Sugar Daddy: A Single Dad Next Door Romance

by Lara Swann

  I run through the overgrown scrub and farmland, trying to be as fast and simultaneously quiet as I can.

  My gun is hanging low at my side and every instinct is on high alert. I left the truck further back - driving right up to the farm with guns blazing sounded appealing but it could far too easily go wrong, and I didn’t want anyone to catch sight of me as I approached. I have no idea exactly what I’m facing here, but I don’t want to risk turning this into a hostage situation.

  My assumption is that if they are here with Kelsey, they won’t be expecting company. They’re out in the middle of nowhere, nothing and no one around and they have no reason to suspect anyone is looking for her. That should make things a hell of a lot easier - if I don’t ruin it.

  Of course, my other assumption is that they’re here at all, but I’m not thinking about that right now. I can’t. All I can do is follow this lead and hope to hell it works out. I’m all too aware that this is the only damn lead I have.

  I have to be right about it. I have to.

  I slow down a little bit as I get closer to what looks like the main farm buildings. They’re bundled together in a group and I’m lucky that this place has obviously been long abandoned - otherwise the patches of trees and scrub that’s currently covering me would probably be cut back for grazing or crops.

  I don’t see any sign of movement or hear anything coming from that direction and the tense knot in my stomach gets tighter, but I refuse any other acknowledgment that I might be wrong.

  As I move in, I circle around at the same time, so that I can see the place from different angles and come up with an approach. Though, right now, it doesn’t look populated enough to need an approach. This isn’t like some enemy base camp. It also gives me the best chance of spotting—

  I freeze, staring at what’s just come into view in between a couple of the buildings.

  Kelsey’s car.

  My first instinct is fierce, whooping joy. It’s the right place. I’ve got this right. She’s here.

  She’s here!

  But as I move even more cautiously forward and the state of the car becomes obvious that joy quickly turns to dread. The back half of it is caved in completely and the rest has dents and bumps all around like it’s been knocked all over the place. It’s almost like someone started trying to crush it, then gave up and decided it wasn’t worth it.

  Oh fuck. Fuck.

  If she was in that…if that was what happened last night when she was off road, in the dark, unable to see anything…

  I push the image out of my mind. It’s a fucking distraction and I can’t believe I’m letting it get in the way - but this is so much harder than the Marines ever was. Then, it wasn’t personal. I didn’t have any stakes caught up in it except my own life, and I’ve never valued that too highly. This…this is totally different.

  I tell myself that it wouldn’t have been that bad - that it’s probably something they’ve done since, to set it up for a fake accident or something - because if it’s not…I have no idea what kind of shape Kelsey will be in now.

  It only increases my urgency - and my tension - as I continue making my way toward the buildings. They cover runs out, but I still haven’t seen anyone, so I figure I can use the buildings themselves as cover. I look around carefully before making a run for it, dashing in between two buildings - an old farm house and a block of stables, I think - and freezing again, forcing myself to barely breathe as I listen for any sounds, any reaction to my movement.

  It’s a long moment before I finally hear something - a grunt and a slight shifting of feet - from somewhere beyond the farmhouse. I wait again, a while longer, and eventually my patience is rewarded with the sound of someone walking, another’s greeting, and then the murmur of conversation.

  Two people. Together. That’s harder.

  I don’t hear anything else, though, so I creep forward until I can peer around the front of the farmhouse.

  There’s a truck and a van parked there, in front of Kelsey’s car - but what catches my attention is the two guys chatting to each other, each one with a cigarette in hand. They both have guns hanging from their hips, but they don’t seem particularly alert or concerned about anything - and it’s also not obvious that they’re guarding or protecting anything in particular. I hesitate, unsure exactly how to do this. Storming a group of dangerous people by myself isn’t something I’ve done a lot of, and everything I learned in the Marines feels a very long time ago now.

  If I have to search every building, room by room, then I will - but that’s definitely not the most efficient or least risk option.

  I watch as one of them throws his cigarette down, crushes it under his heel and then walks away again, over toward a large building mostly obscured by the large truck sitting outside the front of the farmhouse.

  The other man turns and walks nearer to the farmhouse - to me - and I seize the opportunity. I come at him from behind, smashing the butt of my gun against his temple and grab him before he can turn around, grunts and muffled sounds coming out of his mouth as I repeat the movement a couple more times, before his eyes roll backward in his head and he slumps against me. I’m breathing hard, adrenaline running through me and I look up, expecting to see other people coming running at the sound of the scuffle. I didn’t give him the chance to make much noise, but there was definitely some.

  Nothing. No one. Not even the guy I saw before.

  What the hell is going on here?

  I know they’re not expecting anything like this, but still…

  I glance down at the guy in my arms and lower him to the floor, still taking pains to be quiet even though it doesn’t seem to matter that much. Unconscious, but he’ll be fine. Good. I’d rather not get a felony if I can help it. If I can’t…well, damn, I’ll get a good lawyer. They’ve abducted Kelsey.

  I creep forwards toward the truck, using that as cover before peering around it at the other building opposite - a large barn from the looks of things. The guy I saw before is walking along the side of it, moving around to where I assume the front is - and I see why he didn’t come back to check out the noise. He’s got his phone to his ear and he’s chatting away on it. I shake my head. Maybe these guys really weren’t meant to be doing guard duty. Maybe they’re just…waiting for something?

  My gut clenches as that thought hits me - and my mind wants to spin out of control with what it might be. I force those thoughts down and it’s easier now. I’m in the middle of it all. My heart is racing and my focus narrows as I cautiously move forward.

  There’s no cover between me and the barn, or this man, but there also doesn’t seem to be anyone else around, so I just walk brazenly up to the guy. With his distraction and me behind him, I’m assuming that if he notices anything he’ll think I’m his companion.

  He turns towards me when I’m within a few meters, a casual question on his lips - and I dive toward him before he can react more than that, knocking his hand away from his gun and punching him in the face. It’s louder and messier and he tries to give me a few clumsy return shots, but I duck those and keep doing it. His attempts to get to his gun don’t work and although he’s grunting and cursing, and there’s the sound of flesh hitting flesh, there doesn’t seem to be any cry of alarm. He slumps forward after a few moments and I bounce on my toes as I look around, my breath coming hot and fast.

  As I walk along the barn in the direction the other guy was going, every sense alert for something, I start to hear noises and voices from inside the barn - and my chest tightens and leaps all at once. There. It’s got to be there. That’s where she is.

  She’s got to be there. She’s got to be okay.

  I creep along the edge, but when I get to the front I quickly realize it’s entirely open. I risk a quick look inside and make out a few figures toward the back, but I don’t linger. I want to. I want to know she’s okay. I want to watch and wait and look for her. As it is, I couldn’t even make her out specifically. But I don’t dare do more - if an
yone were to casually glance back, they’d see me outlined in silhouette easily.

  I curse to myself. That’s the guns blazing option. But I can’t risk that. There has to be another way…something…

  It’s a big barn. And everything here is in a state of disrepair.

  Urgency tugging at me, I jog lightly back the way I came, making my way around the entirety of the barn to try to judge what I’ve got to work with. I have to be quicker now - there are two guys down and they could be spotted at any moment. I really don’t want to risk this turning messy. I don’t know whether there are any guys outside the barn, but I get the feeling there aren’t. This doesn’t look like a big operation or a lot of people - and the guys I took down were obvious amateurs. I can’t count on that for the guys in the barn.

  It’s on the opposite long side of the barn that I finally find what I’m looking for - a small, side door.

  Oh thank god.

  I try it and it doesn’t want to open, it’s stiff and obviously disused, but it’s also weak and with a light shove, it gives way. I wait for my eyes to adjust before stepping inside and scanning the area around me. It looks like a disused cattle barn - with railings that probably made up pens running down the side opposite me. On this side, there’s just old equipment and various storage boxes. I breathe a sigh of relief that there’s plenty to hide behind and the people I saw are blocked off from view.

  I check my gun and slowly move forward. I know where they are - I saw the vague area just before, and I can hear them now too. Some light cries have me stepping forward a little quicker, the pain in them awakening every protective instinct I have. I’ve tried to be careful - to do this right - but all of that disappears in the sudden rush to get there. To make sure Kelsey is okay.

  I hear her voice - I can’t make out the words - but just her voice is enough to lift me up.

  She’s alive. She’s alive and just beyond these boxes!

  There’s another voice - deeper, lower, and if I tried I could probably understand it, but the blood rushing through my head is too much. Yelling too, though it isn’t Kelsey.

  Oh god, what’s happening?

  I have to force myself to slow down as I approach the edge of the boxes separating me from them - I still can’t see them, and I need to do this right. I can’t go charging in there.

  I stop by the edge, and cautiously peer around, my gun in hand.

  The scene hits me right away - Kelsey tied to a chair to my left, a man sitting closer at a table to my right and a broad, burly guy walking up to Kelsey with—a metal pipe?—in his hands.

  What the fuck?

  “Arms or legs?” The creep asks, grinning at her, and it’s not until I hear those words with the raised metal bar in his hand that my brain puts it together—and everything in me explodes in one impossible moment.

  A scream rips out of me, pure rage and fury and so much more, as the idea of stealth completely gives way to just getting her out of that fucking situation.

  I shoot him. Somehow, through the red haze clouding my vision and with my whole body tensed and furious, I manage a decent enough shot to catch him in the shoulder. He cries out - and then everything goes to chaos.

  The metal pipe drops to the floor, I get off another shot…and another…everything I thought a moment earlier about avoiding a felony disappearing in the need to fix this. To get her out. To make sure she’s okay and these thugs never, never get to hurt her.

  He goes down a moment later - and someone else is screaming - and then a bullet flashes past my ear and I dive back behind the boxes.

  Shit. The other guy.

  Fucking hell. Forget all those intentions about doing this right. One look at Kelsey and I lose every instinct I’ve ever had. They’re all just replaced with her. With the need to protect her.

  I didn’t get one single shot off at that guy when I had the element of surprise in my favor, because I was so focused on the one standing over Kelsey with a fucking metal pope.

  There’s another shot and my heart rises up to my throat. Behind cover, I can’t see where that went…who that might have…

  Fuck it.

  I can’t risk it. I come out again, my gun up in front of me, aiming at the place he last was. He’s not there anymore. Fuck.

  I dive, just before another shot comes over my head, scanning around for the source - and see him as I crash to the ground. I roll, my gun firing off several rounds in that direction. A cry tells me one of them hit its mark, but I keep rolling, anything to keep moving and out of the line of fire. I jump up a moment later, trying to make my movements erratic as I realize there’s no cover here. Nothing. Except the post he’s standing behind.

  I dart forward, needing to get closer, and he swings around to try to fire another shot at me. He gets one off first, but his movements are jagged and it only clips my shoulder, leaving a small trail of fire - but I know it’s just a scratch. Mine hits the mark - at this range, I can hardly miss - straight between the eyes and he goes down without another sound.

  I’m moving past him even before he falls. Now that he’s out of my way, I don’t care who the fuck he is - there’s only one thing here that matters.

  My heart jumps right back into my throat as I see the chair, knocked over on its side with Kelsey still attached to it.

  “Kelsey!”

  I can’t help yelling her name as I run forward, jumping to crouch beside the chair. I stroke her face immediately, brushing her hair back, and everything in me freezes when she doesn’t respond.

  “Kelsey? Kelsey, I’m here, can you hear me?”

  I have no idea what they might have done to her. I don’t know what’s wrong. She looks bruised and battered to all hell and I know that in a few hours, I’m going to want to go back and kill them all over again, slower, harder, but right now…all I can think about is the woman in front of me. The most perfect, gorgeous woman I’ve ever met - inside and out.

  I don’t know how to help her and I’m pretty sure that you’re not supposed to move someone - but I’ll be damned if I have her tipped in a sideways chair and restrained for a moment longer. I scramble at the bonds for a moment - before glancing around and grabbing the knife from the metal pipe bastard’s belt - cutting them and gently trying to guide her out of the chair, until she’s lying on the floor.

  She groans as I move her and I think it’s the single greatest sound I’ve ever heard.

  “Kelsey? Kelsey, I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” I try to tell her, but I don’t think she hears me, and with every moment I can’t rouse her, the fear in my stomach gets worse.

  I grab my cell phone and dial an ambulance - wondering why the hell I didn’t do that already - telling them to hurry before I crouch back over her, stroking her head slowly. Her eyes flutter a little bit, but they don’t open. I run my hands over her arms and legs, but I can’t tell if anything is broken - and I wouldn’t know what to do if they were. All I can do is wait.

  What if I was too late? What if she’s not okay?

  I try not to think it, but now that I haven’t got a mission to win or problems to solve, it’s the only thing I can think.

  “Kelsey, come back to me. Please. I’m so sorry—so sorry I wasn’t there—when you called—when you left—I should have come with you. I should have stopped this. I’m sorry.” I gasp, leaning forward to kiss her, staring into the bruised and swollen face that still looks like the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen. I grab her hand, holding it close between my own as I look at her with tears in my eyes. “I love you too, Kelsey. I love you too. Please, give me a chance to tell you that.”

  * * *

  The next few hours pass in a storm of activity that I barely register.

  When it finally gets through to me that Ken is in the room too, I warily untie him as well - and at his urging, call the cops. I should have thought of that already, but all of my mind is occupied with Kelsey right now. I really don’t give a damn about anything else.

  Just my
luck, they arrive at about the same time - I guess reporting an abduction and double murder will speed the police along, even if it was in self defense and they were all trespassing on private property.

  The ambulance refuses to take me with them - they almost hesitate over taking Kelsey when they realize that there are two other unconscious men here to treat too - but in the end, it’s obvious she’s the worse case and they just leave someone to tend to the guys I knocked out instead.

  Then the police try to hold me up with dozens of questions when all I really want to do is race to my truck and then to the hospital. I need to know she’s okay. If the paramedics hadn’t reassured me that she was alive and should be okay, I wouldn’t have stuck around for anything. Whatever the consequences.

  As it is, I try to explain the whole situation as clearly as I can - but I’m not going to lie, it’s a fucking complicated mess, and even I don’t quite understand all of it. I’ve got no idea who these guys really are or anything other than the blatant fact they kidnapped Kelsey. I stick to telling them Kelsey was working on a story to expose something, explain about the message I got last night - and even, at their insistence, let them listen to it, though I wasn’t going to share that with anyone - and how I followed up on some of Kelsey’s leads to find the Mayor’s link to this place and just got really damn lucky.

  I’m not sure they’re satisfied, but in the end I tell them that I’m leaving, and if they want to arrest me I’ll be at the hospital. I think the only reason they accept that is because they’re more interested in Ken anyway, who is spilling everything. I’m not quite sure what happened there and I can’t bring myself to think about it now, but something must have. I feel a grim sense of satisfaction at that, too.

  Kelsey did it. You always knew she would. She’s got that spark in her.

  My concern wasn’t her capability…it was just what it would cost. And that’s the only thing I can think about as I push the truck to the limits getting to the hospital.

  I don’t find anything out for what seems like forever, but eventually they let me in to see her and a doctor comes around. She’s still not conscious and the longer I go without seeing her look at me - open those gorgeous eyes and see me - the more I can’t shake the fear inside me, even though they tell me she should be okay.