Page 22 of Daddy’s Protection (The Daddy Guard #3)

“Anything interesting happen today?” Isaiah asked as he picked up Cami and twirled her several times before laying a big kiss on her lips.

They were standing in front of Auntie Athena’s mansion. Jack and Ace were there, too, holding their Littles.

“Just the usual fun,” Cami answered.

Isaiah studied her eyes for a moment. Was she holding something back? Surely his sweet Little girl hadn’t gotten in some sort of trouble.

She’d already had a booty-busting that morning. He doubted she’d test the limits and risk one again. Of course, Littles could be like that sometimes.

Once he’d placed her feet back on the paved walkway, he looked to where Athena and Trevon stood. “She do okay today?”

Athena grinned. “Just fine. I think she had lots of fun.”

Something seemed off, but Isaiah just couldn’t put his finger on what it was. “You sure she didn’t get into trouble?”

“She was an angel,” Athena stated.

“No shenanigans?” Isaiah pressed.

“Oh, just the usual,” Athena replied.

“There’s always the usual,” Trevon chimed in. “But nothing we couldn’t handle. And nothing worth worrying about.” He flashed his perfectly white teeth in a “trust me” grin.

“Well, okay. I’m glad you had fun, cutie.” Isaiah stooped down and kissed Cami’s forehead.

“How did the investigation go?” she asked.

“Good. Let’s chat about that over dinner. Go tell Auntie Athena and Uncle Trevon goodbye and then we’ll grab something to eat.”

The Littles hurried toward Auntie and Uncle while their Daddies watched.

“You get the impression they did something naughty?” Isaiah asked from the side of his mouth.

“Yep,” Ace said.

“Uh-huh,” Jack agreed.

Still watching the Littles, Isaiah shook his head. “But you know how Athena is—if she doesn’t want to tell us, we’ll never know.”

The others nodded.

Isaiah sure was curious as to what went down at the nursery. But it seemed that secret would remain just that—a secret.

The group selected Bob’s Big Boy up in Burbank.

On the way in, Isaiah had the girls gather around the famous statue of the “big boy” himself holding a giant hamburger for a picture. Once the group was inside and seated, Isaiah said, “Go ahead and look at the menu, honey. After you decide what you want, we’ll talk about your case.”

Five minutes later, they’d all ordered, had their drinks, and were awaiting their food.

“I love this place,” Iris said, looking around. “It’s like we’ve gone back in time.”

“Kind of like the place I painted the windows for this week,” Cami said. “It was just an old-fashioned diner, too. Pretty cool.”

“Hey, isn’t this where Pulp Fiction was filmed? You know, that scene where the couple robs the diner, but Sam Jackson stops them,” Iris posed.

Lana shook her head. “No. That was a diner down in Hawthorne. But it’s been torn down.”

“First of all,” Ace said, “how do you know that? I’m seriously impressed. But how is that little nugget just floating around in your head?”

“I work at a studio,” his Little explained. “I’m a film nut, remember?”

He nodded. “Were you even born when Pulp Fiction came out?”

“I don’t think so,” Lana admitted. “But not long after!”

The Daddies laughed.

Isaiah was a bit amused as he said, “I’m not sure Pulp Fiction is the type of movie cuties like you all need to be watching.”

The other Daddies voiced their agreement.

“I’ve seen worse,” Lana said. “I’ve worked on worse. But it is too violent for me. I just like the scene where they dance.”

After taking a drink of her soda, Cami looked around and said, “Was anything filmed here? I mean, I know I’ve eaten here before. But it looks familiar. Like it’s been in the movies or on TV.”

Across the table, Lana nodded. “It’s iconic. Sort of a local institution so it’s used a lot in pickup shots.”

“What are pickup shots?” Iris asked.

“In a movie or series, when it shows things around town in between various scenes—those are called pickup shots. Not much happens in them. They just add flavor, so to speak. Give location context and stuff.”

“That’s cool,” Iris said.

“Yeah. But nothing was filmed in here?” Cami asked. “It just seems like I’ve seen it on something.”

Isaiah agreed. He looked around at the brown booths, the old-school light fixtures, and classic diner décor. It was pure Americana.

Lana seemed to be thinking for a moment. “ Heat . The scene where Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer are sitting in a booth over there by that window.” She directed her gaze toward the correct location. “I think it shows the back of the restaurant, too, from the parking lot.”

“What the heck?” Cami questioned, her voice full of awe. “How did you just pull that fact off the top of your head?”

Lana took a little bow. “I told you—I’m a total film geek. And the cool thing about this town is almost everywhere has been in something .”

“I’ve never seen Heat,” Cami admitted. “Not my type of thing. Gilmore Girls is more my speed.”

“I’m on my third rewatch!” Iris exclaimed. “It’s the best. Makes me want to go to a quaint New England town.”

Lana looked apologetic. “I hate to break it to you. But that was filmed on the Warners backlot.”

“What?” Cami and Iris asked at the same time.

“Sorry,” Lana apologized with a grimace.

“I don’t want to know any more,” Iris declared. “It’ll ruin the magic.”

The conversation stopped while the waiter brought their order. Once everyone had their food, Isaiah said, “All right. Let’s break down what we found out today.”

He took another bite of his double-decker burger—loving the red relish on it—and then continued. “We spoke with your uncle today. He seems to be doing well out there in New York.”

“Oh yeah,” Cami said. “He’s super successful. Just like my aunt.”

“Yep. That’s why we don’t think either one of them are suspects here,” Isaiah told her.

He turned his head so he could see his sweetie next to him. She appeared shocked. “You thought they might be?”

Isaiah gave her a sympathetic nod. “Honey, in a lot of cases, nine times out of ten, in fact, it’s family.”

“He’s right,” Jack stated. “As a detective, I learned pretty early on in my career to start with those closest to the victim. Most crimes aren’t random. In fact, the random ones are rare. As Isaiah stated, it’s almost always someone a person knows. Often family. Or a romantic partner.”

Cami looked bashful as she told them, “I don’t have a romantic partner. Or… I didn’t.” She giggled.

Isaiah’s heart warmed. His girl was just too cute.

“I’m glad I don’t have any competition,” he replied. “But since you didn’t have a significant other—before now—we needed to look at your family. A historic home in Angelino Heights has to be worth quite a bit. It stood to reason that someone could be jealous you inherited it and they didn’t.”

She shook her head. “Yeah, but Aunt Camille and Uncle Sam wouldn’t do anything like that. They’re both rich. They don’t need more money.”

“Sometimes rich people want more. That’s how greed works,” Isaiah countered.

“It’s never enough for some folks,” Jack added. “Saw my share of that working cases.”

Isaiah suspected Cami was turning it all over in her mind.

He wanted to put her at ease, so he quickly said, “But your aunt gave us a solid lead. Judge McConnell. Seems he tried to buy your grandma out several times. Forced some others on the block to leave, as well, and snatched up their property.”

Cami’s jaw dropped. It took her a moment to recover. “Whoa! So he’s faking a haunting to try and drive me away?”

Isaiah put his hand atop hers as it rested on the table. “We don’t know for sure. But it’s the most likely angle at this point. Get you so scared that you were willing to sell—for a lower amount. Take advantage of you being desperate.”

“Of course,” Jack added, “now we need to find the proof. If that’s even what’s going on. First rule of police work: never assume until you have facts. Let the evidence speak for itself.”

Ace chuckled. “That’s why I loved flying my chopper. I didn’t have to worry about all that crap. I just got to chase suspects from the air or monitor situations to keep you guys safe. Damn, it was something.”

Isaiah flashed him a cocky grin. “In other words, you left the real police work up to us on the ground.”

The group—including Ace—laughed.

“So how will you prove it?” Cami inquired.

“Well,” Isaiah said, “we start by setting up surveillance equipment on your house. Watching to see if anyone messes around there. I don’t think it was Judge McConnell himself who was hiding in that secret passage in the wall, the night I was over there.

He’s too old for something like that. Most likely, he has help.

We think if we keep an eye on things, we’ll catch them in the act. ”

Her eyes lit up as she said, “Ooh! Because criminals come back to the scene of the crime!”

He chuckled. “Sometimes. That’s a nice phrase for TV, though. But yes… as I said… sometimes they do.” He paused a beat, then added, “And if that’s the case, the Daddy Guard will be waiting for them.”