Page 38 of Not that Impressed (Houston Pumas #3)

WILL

Ellie meets me at the door of our hotel room when I get back over an hour later. Hollis is in the custody of Mexican officials waiting to be handed off to the FBI at the Texas border.

She wraps her arms around my waist, pressing herself against me and burying her face in my chest. I hold her tightly, listening as she breathes slowly.

“Libby?” I ask quietly when Ellie pulls away after several minutes.

“Sleeping.” She tilts her head back toward our room.

“Your dad’s here?” I confirm. Ellie and I have been texting since she left the Winscott, her relaying information to me from her dad.

“He got here about the same time we did.” She points to the balcony, where he’s sitting on a chair, talking on the phone.

He’s staring at the bed, which is out of my eyeline, and his attention doesn’t waver.

I imagine I’d be terrified of losing sight of my daughter after something like this.

“He’s convincing the FBI that our ‘investigator’ had permission from Winscotts to hack their system for information. ”

I tense. “We don’t want Hollis walking on some stupid technicality. ”

Ellie pats my chest reassuringly. “Winscotts will back us. And Caleb is safe too.”

I sigh with relief. “You should get some rest,” I say.

“Back at you,” she retorts, eyeing me. She stays in the circle of my arms, and I’m not eager to let her go.

My eyelids are starting to droop. Adrenaline has pushed me the last several hours, through the sleepless night and all day today.

It’s wearing off now that Libby is safe and Hollis is in custody and it’s getting late. I’m ready to crash.

“Let’s get Libby home to her mom, then we’ll both sleep.”

Ellie leans forward again and puts her forehead against my chest. “Good idea.”

It’s late, bordering on Sunday morning, by the time we get on the plane back to Houston.

Later still by the time we take off. Once we’re in the air, I doze with Ellie leaning on my shoulder.

Every time I wake up, she’s staring at her sister, curled up and sleeping in the seat across from us.

I don’t think she’ll recover from these last two days easily, and neither will Libby.

I breathe through my anger at Hollis. Anna texted me when she saw the Being the Bennets clips about Libby’s disappearance.

She’s sick over Hollis being able to victimize someone else.

I want him punished and put away so he can’t do it again.

I’m sick over how Anna and Libby and whoever else is out there will have to listen to him try to talk his way out of this and pretend like he didn’t do anything wrong.

Libby is still clutching Ellie’s hand when we stop at Ellie’s parents’ house just after dawn.

She may not leave this house for a day or two, based on the way Libby clings to her.

Ellie will do anything for her sister. That was obvious on Friday night when she hopped on a plane to go to Mexico, and it’s just as obvious now.

I kiss her on the top of her head and tell her I’ll call her later .

Mrs. Bennet and Janelle meet Ellie and Libby before they even reach the steps leading up to the front door. I reluctantly turn to get back into the SUV that will take me home. I don’t want to leave Ellie’s side, but she needs time with her family.

“Pemberton, wait a minute,” Mr. Bennet says, stopping me.

“Yes, sir?”

He holds out his hand to shake mine and then pulls me into a one-armed hug.

“I know what you gave up to help us find Libby, and I know how you pulled the team together to find her. I’ll never be able to repay you for this, not if I gave you a hundred-million-dollar contract, which I’m sorely tempted to do right now.

” He pulls away after he says that, chuckling, but his eyes are bright.

“I would do anything for Ellie,” I say. “And I keep thinking I should have done more after what happened with Anna.” Did I seriously believe that just because we got him fired, he’d never take advantage of another woman again?

Mr. Bennet shakes his head and still doesn’t let go of my hand. “Grayson Hollis is the sole person to blame here … but I’ve been thinking about it too. Wondering if we could have gone public without bringing her name into it.” He grinds his teeth together.

I reply quickly, worried about where Mr. Bennet’s head is. “Don’t blame Anna, sir. She feels awful over the whole thing.”

He pulls his hand from mine to wave me off, shaking his head vigorously. “I don’t blame her. Honestly, what else should she have done? Make sure she knows we supported her decision then and we support her now.”

A half-smile forms at his words. “I’ll tell her, sir.”

“Enough with the ‘sir’ business. Rob is fine when we’re not at the facility. You acted like family these last couple days, treated my girls like family, and if I’m not mistaken, that’s not a temporary thing for you.” He raises his eyebrows at me.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I bite my tongue before I call him sir, but there’s no way I’m calling him Rob either. He’s basically my boss.

He nods at me in an approving way. “Ellie told me about the team text, and the way they pulled together for my girls. Tell the guys thank you?”

“I will.”

He pounds me on the shoulder, reaches to shake my hand one more time, and then heads toward the door. “See you later, Pemberton,” he says before he goes inside.

I fall asleep on the short drive back to my apartment and then crash on my bed as soon as I get home.

It’s hours later when I wake to the sound of someone coming into my apartment.

I lay in my bed blinking into the darkness before I stretch and roll out of bed.

Charlie is the only other person who has the code to my door, so it must be him.

He’s sitting on the couch when I come into the living room, reaching for the remote to the TV.

“Hey,” he says. “Didn’t mean to wake you up. I knew you’d been home for a while, so I wanted to come check on you.”

“It’s fine.” I head for the kitchen. I need a proper meal anyway.

I’ve eaten here and there, tried to make sure both Ellie and I got something in our stomachs over the last couple days, but the team nutritionist would be appalled with my lack of attention to my food intake considering my regular diet is about five-thousand calories a day.

Charlie follows me and takes a seat at my dining room table, turning the chair to face me in the kitchen. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. “You missed the game today.”

I arch an eyebrow at him. I don’t need to be reminded. I haven’t had long to ponder what I did or how Coach is going to react when I finally see him, but it’s been heavy in my stomach since I passed the stadium on the way home from the Bennets’ house.

“I’d do it again,” I say in a gruff voice. “Ellie needed me. Libby needed me. You’d do the exact same thing for Janelle—don’t deny it.”

He shrugs and smiles ruefully at me. “I’m not in the running for MVP.”

I pull eggs from the fridge to avoid answering him for a few moments.

“Neither am I,” I say as I reach for a bowl to mix them in.

I turn away again to grab more items from the fridge: bacon I fried up on Thursday night, cottage cheese for some extra protein, spinach, peppers, and a few other veggies to add some heft.

“Will.” Charlie’s voice holds censure, but it’s gentle. He knows how much this guts me.

“I would do it again,” I repeat. “There’s always next year.

” Charlie doesn’t respond. That’s a gamble, and we both know it.

Anything could prevent me from achieving the success I’ve had this year next year—an injury, something happening with the team, me not being able to perform the way I have so far. “It’s just a job.”

Charlie holds back a smile. “It was never just a job until you met her.”

I let out a short laugh. “Well, maybe I was doing things wrong until I met her.”

He doesn’t hold back the smile anymore. My best friend grins at me as though I’ve finally figured everything out. And maybe I have.

Charlie stands up and comes to lean against the counter. “We’re taking bets on how long it is before Caleb Gallagher gets arrested for his vigilante justice.”

“My lips are sealed.” I whisk the eggs together.

“Apparently this isn’t the first time he’s used his skills in the gray area.” Charlie widens his eyes and then reaches over to snag a slice of bacon. “You making enough for me? ”

I crack in several more eggs. “Sure, man.”

Mr.Colin

So grateful to hear that @Libby_in_the_Bennet_House is home safe and sound. So much gratitude.

@kay_bakes_1: Pick me boy!

@smiling_24_7:

@bennetfanz100: Your so fake!!