Page 31 of Mending Fate

The guy’s head bobbed up and down, as if he knew exactly what Brody was saying even though the way the tips of his ears reddened made me doubt he’d been involved with anyone long enough to have an ‘ex.’

“This ex,” Brody continued, “took my niece even though Alec has custody. I have papers to prove it.”

Eoin handed over some papers I hadn’t realized he was carrying. Brody put them on the counter and slid them across to the clerk. The kid’s eyes dropped to them, then came back up to focus on Brody again.

“Now, we don’t want her to get into trouble. That’s why we came instead of calling the cops. We don’t want this to be some big thing where it disturbs guests, probably brings down your supervisor and their supervisor.” Brody straightened. “All we want is the room number. We’ll go knock on the door. Say our piece. Nice and quiet.”

I couldn’t believe Brody could say that with a straight face. He never did anything ‘nice and quiet.’

“You just want to talk?”

“Aye, lad. I just want to talk.” My smile wasn’t as charming as Brody’s, but at least I wouldn’t scare the kid as much as Eoin clearly did.

“Her name?”

I honestly couldn’t believe this was working. “Keli Miller.”

The kid typed on his keyboard for a minute and then whispered, “Three forty-six.”

“Thanks.” Brody slid a bill across the counter. “We appreciate it.”

As we got onto the elevator, I asked, “Why did you pay him after he gave us what we wanted?”

“It’ll keep him from calling the room and warning Keli because he had a sudden attack of conscience and realized it probably wasn’t a good idea to give three strange men the room number where a single woman and child were staying.”

“Good thinking,” Eoin said.

“I don’t like how easy that was,” I said as the elevator doors opened on the third floor. “If someone wanted to get to me through Evanne, they could have done the exact same thing.”

This was exactly why I had the best security tech money could buy. To keep Evanne safe. It was also one of the reasons I had never disputed the amount of money I gave to Keli. I had assumed she would use it the same way, putting our daughter’s safety above all. The fact that Keli wouldn’t use the money I knew she had to put her and Evanne at a place with better security added to my irritation.

When we reached the right room, both of my brothers looked to me. They’d done their part. Now it was time for me to take point.

I knocked on the door and waited, hoping Keli wouldn’t force me to make a scene by not answering because I didn’t intend to leave until I’d at least seen Evanne. I heard the deadbolt click, and then the door opened, security chain still in place.

“Really, Keli? Do you think I’m planning to force my way into the room?” I kept my voice even and calm.

“I don’t know–”

“Daddy?” The familiar voice cut straight through me. “Daddy’s here!”

“Just a minute, sweetie,” Keli said with a sigh. “I have to unlock the door all the way.”

A few seconds later, she moved aside, letting all three of us inside the room. I caught her glaring at my brothers, but then Evanne was throwing herself at me, and I bent to catch her. The moment she was in my arms, I forgot all about everything else and focused on her.

“I’m so glad to see you! Mommy said she didn’t know when you were coming, and I told her it would be soon because I have school on Monday, and I didn’t want more fun days.”

“Fun days?”

“You know, instead of sick days. You call infuninstead ofsick.”

And now I understood how she’d kept Evanne from being upset about missing school. Pretending they were on some sort of vacation had allowed Keli to hide the truth of what was happening. At least I didn’t need to worry about what to tell Evanne about what was going on. As long as Keli was willing to keep up the charade and let me take Evanne home without an argument, I wouldn’t call Keli out on the lies.

Which meant I needed to talk to her in private.

“Mo chride, guess who came with me?” I turned us around so she could see Eoin and Brody.

“Uncle Brody! Uncle Eoin!”