Page 9 of Guard Dog (Lonesome Garage #1)

Chapter Nine

M y date with Deke ended an hour ago. How many times can my life be shaken like a snow globe before the hand of fate drops it and shatters it in a way that it can never be pieced back together?

First my husband, then my daughter. If this goes bad, I’ll lose Deke too because there will be no stopping him if he goes after Rick.

So, nothing will go wrong. The exchange will go smoothly. I’ll manifest it into happening. I’ll give Rick this fucking key, get my daughter, leave safely, and then I’ll let the police deal with Rick. Hell, I’ll even call in NCIS. As soon as Peony is safe.

The security lights on the outside of the garage are dark.

Since Deke told me that Bishop leaves them on all night, I assume Rick is stacking the deck in his favor.

If I pissed off a bunch of former SEALs, I’d do the same thing.

Deke parks in the middle of the parking pad, away from the gas pumps, facing the road.

I get out, opening the back passenger door like Deke told me to do.

He’s here to make sure nothing happens to me, and he told me JD and others are out there too, watching out for us. I trust him.

Rick’s fancy SUV squeals into the lot. I move in front of the SUV’s hood, holding the key in front of me. “Where’s Peony?” I ask, praying that he isn’t playing games and hasn’t left her somewhere by herself.

He reaches across to the passenger seat and his face briefly appears in the moonlight.

Romy got a piece of him according to the scratches on his face and the blood under his nose.

Rick lifts my daughter out of the vehicle by the neck of her unicorn onesie.

I place the key on the far corner of the hood. “Come to mommy, sweet pea.”

My little girl is crying but she toddles on the rough pavement. I dart forward two steps, grab her, and then run to the passenger side of the SUV. If Rick wants me, he’ll have to chase me all the way around.

He gets as far as the key, grabs it, and jumps back into the driver’s seat.

He takes off like a bat out of hell. I throw Peony into the back, baby-seat be damned, and Deke loops onto the road and immediately turns again into the Lonesome Bar and Grill parking lot.

I think I hear a bang as Deke pulls out of the parking lot, but he doesn’t take his foot off the gas.

Deke slams the car into park. He’s around to the passenger side before I can even open the door.

He scoops Peony into his arms, then pulls me out.

I check her all over as he holds her, but aside from some dirt and a messy diaper, she seems fine.

Deke pulls a blanket out of nowhere and bundles the both of us back into my still-running car.

I don’t ask why he’s not going after Rick. Mostly because I don’t want to know what’s going to happen to that asshole. I know I’ll be pressing charges, but whether or not the authorities ever catch up to him is another question.

“Are you okay?”

I realize it’s not the first time Deke has asked me that. He pulls me close, and the warmth of him warms me to my core. “I’m fine. We’re all fine,” I say.

“I love you, Violet. I love you both. This will never happen to you again. I swear.” His arms tighten around me.

“I love you too, Deke. Take us home.”

I expect him to take us back to his place, but he drives back to the house.

A man in a Lost Souls biker vest is treating Romy, who gives me a painfully slow thumbs-up.

Bishop and another man are dumping armfuls of papers and clothes into hastily reformed boxes is a rough effort to clean up Rick’s mess.

I give Peony another bath, and she’s asleep by the time I tuck her into my bed. I climb into one side, too tired to get undressed. Deacon climbs in the other. He throws his arm across both of us, pulling us closer.

We’re finally home.