Hero Daddy

by Roberts, Laylah

  “I think I’m coming down with something.”

  “Jesus, baby. Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I figured I could make it until the end of the day, but I don’t think I can. Do you think you could take me home?”

  “Yeah, brown eyes, we’re definitely going home. I’ll get Hack to meet us there.”

  “I don’t need a doctor. It’s just the flu or something.”

  “I am not taking risks with your health. Just let me check in with Stone and the boys.” He picked her up and carried her into his office, laying her on the couch. He grabbed his phone.

  “What’s up?” Stone drawled.

  “Betsy’s sick.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Not sure. Gonna get Hack to meet us at home and check her over, can you take over out the front for me and send both boys here?”

  “Leave the boys here. We’ll put Royal on reception. Baron, well, he can keep out back.”

  “Sure?”

  “Yeah. I’ll bring them home later. Go look after your girl.”

  * * *

  “Daddy, I don’ts feel well,” Betsy complained as Ink settled her into bed. She could barely remember the drive home or him carrying her upstairs.

  He’d stripped her off and dressed her in one of her favorite nighties.

  She snuggled in, clasping hold of Floppy who had been hidden under the pile of cushions she’d bought for the bed, pulling him in close. She kept him hidden during the day in case Royal or Baron walked in.

  It had amazed her how well they were all getting on. She was under no illusions that everything would always be perfect. But she never wanted perfection.

  She just wanted happiness.

  “I know you don’t, button,” Ink told her soothingly. He brushed her hair off her face. “I don’t even have a thermometer to take your temperature.” He picked up his phone. “Gonna get one of the guys to pick up some stuff for me. Hack will be here soon to check you over.”

  “Don’t need the doctor.”

  “Well, he’s coming so you’re going to cooperate.”

  She tried to protest, but she started sneezing instead. Her head was throbbing, her throat ached and she just wanted to sleep.

  The sound of Ink talking lulled her into sleep. It wasn’t until she felt her hair being brushed away from her ear that she woke up with a grumble.

  “Shh, it’s okay, button. Hack is just taking your temperature.” Something was pressed into her ear and there was a beep.

  “Yep, it’s 102. Betsy, can you open your mouth wide for me?”

  She opened her eyes with a disgruntled frown. “Wanna sleep.”

  “I know, button,” Ink said soothingly. “Just let Hack check you over and you can sleep. Okay?”

  “Okay.” She suffered through Hack’s ministrations with just a few grumbles. Then when he was finished, Ink tucked her up under the covers.

  “She’s got a very red throat and her glands are swollen. Plus she has a fever,” Hack said to Ink as she closed her eyes. “Keep her quiet. Get fluids into her when you can. If her temperature spikes or you can’t get fluids into her, let me know. I’ll put an IV in for her.”

  “An IV?”

  “Just being careful. I don’t think it will come to that if you make certain she rests and looks after herself.”

  Ink brushed her hair back off her forehead. She sighed happily at his touch.

  “She doesn’t have to look after herself. Not when she has me.”

  * * *

  Something rubbery pressed against her lips and she grumbled, pushing it away.

  “Button, you need to drink this. You haven’t drunk any of the water from your sippy cup.

  “Betsy doesn’t want to drink. Betsy wants to sleep.”

  “We’re back to talking about ourselves in the third person, huh? Come on, button. Drink this for me. You don’t have to do anything but suck.”

  She gave a disgruntled grumble and turned her head away. “Betsy is sick. Betsy doesn’t feel well.”

  “She’ll feel better after a bottle.”

  “A bottle?” She forced her eyes open to see he was sitting on the bed facing her with a baby’s bottle in his hand although it looked bigger than a normal baby’s bottle. “I don’ts need a bottle, Daddy. I a big girl.”

  “Well, I gave you a chance to drink from your sippy cup and you didn’t. Besides, you’re sick and it will be easier to take care of you if I give you fluids like this.”

  He moved so he was sitting on the bed next to her. Then he drew her up against his chest with one arm behind her, steadying her. The teat was placed against her mouth again.

  “Open up.”

  “Open up. Suck. This sounds like a bad porn video.”

  He snorted.

  She closed her eyes, uninterested in doing anything but sleeping. “I hates being sick.”

  “I know, button. And I’m sorry you don’t feel well. But you won’t get better by refusing to drink. You haven’t been potty in hours.”

  Potty?

  “I’s not a baby, Daddy.”

  “Well, a big girl would drink her water, wouldn’t she? Come on now, or I’m going to have to get tough with you.”

  “You would spank me while I’m sick?” she asked, aghast. “That’s just mean, Daddy.”

  “No, I wouldn’t. But I will keep track of all your naughtiness in a notebook. That sounds like a good idea. We’ll call it Betsy’s Bad Girl Notebook.”

  “That sounds like a horrid idea.”

  “Think I’ve got a notebook downstairs we can use. And if you don’t drink from your bottle right now, this is going down as your first infraction.”

  With a sigh, she opened her mouth and let him give her the bottle. She had to admit, the cool water felt good against her scratchy throat. She nearly finished the whole bottle before sleepily pushing it away.

  “Good girl, button. Sleep now. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

  33

  “Damn it, where is Stone?” Ink scowled as he picked up his phone, looking at the time. “We need to leave to make the appointment with the principal.”

  “We could just not go,” Baron suggests.

  “Yep, best we go another time,” Royal added.

  “Or I could just come with you,” she said.

  All three men turned to stare at her. Ink looked stern. Royal seemed incredulous while Baron just appeared puzzled.

  “Ink just had to carry you down the stairs. What makes you think you can go to an appointment?” Baron queried.

  She groaned. “Ink is just overprotective. I rested all weekend. I’m doing much better.”

  “You’re staying here,” Ink told her, pointing at her. “You’re not to move from that couch, understand?”

  She was bundled up on the sofa under a blanket with a bottle of water and some tissues close at hand. Ink was coddling her.

  “I still say I’d be fine.”

  “Ma, your nose is red enough I’m worried that Santa is gonna snatch you up, mistaking you for Rudolf,” Royal told her with a grin.

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “Brat.”

  Ink’s phone rang. “Yeah, Stone, where are you man? Fuck, really? We have to go now if we’re gonna make it. Yeah. Got it.”

  He ended the call. “Stone’s stuck in traffic. There was an accident. Says he’ll be here in twenty.”

  “Go. I’ll be fine.” She still didn’t know why Stone had to babysit her.

  Ink sighed. “All right. But you don’t answer the door to anyone and you don’t get off that couch, am I understood?”

  “Yes, I understand,” she said.

  They all said goodbye, Ink kissing her forehead. She settled under her blankets. Truth was, she didn’t feel like moving at all.

  Ten minutes later, she heard the buzzer go. Who would be at the door? She ignored it. She wasn’t opening the door up for anyone.

  The buzzer continued. Finally, frustrated she got up to go see who
it was. Maybe it was Stone and he’d forgotten the code? She reached the tablet that was integrated into the wall by the elevator and brought up the camera for the front door.

  Her heart nearly stopped. A sob broke free. Fingers shaking, she unlocked the front door and turned off the alarm. Then she raced for her phone which Ink had made certain was charged and in reach.

  Knowing she didn’t have much time, she hit his number.

  “Hey, brown eyes. You okay?”

  “Ink! Forrest’s men are here.” She heard the whir of the elevator.

  “Don’t let them in!”

  “I had to! They were holding a gun to Sunny’s head.”

  “Delay them! I’m on my way!”

  The doors started to open.

  “I will, but Ink if I don’t see you again, I lo—”

  “No! Don’t you do that! You stay alive and tell me!”

  The door opened and Thing Two walked in. He saw her and with an evil grin, raised his gun. He fired. Agony engulfed her arm and she stumbled back. Her head smacked against something hard.

  Then there was nothing.

  * * *

  “Fuck! Betsy? Betsy?”

  “Motherfucking Christ!” Royal swore from the passenger seat. Baron was silent in the backseat.

  Ink did a U-turn, ignoring the honking of horns. “Get Stone on your phone,” he barked at Royal. “Now.”

  He didn’t want to end the call with Sunny. Even though they’d all heard a bang that had sounded very much like a gun shot.

  “Hey, Royal,” Stone’s voice came through the speaker. “I was just trying to reach Ink. The alarm is off at his place.”

  “Enter with caution,” Ink barked. “Some of Forrest’s men came for Betsy. We heard a gun go off. Apparently, they had Sunny.”

  “I’m going in.”

  “We’re three minutes away.”

  The call ended. “Call Brody,” he ordered tersely.

  Royal’s hands shook but he didn’t have time to reassure them both that he’d keep Betsy safe. Because he obviously hadn’t done that.

  Fuck! He’d failed her.

  “Hey,” Brody answered.

  “Brody, some of Forrest’s men came for Betsy. They must have had Sunny hostage. We heard a gunshot through the phone. We’re pulling up there now but I need you to check the camera feed.”

  “Got it,” Brody replied tersely.

  “And find out why he’d come for her now.” For some reason, Forrest had decided to disregard his threat to make public the evidence he had.

  “Both of you wait here,” he demanded as he drove into the garage at his warehouse.

  “Like fuck,” Royal said. Baron still hadn’t said a word.

  “Stay here, I’m not fucking around about this,” he snarled. “Lock the doors. I’ll call you when it’s safe.”

  He took the stairs instead of the elevator. When he reached the main living area, he could hear soft crying.

  “It’s all right, darling. I have you.”

  “Betsy!” he called out, racing into the room.

  Stone turned from where he crouched on the floor, revealing the woman he held in his arms. Tears streaked Sunny’s face and the right side of her face was swollen.

  “Ink!” she called out, sobbing. “I’m so sorry. They took Betsy! They shot her and…and she fell and hit her head. They gagged me, tied me up and then carried her out of here.”

  His entire world started to cave in. Black dots crossed his vision. Get it together, man.

  He heard footsteps behind him and whirled. Royal and Baron moved cautiously into the room.

  “I told you two to stay in the truck,” he barked.

  “She’s our mother,” Royal scowled. Still, Baron said nothing. His face blank.

  Ink ran his fingers through his hair. “Sorry. I just don’t want anything to happen to you two as well. She’d skin me alive.”

  “We can take care of ourselves,” Royal told him.

  He refrained from reminding them they were sixteen. This was all pointless.

  “Stone, call Duke.”

  “Already done.”

  Royal paced back and forth while Baron just stared at the bloody spots on the floor that had obviously been left behind from when Betsy had been shot.

  Fucking shot!

  Ink crouched down by Sunny who was now sitting on the sofa. Her face was pale and she was shivering.

  “Royal, go and get one of Betsy’s blankets.”

  “I’m o-okay,” she said, her teeth rattling.

  “I know,” he said soothingly. “Duke will be here soon, Sunny-girl. Hold on for me.”

  Tears raced down her cheeks and she sobbed. “I’m so sorry, Duke. I tried to fight them off. They got me when I was leaving the mall. I was shopping for Duke’s birthday present. I was trying to do it in secret. I told him I was going out shopping with Jewel. Only she couldn’t make it. I had to beg to get him to let me go out on my own. He’s gonna be so mad at me. They must have drugged me because all I remember was someone grabbing me from behind then a pinprick on my neck. Then I woke up in the back of a van.”

  “Shh.” He sat beside her, pulling her in close. He ran his hand up and down her back. “Duke’s not going to be mad. He’s going to be happy that you’re okay. Is there anything they said? Anything you can tell me that might help?”

  He took the blanket Royal held out and settled it around her shoulders. Baron handed her a box of tissues. She gave them both a tremulous smile.

  “No, I was out of it for most of it. I tried to get away when they were dragging me out from the back of the van, but one of them hit me.” She raised a shaking hand to her swollen face. “When we got here and they were waiting for Betsy to answer the buzzer, they were…they were…”

  She looked ill.

  “What, Sunny-girl?”

  “Discussing ways of getting rid of her body.”

  He made a grunting noise, as though he’d been hit in the gut. He ran his hand over his face. Something else occurred to him.

  “Did you tell them where my place is?”

  “No,” she said slowly. “I’ve never been here. I didn’t know where you lived.”

  He looked up at Stone. “Someone told them.”

  “Or they followed you,” Stone offered.

  Fuck!

  His phone rang.

  “Talk to me,” he said, putting the phone on speaker. The boys deserved to know what was going on.

  “Found them,” Brody said. “Betsy only turned off the alarm, not the cameras. They had a van parked not too far away. I’m running the plates, but I assume it’s stolen.”

  “Betsy said they were Forrest’s guys. Any idea why he isn’t fucking worried about me handing over what I’ve got on him?”

  “Yeah,” Brody said gravely. “FBI and DEA just did a raid on all of Forrest’s houses an hour ago. Apparently, he’s missing.”

  Shit!

  “Prick’s got nothing to lose now,” Stone said calmly. But there was death in his eyes.

  No. Nothing to lose which meant he had no reason to keep Betsy alive.

  34

  She woke up just as something was thrown into her face.

  What on Earth? She opened her eyes and tried to look around but a wave of dizziness ran over her. Where was she? She heard a sound. A grunt. A thud. Then something landed on her legs. She was half-reclined, slumped back against something cold and hard. Something dug persistently into her hip, her head thumped and her arm burned.

  She tried to move. Agony engulfed her head and she leaned to the side and vomited. Each heave of her body sent more shards of pain through her arm and her head.

  Oh God. Oh God.

  Finally, her stomach waved a white flag and stopped heaving. Not that there was actually anything in her stomach to throw up.

  She managed to open her eyes and look around. It was growing dark. But still light enough to see the wall of dirt in front of her. Shivers racked her body yet she didn’t feel col
d. She felt numb. She closed her eyes, blocking everything out.

  This was just a dream. Right?

  It had to be. It had to be. Sure, it felt real. The pain was making it hard to breathe, she couldn’t even move her right arm, her head was thumping in time with her pulse and that frigging thing digging into her hip was really pissing it off.

  But it had to be a dream. Because if it wasn’t then she was in complete and utter deep shit.

  Calm. Calm.

  Just open your eyes again and you’ll see you’re at home.

  With Ink. She had to be home with him.

  One breath. Another. You can do this, Betsy. Just wake the fuck up!

  She opened her eyes again and let out a whimper as she saw she was in the same dark, damp hole. How did she get here?

  Another pile of dirt landed on her.

  Her breath sawed in and out of her lungs. Someone was shoveling dirt down on her.

  She tried to move again, moaning as her head protested.

  “Hey! She’s awake? I thought you said she was dead!”

  Who was that? The voice was familiar.

  “She wasn’t moving. I thought she was dead.”

  “You dumbass. Just because someone isn’t moving doesn’t mean they’re dead.”

  “Well, fuck. What are we going to do? Should we bring her back up here and kill her?”

  Memories tickled her mind. Lying on the sofa. The buzzer going. Seeing Sunny’s petrified face as Thing One held a gun to it. Calling Ink. Thing Two walking out of the elevator.

  She’d been shot. Then she remembered falling. Pain had exploded in her head. Then nothing. All right, that explained her pounding headache and loss of time. Thing One and Thing Two had kidnapped her. The two idiots didn’t even have one oar in the water between them. Yet somehow, they’d managed to find her. After she’d been knocked unconscious, they must have brought her here.

  And they’d dug her a grave.

  A whimper escaped her, but nobody would have heard it over their arguing.

  “You idiot! How would we get her back up here?”