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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

~ Helen Keller

Em

I wasn’t sure how obvious it was to anyone else, but there was an increase of people on rotation. Where there had been three guys per floor, now there were four. Kids were still able to play outside, but they were watched like hawks and forbidden from venturing into the woods or to the front of the estate.

Saros believed he knew where Ramsey was hiding RJ, and while everything Ramsey had done up until this point was bad, it would get a whole lot worse once he knew Saros had his pride and joy. But I had faith in Saros. He’d come out on top; I just wasn’t sure of the cost of that victory.

“Hey, Em.” Dafni came over with Tucker on her hip.

“Hi.” I smiled at her and booped Tucker on the nose. “Need help with something?”

“Nah, just waiting…for what, I’m not sure.”

“Saros is trying to end this the fastest and safest way possible. I don’t need to tell you how amazing your brother is, though.” My cheeks burned. Why was I telling someone who knew Saros better than I did how he was?

“You’re adorable, Em, and I love you for my brother. I always hoped he’d find someone with a good heart and a steady hand to guide him when he started veering off course.”

“Oh, I think I’m the one that won the lottery there. Saros saved me. Too often I think about all the times I should have saved myself and didn’t. I always had an excuse not to run.”

“Em, stop. Fear is a powerful thing, and Ramsey Brookes has that and more. You were in a ‘better the devil you know’ scenario, and no one faults you for that. You have to give yourself some grace.” She squeezed my arm.

I wasn’t sure how right she was, but she made it sound good. “Thank you.”

“Now, I was going to go out and have a picnic with Maeve and Tucker. It’s unseasonably warm for this time of year and while normally I’d be decorating for Christmas, things change. Come eat with us.”

Saros was extremely busy waiting on news about RJ, and I had no idea what was going on with Frazee. I had nothing else to do, and the distraction would be nice.

“Okay, sure.”

“Great, meet me out back in half an hour.”

“You got it.”

I tried to find Saros to let him know I was off to have a picnic with Dafni, but he was nowhere to be found. I asked—I think his name was Dean—one of the guys walking the floor if he could get a message to Saros. He agreed, but in the end I just shot a text message off to him.

When I opened the doors, I realized how right Dafni was. The air was cool but not freezing, and the sun was shining. How was this December? It was later for lunch than usual, but time seemed to have no meaning in this house right now, and I was hungry.

“Oh, great. You’re here.” I turned just in time for Dafni to hand me Tucker. “You take him; I need to grab the basket. Maeve, honey, come on.”

The little girl skipped outside, giggling at what, I had no idea. I followed her as she danced around the yard. Oh, to be that carefree. I didn’t think I’d ever been, actually.

“We can eat here.” Dafni pointed to a spot near a tree and a small river. “Maeve loves to stare at the river and try and find the fish swimming by.”

It was close to the tree line but still on the property. I glanced left and right and saw Saros’s people, and they were watching us carefully.

She opened a large blanket, and I rocked Tucker while she set everything up. He was a cute baby, blue eyes like his mom and uncle, but I saw a lot of Cosmo in his features.

“Mama, look!” Maeve was pointing to a couple of frogs leaping over the rocks.

“Wow, baby. How about we eat first, and then we can see what else we can find, and you can tell Daddy all about it later? Sound good?”

Maeve’s nose scrunched up adorably, like she wasn’t in love with that idea, but she was probably also hungry. In the end her stomach won out, and she pranced toward the blanket, landing with a plop.

“You can lay Tucker down here.” Dafni patted the blanket, and I carefully laid him there.

Dafni had fruits, veggies, sandwiches, drinks—everything for a perfect picnic. Maeve ate quicker than I thought was healthy, but at least she was eating. Every few seconds, she peeked over her shoulder to the river, her eagerness to get back to the fun almost making her choke.

“Take it easy.” Dafni wiped Maeve’s mouth.

“Do you like fishies and froggies?” Maeve asked me.

“I do. When I was little I loved to jump the rocks, avoiding the water. I wanted to see how far I could get, and one day I found a secret place.”

Maeve’s eyes widened and she whispered in wonder, “Mermaids?”

I chuckled. “No, not mermaids. I found an army of frogs.”

“An army,” Maeve gasped.

“Yeah, that’s what a large number of frogs are called. They were all sunbathing on rocks, and beneath them were more fish than I’d ever seen.”

“Woooow! Where? I wanna go!” She was bouncing again.

“It’s not here, but by the looks of it, your uncle Saros has some pretty awesome things in his river.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Can I go, Mama?”

Dafni sighed. “Okay, go on. But only on the edge. No exploring today.”

She ran off, and we kept our eyes on her until she squatted by the river and watched, probably fish.

“She’s great.” I smiled.

“I tend to agree, but she’s also a handful, that one.” She gently rubbed Tucker’s cheek. “Hopefully he’s my calm baby.”

“He hasn’t fussed once since we’ve been here.”

“And he sleeps through the night.” She waggled her eyebrows and I laughed. “I need to feed him.”

“Okay, I can keep an eye on Maeve for you.”

“That would be great, thanks, Em.”

I got up and walked to where Maeve was dipping her fingers into the cold water.

“Whatcha doing?”

She giggled. “Kisses.” Sure enough tiny little fishes were kissing the tips of her fingers.

“They must really like you.”

We didn’t say anything. She was having a great time and when a few frogs leaped by, she tried to chase after them.

“Sorry, little one. We need to stay here. No exploring today—remember what Mom said?”

Her bottom lip quivered, and my heart broke a bit.

“How about we make boats?”

She looked up at me big eyes blinking. “Huh?”

“Stay right here; do not move.” I ran back to the blanket. “Dafni, you have paper on you?”

“Yeah, I bring things so Maeve can draw if she gets bored.”

“I need to borrow some. We’re gonna make boats.”

She beamed and gestured to her bag. “Help yourself.”

At the river that was on Saros’s property, Maeve watched me as I folded and manipulated the paper to create a tiny boat. I made a few and then handed her one.

“Now, this isn’t proven to work, but I’m told that if you make a wish and let the boat sail on the water, it will go in search of your wish and bring it to you.”

She held her boat to her lips and whispered something too quiet for me to hear. Then she released it and laughed loudly as it raced away.

“Again!”

We did this a couple of times, and then a commotion caught my attention. One of the guys was telling Dafni she needed to get in the house.

“Em, we need to go back.”

“Okay, you get Tucker. I’ll clean this up and bring Maeve in.”

She nodded, and the man helped Dafni with the picnic stuff while I folded the papers and slipped them into my pocket.

“Okay, Maeve, we gotta go.”

“No.”

I glanced over at Dafni, who was walking away, Saros’s guy behind her.

“Look, Mama is going.”

She looked but stamped her foot, insistent. “Frogs.”

The other guy that was here before wasn’t in my sights to ask for him to get Dafni. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t see any of the other men that had been in the backyard a few minutes ago. I shook my head and decided I was going to have to scoop the girl up. I’d just lifted her up when I was tugged back into the river. Maeve and I fell in a heap, cold water splashing around me.

She screeched, and I hoped someone heard. I turned my head and saw a familiar face. He was one of Ramsey’s men.

“Maeve. Run.” I released her and did my best to tackle the guy. He aimed his gun at Maeve, but I kicked him in the nuts hard enough to distract him, but not enough to get away myself.

A sharp pain hit the side of my head, and then there was nothing.