Chapter One #2
“Nah. I’ve found his weakness. When I’m done playing with her, she’s going to die nice and painfully. Let him see what it’s like when you’re not around to protect the ones who mean the most to you.”
Those words would haunt her for the rest of her life.
She hoped that life would be long. She wasn’t stupid, though.
She’d been cautious, but not cautious enough.
He knew about her connection to Stace. She should be running as far in the opposite direction as she could.
But damn it, Honor’s dad was gone, and she needed someone she could trust to have her back.
Vince had others helping him, and she didn’t know who.
She was smart enough to know she needed help.
She couldn’t do everything. Besides, her strength was gathering information.
She’d been taught how to handle and fire a gun, the proper use of a knife, and hand-to-hand combat.
But she’d never been in a life-threatening situation.
Shit tended to go wrong when the scenario was real.
Her hands shook. Stace was all she had—and hopefully, her new pals would step in, too. Honor would be willing to assist them in any way she could if they’d help her with this mess. Obviously, they knew her dad, and she’d done enough research to believe they were decent guys.
She should have done the same with Vince.
But, no, she’d been trying to be normal and go with the flow.
Fuck that. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
The bottom line was her normal was different from most people’s.
She’d been lonely, and apparently, that made her a far too easy mark.
He’d probably had someone put together a file on her.
The thought had her seething as she drove. She purposely turned her thoughts to Stace’s new friends and co-workers. One guy had caught her eye and made her catch her breath.
With perfect clarity, she recalled the profile she’d put together on one Griff Daniels. He was a walking dream, with long black hair and blue eyes as bright as the sky on a sunny day. She’d bet he had all the girls swooning over him. Hell, she hadn’t even met him in person, and she was swooning.
She shook her head. She was lonelier than she’d realized if she was fantasizing over a stranger.
She shouldn’t have let her walls down so quickly with Vince.
Maybe, she wouldn’t have if she hadn’t kept herself so isolated.
She should have gotten out more, dated around, had one-night stands and casual sex.
Maybe, then, she would have seen through Vince’s facade.
That wasn’t her, though. Never would be.
When a girl’s father hunted bad guys for a living, she grew up seeing the worst of society.
It made it hard sometimes to remember decent people existed.
She sighed. Look what had happened when she’d tried to think the best of people for once.
She focused on the road, cranking up the radio and singing along.
The sooner she arrived, the better she’d feel.
She’d called her dad a dozen times out of pure panic when she’d first realized what was happening.
She should have known better. If he didn’t answer, it was because he couldn’t.
When her dad was in the middle of something, it usually involved life or death.
He’d get back to her as soon as he could.
That was logic, though, and emotion had her by the throat.
Still, she hadn’t been able to stop herself from calling.
She worked behind a computer, not in the field.
She wasn’t used to having her life threatened—at least, if it ever had been, she’d never known about it.
As intellect resurfaced, she knew she had to protect her dad. Whatever Vince wanted, she was only a means to an end. Her father was who Vince really wanted to hurt.
Her phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.
She glanced down at the screen on her console.
The integrated phone system was great, but she’d tinkered with hers a bit to get it just the way she wanted it.
It functioned more like a computer, even above what a police squad car would have.
She liked having information at her fingertips, no matter where she was.
Tinkering was something she excelled at.
Seeing the displayed name, she sighed with relief.
It was her dad, which made the little girl in her want to cry with relief.
His name alone was enough to make her feel safe.
Even more, it reminded her how strong she was.
She’d fallen into Vince’s grasp, and she needed to get herself out of it.
Not by bringing her father right into the other man’s range, but by being smarter.
Honor wasn’t a trained field operative, but she knew had to track someone, how to dig for answers.
She also had Stace and the group of people she now worked with.
Honor trusted Stace. Plus, she’d done her research.
Jack Madigan and the others behind Midnight, Inc.
could help her. She just had to get to Stace and let her know what was going on.
Honor would be damned if she let her panic be the thing that got her father killed.
As long as he stayed away, Vince couldn’t get to him.
Taking a deep breath, Honor connected the call.
“Sir.”
His sigh came through her sound system loud and clear, as if he were in the car with her.
“Will you ever just call me Dad?”
He’d spent her entire childhood informing her she was to say “yes, sir” or “no, sir” when she spoke to him. And now, he wanted her to call him Dad? She sighed. Yes, he was going bat-shit crazy.
“Yes, sir. Hey, Dad.”
Silence. Dead silence. She’d hit the mark with that one. Bull’s eye.
“Where are you?”
“On the road.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“I decided to take a road trip; that’s all.
” For all his badass ways, she loved him.
He was the only parent she’d ever had. She’d fight tooth and nail to protect him.
So, she took a page out of his book and chose not to fill the silence stretching between them.
One of these days, maybe, he’d realize the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree.
“Honor.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Where are you headed?”
“Don’t know yet. I’ll contact you when I do. Until then, use this number to reach me. My cellphone is secure.”
“You called a dozen times.”
“I apologize, sir. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Exactly. You always think. What’s going on?”
She said nothing.
He sighed again.
“I’m not state-side and won’t be for a bit longer. Are you okay?”
She fought the need to spill everything.
If she told him about Vince, her dad would hightail it to her, dragging Vince’s attention from her to him.
While she knew her dad was more than capable of dealing with the threat, there was a tiny piece of her that worried something would go wrong.
If she lost him… She refused to be the reason she lost him.
With Stace, Midnight, Inc., and any help they’d give, Vince would be taken care of before her dad got back.
Otherwise, she’d have to tell him. She couldn’t let him return unaware.
“Yes.” Not a lie. She was okay. She’d be even better when she got to Legacy.
“I know you put together dossiers on the group at Midnight, Inc. More importantly, they know, as well. I doubt the head of the company is real happy about it.”
She held her silence. She’d never meant to piss off people, but that just seemed to be another skill she possessed.
“The head of the group is Jack Madigan,” her dad stated as if she didn’t already know.
“Midnight himself.”
“He’s not a man to tangle with, Honor.”
He knew she’d put together Madigan’s file. Did he think she hadn’t read it? She knew what all the people employed at Midnight were capable of. And, as far as she was concerned, Madigan wasn’t the most lethal of the group. She was confident they were exactly what she needed in her current situation.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Damn it, Honor!”
She softened, just as she almost always did.
“Yes, Daddy. I’m listening.”
Okay, so Daddy was a sneak attack. The word got to him like nothing else could. She found it funny how he’d brought her up to be the way she was and now wanted to change her.
“You can’t go waltzing onto their turf and expect them to play nice. Not with them knowing you researched them.”
“It’s important to research prospective employers.” She hadn’t really thought about a job, but it might be exactly what she needed.
“Over my dead body.”
“You fired me, remember? You can’t get mad at me for job searching, using the only skills I have.”
“One phone call and you won’t make it in the door.”
“Make that call, and there’s no telling where I’ll be when you make it back.”
“Are you threatening me, little girl?”
She snorted. Yet, another habit her dad had taught her, one he took offense to, now.
“I was taught never to make a threat I don’t plan to back up.”
He sighed again. He seemed to sigh a lot when he spoke to her. “Think hard about the choices you’re making right now. Be sure you can handle the consequences.”
She wanted to be alive to handle them. She decided to try to bluff her way through the conversation. Her father wasn’t anywhere nearby. He didn’t know for sure where she was going.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid.” Technically, it wasn’t a bald-faced lie.
She’d already done something stupid. Sometimes, semantics mattered.
Besides, he was drawing conclusions from her research.
She didn’t need to admit to anything. “I’m taking a vacation.
Going to get some R&R for a bit. Stop worrying so much. You sound like an old woman.”
Her dad laughed, and she smiled. His laugh conjured all sorts of great memories.
“You’re heading straight into the lion’s den, Honor. I can see the dot on the map. At your current speed, you’ll be in Legacy by early evening.”