned over and touched Kelly’s head, slipping her fingers around the base of his neck protectively. “We’ll be in the kitchen. Come get me when she wakes up.” He looked up and nodded, then returned his attention to the show on the TV. On impulse she bent farther and tucked a strand of Shiloh’s hair behind her ear. “Enjoy the cartoons, pretty girl.” The bright eyes and quick smile received in return were more than enough payment for her efforts. Alace understood Owen more in that instant, his reasons for keeping the kids brought to life in the flesh and bone beauty before her.
This might be the first time she’d actually been inside this house, but the real estate agent’s video tour had been professionally done. So, able to move confidently, she angled towards the back of the house, coming to a stop inside the archway to the kitchen when she saw Doc standing next to the refrigerator, a glass of what looked like lemonade in one hand.
“Hello.” She remained in place, allowing Owen to pass her, startled to realize there had been no prickle of unease as a result of having him at her back. Her initial meeting of Darren “Doc” Marchant had gone well, even better than she’d hoped. He’d proven himself nearly immune to unease, not falling into the typical pattern of men in her presence where they took either a tactic of trying to out-intimidate her or were dismissive of her in some way. Doc had ridden a different line, one of comfortable acceptance of everything he’d known about her and the few things she exposed during their conversation. Owen had taken the two older kids into the backyard to run off some energy for a few minutes, giving Alace an opportunity she’d capitalized on to ensure Doc understood his place in the grand scheme of things.
He’d surprised her in a number of ways.
“Few things matter more to me than making a difference in a child’s life. I believe you and Owen will provide me with unique opportunities to turn those desires into a tangible reality.” Doc popped a freshly washed grape into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed, lips curved into a slight smile as if he had zero cares in the world. “Without compromising my morals.”
“Care to elaborate on your perception of this opportunity?” Alace tore her gaze from him, glancing to the side to compulsively check the volume on the baby monitor for the third time since Owen had gone outside.
“As Owen has explained it, you both feel your responsibility lies chiefly in stopping the perpetrators. With my assistance, as a team we can expand to include initial care for the victims. Giving you ample time to deal with your piece of the initiative, without conceding the criticality of rapid triage and first aid.” One of the kids shrieked outside, the loud sound filled with trilling laughter, accentuated by the roaring of whatever monster Owen was pretending to be. “That’s a win-win, no matter which way you look at it.”
Doc casually offered the remainder of the drink to Owen, who took it, upending the glass and draining it. Alace blinked, careful to keep her features smooth. Their unconscious interaction wasn’t the behavior of two people who scarcely knew each other. The behavior verged on couple territory, something she might do with Eric.
“When did you say you actually met Doc, Owen?” He was standing at the sink to rinse the glass and glanced up at her, then back down as he worked.
“I’d scouted him before I went up to the cabin but placed the first call only after getting home with the kids. He came over right away.” Upside-down glass draining in the strainer, he gave her an openly puzzled look. “I told you already. Why are you asking again now?”
“Just curious.” She took another step into the room, quickly marking all known camera and security locations. “You have to change anything since you guys moved in?” There was a tiny pinhole camera beside the back door she hadn’t installed, and what looked like a laser trip sensor on this side of the archway, set at about knee height. “Was everything like you wanted?”
“We’ve had these conversations, too, Alace. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” Without breaking their stare, with a bare movement, he flicked a finger at the two locations she’d identified and then pointed out two more. What he didn’t do was call them out blatantly to Doc.
Even more interesting.
Either Doc didn’t know about any of the security measures Alace had installed—and after the massive argument during the men’s drive from New Jersey to Colorado, she didn’t believe it would be the case—or Owen hadn’t told him about his additional after-market enhancements. Not that she blamed Owen for stepping things up. Frankly, she was embarrassed her research into the neighborhood hadn’t uncovered the two festering boils they had to deal with now.