Page 40 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)
“We have a child in danger.” Liam swiped the data and reports away. “We’re not leaving any avenue unexplored and will obtain information any way we can.”
Ready to take the fall for Parker’s information being illegally obtained, Rowan joined the group. The feds didn’t scare him. Not many organizations did .
But as he opened his mouth to speak, Anderson raised a hand to stop him. “Don’t tell me. It’s better that I don’t know.”
Deciding that was fair enough, Will began to drill Anderson with questions regarding the search for Madison. “What about Madison?”
“I’ve got nine members of CARD plus two dozen agents working in teams out there,” Anderson replied. “I’m not holding anyone back.”
Bernie let out a soft laugh. “Well, hello. Parker’s got mommy issues.”
“Don’t we all?” Liam remarked sarcastically.
“Cute.” Bernie used a pencil to circle something on the paper she was reading. “It seems Mr. Monroe did not get along with his mother and found her oppressive .”
One of Dr. Cohen’s eyebrows lifted. “Oppressive? That’s a big word for a child.”
“I’m sure the guidance counselor was leading him.
But as you say, the devil doesn’t just live in the details.
He hides there, too.” Bernie rose from her seat to bring them the information.
“When he would speak to anyone with authority, a young Parker would go into great detail about how horrible his mother was and how he wished she could be like his grandmother, who lived in Maine.”
Rowan hurried over to his computer, gaining every last detail he could on Parker’s grandmother while Izzy organized the information. Holden might be great at logistics, but Izzy kept everything orderly so they could recall their research without having to hunt for it.
“The grandmother’s dead. Left him the house and the land.” Rowan scanned the expansive map. “Lots of land. Jesus. It’s acres and acres of forest.”
“Perfect hideout for a cult.” Anderson pulled out his phone. “Rowan, send me everything you have. I’ll redirect the team.”
He did as Anderson asked, openly breaking into systems to gather as much information as possible. Anderson said nothing, at least not regarding his methods. The agent took it all in, shooting off messages to his colleagues.
“We need to assume that Parker is involved with Zanmi,” Will said once Rowan’s data stream on the grandmother slowed. “And that Madison might be the first of their Fairweather children. ”
Rowan agreed as much as he didn’t want to, but for Madison’s safety, there was really no other way they could operate. Claudia had been with Parker for years. If he was involved, she might have had some inclination.
“But did Claudia Fairweather know?” Anderson asked, voicing what they were all thinking. “That’s the question.”
“I don’t think so,” Jamison said. “She’s been so kind since Madison was born. I can’t see her being this way.”
“Kind to whom?” Liam pointed at the photo of Samuel and Evie’s house tacked to a board. “Evie. What if she was trying to get close to Evie?”
The suggestion struck Jamison, and she paled, laying a hand on her stomach. “I need to call my sister. If we’re thinking Claudia might be involved… I need to be the one to tell her.”
Jamison rushed out the door. Evie’s pregnancy was nearing the finish line, and the last thing they needed was for her to become so upset that it sent her into labor early.
The birth plan was already in place. Not for Evie, although Rowan was fairly certain Samuel had the entire thing planned down to the second, but for security.
Every agent and family member understood what was required of them to make the delivery go smoothly.
“Do you think that’s possible?” Rowan asked, debating on whether to call Samuel. It might be best to prepare him while Jamison talked to Evie. “That Claudia might be in with these people?”
Liam turned back to the board, his mouth set in a grim line. “Right now, anything is possible, but if she is, Madison’s not in immediate danger.”
“On the other side of that, if Claudia isn’t involved.” Will pulled a family photo of Claudia, Parker, and Madison from his file and tacked it on the board. “Then we’re in even deeper shit than we thought.”
His eyeballs were going to fall out of his skull.
So tired.
He was so fucking tired.
Liam looked just as bad. The two of them were bleary-eyed and hollowed out from working nine hours straight with no real break. The women had pushed food and coffee in their faces every so often, but at this point, they were running on fumes.
“I napped this afternoon, so you need to get one. Go to bed,” Rowan groaned as he stretched. “You’re a wounded baby, and sleep will do you good.”
“Fuck you.” Liam shuffled through folders, his frustration mounting. “Where’s Sinclair’s family file?”
There was no known connection between Sinclair and Carroll. No thread linking them to Parker, either. Three dangerous men from three separate paths.
And none of them connected to CeCe except for Carroll. Anderson was still chasing down Sinclair’s military history. They had details from the bombings, but for nearly a year, there was nothing. No paper trail. No record.
“Nurse Jamison is here,” Jamison announced, stepping into the media room with a shoebox in her arms. The house was quiet at almost midnight, and hearing her voice startled them both. “I read that we’re supposed to clean your stitches twice a day.”
She sat in the chair next to Liam, meticulously unpacking her supplies. “I think I’ve got everything.”
Liam watched her intently, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Going to patch me up?”
“ Clean up the patch.” She pushed his sleeve higher. “Your girlfriend, Holly, did great work.”
Rowan rolled his neck, his body stiff. He needed a breather. Maybe a fresh hit of caffeine.
And Annabeth.
She’d disappeared over an hour ago. Hopefully sleeping in her own bed, safe and warm.
“Is Annabeth awake?” he asked.
Not looking away from Liam’s stitches, Jamison snickered. “Ready for your twenty minutes?”
God, she was never going to let him live that conversation down. “I told you to forget about that.”
“Mm-hmm.” She didn’t sound convinced. “Too bad because I told her about it, and she was very interested.”
Rowan was standing before he realized it .
“She’s in the kitchen,” Jamison continued sweetly, “with a bottle of wine and the idea that you two are going to look at the stars.”
He was on his feet before she finished speaking. “Seriously?”
Jamison smirked. “Everyone’s asleep, and a fresh guard rotation just started. You couldn’t ask for better timing.”
He needed to stay focused. There were still leads to follow and threats to assess. But thinking about Annabeth naked and bouncing under him as he fucked the hell out of her had his cock hardening to the point where he couldn’t see straight.
“I’ve got to set the security system to run a maintenance check.”
Rowan fumbled with his laptop. Where the hell was the override code? It had to be changed every twelve hours. Annabeth. He remembered using her name as the anchor.
Annabeth and… numbers?
“Fuck. I forgot the passcode.”
No—wait.
He had changed it before his nap.
The screen blinked, cursor waiting.
Annabeth McIntyre.
He would not smile. It was stupid and soft and borderline embarrassing, but for a split second, it made him feel human again. Like something inside him had clicked into place.
Gaining access, the security system accepted the code, and he adjusted the parameters to queue the run. “It’ll start shortly and should run for twenty-two minutes.”
“Twenty- two minutes?” Liam fought not to squirm when Jamison dabbed his stitches with a washcloth. “Pushing your stamina there.”
Stamina had nothing to do with it. He just needed his woman. To breathe her in. To remind himself that the world wasn’t all blood and chaos.
“I owe you.” Rowan was already halfway across the room. “And we’re just going to look at the stars.”
“Next weekend,” Liam said as Rowan passed. “I get to stargaze with my wife.”
His wife.
Jamison stilled at the my wife comment, her eyes ticking upward to meet Liam’s gaze. “Helluva honeymoon,” she whispered .
“It’s not what I had in mind, but it’ll do for now.” Liam kissed her forehead. “And I don’t want to brag or anything, but Rowan’s going to have to give me a whole thirty minutes to get the job done this time.”
Rowan grinned as he hit the hallway. He’d give them their thirty. Hell, he’d lock down the entire property as a wedding gift so that they could have a moment of peace.
Tonight, though, that peace belonged to him and Annabeth.