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She had no idea. She hadn’t spent much time around kids and wasn’t sure how Fiona would react to the scary events.

Jo squeezed his hand. Hugged it against her chest, then let go of Cam. Forced a smile on her face as the door began to open.

Carole smiled at them through the storm door. “Cam. Jo. Come on in. Fiona’s been watching out the window since I called you this morning.”

Jo stepped aside to let Cam go in first.Hewas the one Fiona wanted to see. As he walked into his parents’ house, Jo heard the sound of running feet. “Daddy! Daddy!”Fiona yelled.

From her vantage point behind Cam, Jo watched Fiona throw herself at her father and bury her face in his neck. Her arms twined around his neck, and Jo could tell that she was squeezing very tightly.

“Baby,” he said into her hair, his knuckles white where he gripped her. “Are you all right?”

“I was scared, Daddy,” Fiona said, clinging to him. “Uncle Don was mean and I was afraid he’d hurt Jo. But after Grandma told me you and Jo were safe, it was better. But I’m glad you came over early this morning. I waited a long time to see you. I looked out the window, but you were never there.”

“I needed to see you, too,” Cam murmured against her hair. “To know that you were okay. Jo was worried about you, too.” He angled his body so Fiona could see Jo. “She came with me to make sure you’re okay.”

Fiona peeked over his shoulder, and her face lit up. “Jo!”she said, still holding her father tightly.“I saw Uncle Don take you away.” She frowned, and her lower lip trembled. “He was so mean to you.” She blinked rapidly, as if trying to banish tears. “I was afraid of him,” she whispered.”

“I’m so sorry you were frightened,” Jo said, smoothing her hand over Fiona’s hair. “May I give you a hug?”she murmured.

Fiona studied her for a moment, then nodded as she squirmed away from Cam. She threw her arms around Jo’s waist and squeezed hard. Jo squeezed right back. Holding Fiona, inhaling her little-girl smell felt… good. Right. She’d needed to touch Fiona. Toknowshe was all right. “But you know your daddy and I would do whatever we needed to do to keep you safe, right?”

Fiona nodded slowly. “Daddy tells me that all the time. That he’ll keep me safe.” She swallowed, and a tear traveled down her cheek. “But Daddy wasn’t there when Uncle Don took you away.” She swallowed and looked at Jo. “Daddy said you knew what to do.”

“Your daddy was right,” she said. “I knew exactly what to do. And you saved yourself,” Jo said. “By doing exactly what I told you to do. You ran into the school and found him.”

“I looked over my shoulder and saw you trip Uncle Don,” she said. She bit her lip. “I was glad. And I felt bad about being glad that he was hurt.”

“I know you love Uncle Don,” Jo said. “It’s really hard when someone we love does bad things. But Uncle Don can’t hurt you or me or your Daddy now. He’s in the hospital and he’ll have a hard time walking for a while.”

Fiona frowned. “Why is he in the hospital?”she asked.

Jo glanced at Cam, and he put his hand on Fiona’s back. “Uncle Don got hurt when he was trying to hurt Jo. That’s why he’s in the hospital.”

“So he can’t hurt you or Jo or me?”

“That’s right, baby. He won’t be able to hurt any of us. You don’t have to see Uncle Don ever again if you don’t want to.”

“Really? He won’t come over to our house again?”

“Never again,” Cam promised her.

Fiona stared at Cam for a long moment. Then she touched Jo’s hand, then Cam’s. “He’s not going to hurt you or Jo or me?”

“No,” Cam said. “We’ll make sure of that.”

“So I won’t see him again?”Fiona asked in a quiet, shaky voice.

“Absolutely not,” Cam said immediately. “You never have to see him again.”

Fiona stared at the floor. “I don’t want to see him anymore,” she said, her voice barely audible.

“Good. Because I don’t want to see him, either,” Cam said. “I’m sad for Uncle Don that we won’t be part of his life anymore. But it’s his fault.”

Thank God Fiona had managed to escape from Don. Jo squatted on the floor in front of Fiona. “Your Uncle Don won’t be able to hurt anyone else,” she said.

Jo looked over at Cam.Help me out here, she pleaded silently. And fortunately, Cam got the message.

He scooped Fiona into his arms again. “Jo had to shoot Uncle Don to stop him from hurting her, or you, or me. Once he’s better, he’ll have to go to jail because of the bad things he tried to do.”