Chapter 13
BEAU
The movie’s credits played on the TV as I sat with Rebekah curled up against my side. She didn’t last long before she fell asleep. Not that I minded. It wasn’t a hardship for me to sit here and watch Moana with a sweet girl pressed against my side, snoring lightly.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I gently maneuvered to grab it out, making sure not to wake the sleeping Little girl beside me.
“This is Beau,” I spoke, making sure to keep my voice low.
“Beau, this is Jackson Scott.”
“Yes, Sir. What can I help you with?”
“I don’t mean to bother you so late at night, but this is an emergency. My niece Sierra was kidnapped from her front lawn yesterday, and we could use your help locating her. You come highly recommended.”
Aware that the first forty-eight hours of a kidnapping were the most crucial, I immediately began to run through the things I needed to do. “Have you contacted the local police?”
“We have, and they say they are working on finding her, but my family can’t just sit around and wait.”
I understood the urge to do something; that’s why SFT existed. For moments like this. When local police had other cases and tasks they needed to handle, my team’s only focus was the case at hand.
“Okay, in about ten minutes, my tech guy, Seth, is going to contact you. Is this a good number for him to reach you on?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Good. When he calls, answer all his questions to the best of your ability. My team will be there in a few hours. I’ll be in contact with you soon.”
I hung up the phone and immediately sent the information to Seth, knowing that the man was still up and would jump to get things moving. I pulled up the group text and sent a message.
Beau: Got a case. Meet in the armory to grab supplies.
Not bothering to check to see who had responded, I turned to the sleeping girl beside me. I hated to leave her, especially after the heavy conversation that we’d had tonight. Time was of the essence, though and a child’s life was on the line.
I slid my hands under her legs and arms, scooping her against my chest. Making my way down the hallway, I easily found her room and smiled. She had decorated it in soft purples and pinks. It was exactly what I had pictured she would have.
Being careful not to jostle her too much, I pulled back the covers and laid Rebekah against the pillows.
Glancing around, I spotted a stuffed otter on the bedside table and slipped it into her arms. I stood there for far longer than necessary before pressing a quick kiss against her forehead.
“Daddy will be back soon, Little one. Be good.”
On the way out, I flipped on the nightlight. I locked the front door before making my way to my truck. Time to put my personal thoughts away. We had a mission to complete and a child to save.
It didn’t take long for me to make it to the office. I walked into the armory just as Seth began handing out the folders holding all the information we needed to complete our job.
“All right, men, let’s make this quick. It’s already been twenty-four hours. Tonight, I got a call from Jackson Scott. His niece was kidnapped from her front yard yesterday morning. Local police are aware, but they are slammed. He called us in to see what we could do.”
I gestured toward Seth, who picked up where I left off.
“Our missing girl is six-year-old Sierra. Last seen wearing a pink dress with white sandals. She was taken from her front yard about twenty-four hours ago. Mom, Dad, and Uncle are all at the family’s residence and have been cooperating with local police. ”
All the guys standing at the table nodded, following the timeline Seth had laid out for them. Once he was finished, we each turned and grabbed our weapons before making our way to the trucks.
Since this case was more than a few hours away, I directed the truck toward the local hangar where we kept a small private plane. Seth had already contacted the grounds staff, and the plane was ready for final checks and takeoff.
Patrick would be flying us to Colorado. He had been in the Air Force during his time in the military, so anytime we needed to fly somewhere, he was the one who took that position.
He and Chase had served together on the same team.
Chase would copilot while the rest of the team would get ready. We were a well-oiled machine.
It didn’t take us long before we were up in the air and on our way. I pulled my phone out and shot Rebekah a text. I hated that I’d had to leave so abruptly, but sadly, that happened in my line of work. If she decided to pursue this thing with me, it was best that she learn it now.
Beau: Good morning, sweet girl. I’m sorry that I had to leave so abruptly, but duty called. I’m not sure how long I will be gone.
Beau: Use this time to think about our conversation. We can talk about it when I get home. Be good and stick close to Seth.
I turned my phone off and let out a breath, leaning my head against the headrest. It didn’t take long before Josh nudged my elbow. “Need to talk about it?” he asked.
“I told Rebekah about my past tonight. Explained that I wanted to explore things with her. Then I got the call. I don’t like leaving and not knowing how she is going to be tomorrow.”
Josh knew about my past and how heavy that conversation was. He would understand my turmoil about leaving Rebekah on unsettled terms.
“I get it, man, but give her a little credit. She’s stronger than you would think. Plus, Seth is there; you know that he wouldn’t let anything happen. If something feels off, he would immediately let you know. Pipsqueak is in good hands while we are gone.”
“What the fuck did you just call her?”
The fucker let out a laugh. “Pipsqueak. It’s because she’s tiny but feisty.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course he would have given her that nickname.
She wasn’t tiny compared to most women, but to all of the guys on the team, she was short.
I bit back my jealousy. Josh was harmless, and he was the perfect man to befriend Rebekah.
He would lay down his life for her, just as if she were his Little.
All of my men would, and for that I was grateful.
I closed my eyes again, deciding to try and grab a few hours’ rest before we hit the ground running. It would be a long few days, depending on how long it took us to locate the missing child.
Once we got to where Jackson Scott and the family were waiting, we set to work. While we were in flight, Seth had managed to tap into the cameras around the property and found the van that had been stalking the house for several weeks undetected.
When we had that information, it didn’t take long for Seth to track it through the city on traffic cams. After finally locating the van, we found where the kidnapper was holding Sierra. Securing the property and rescuing the child went smoothly. Now it was time to take her home.
Being careful to keep my movements small, I reached out to help the sweet girl curled up in a ball on the hard concrete floor. I knew I looked scary with all my gear on, so I tried my best to reassure her that I was one of the good guys.
“Hi, sweetheart, my name is Beau. I know I might look scary right now, but I’m going to help take you back to your mommy and daddy, okay?”
After walking out to the car and slipping into the backseat, still holding Sierra tight against my chest, I radioed Patrick, who had stayed behind with the family, to say that we had her and were on our way back. Cases that ended like this made all the sleepless nights worth it.
Thirty minutes later, I stood with the local police captain and finalized the last bit of paperwork. I was itching to finish this up so we could get back in the air. It had been four days since I left Rebekah, and I hadn’t had any contact with her.
It wasn’t out of the norm to go radio silent while on a case, but this was the one time I wanted to break all the rules I had set for myself. Seth had been giving me small updates, but even he knew better than to focus on anything besides the case.
“Is there anything else we can help you with?” I asked, holding my hand out to shake with the captain.
“No, I think we are good here. If we have any further questions, I can always reach out to your office,” he replied, looking at the business card in his hand.
I whistled for the guys to load up the vehicles and head out. After shooting a text to Seth to have him let the hangar know we were on our way, I sat back and let the tension leave my body. It was hard to work on these cases, and I left small pieces of myself behind every time, but it was worth it.
It didn’t take us long to make it to the airstrip and load up the plane while Patrick and Chase did their last walk around. With a sigh, I dropped into the seat and finally pulled out my phone to look at the texts I had received from Rebekah while I was gone.
Rebekah: Good morning! I hate that you had to leave after our talk, but I understand it’s part of the job.
Rebekah: I’ll think about everything you said, and we can talk about it when you come home.
That was the next morning after I left. I continued reading.
Rebekah: Seth made me promise that I wouldn’t walk to and from work while you were gone. Did you put him up to that?
Rebekah: Ugh! He’s driving me insane with his hovering.
Rebekah: Can’t you tell him to stop or something?!
I chuckled again as I reread those messages.
They came in on the third day we were gone.
I loved that she still wanted to reach out, even though she knew that I wouldn’t respond.
Getting these messages had kept me going when I was feeling lonely.
Even though she was fussing about Seth, which just made me laugh more.
He was just following the directions that I had given him. There was no way that I was going to have him stop. I did mention that he could tone it down just a little bit. Of course, once he found out that it annoyed her, he turned into the annoying brother she didn’t ask for.
Rebekah: I miss you
That was the last message I had received.
She sent it late last night when she should have been asleep.
My heart burst, reading those three little words.
We might not have defined any relationship, but knowing she missed me gave me hope that the conversation would be a positive one when it happened.
Beau: I miss you too, Sweets
I turned my phone off and sat back, enjoying the flight home. I just hoped Rebekah would be waiting for me when I got there.
When we got back to the office, we took time unloading the trucks and putting away all the gear we took with us. We would take tomorrow off and rest before coming in and reorganizing the gear. It was important to be prepared for our next case.
I didn’t see Rebekah when we first got there, and my heart broke. Of course, I didn’t expect her to still be at the office when we got back. It was after two in the morning here, and she should have been in bed.
“Welcome back, Boss,” Seth greeted me, stepping into the room as I was dropping my gear on the table.
“Hey, man. It’s good to be home. You made sure Rebekah made it home safely tonight?”
“Uh, about that…” He trailed off.
I waited, knowing he was fixing to tell me something I probably didn’t want to hear.
“Bex knew that you were coming home tonight, so she refused to leave the office.”
“So, where the hell is she?”
“In your office. She hung out with me in the cave for a little while, and we watched movies. After trying to hide the fourth yawn, I made her lie down in the office. She passed out about five minutes after I sent her there.”
I sighed. The man in me was thrilled that she wanted to be here when I got home, but the Daddy in me was upset she didn’t listen to Seth. “Okay, man, thank you for watching over her while I was gone. I’ll take it from here.”
“No problem, man. It’s not like it was a big hardship to watch her. It’s like having a little sister around to bug and annoy.”
I laughed at his statement because I knew that he was right. “Trust me, I know. I was getting all sorts of threatening messages while I was gone. And it wasn’t me she was mad with.”
Seth grinned at my words; he knew exactly what he had been doing. It was this kind of relationship I wanted her to have with him. After saying bye to him, I made my way toward my office to collect my sleepy Little brat.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that she was curled up on the sofa.
The next thing was that she was wrapped up in my blanket.
A blanket I knew for certain wasn’t at the office when I left and it wasn’t the one I had originally bought to leave here.
How she’d managed to get her hands on it, I was not sure. I intended to find out, though.
“Wake up, sleepy head. It’s time to go home,” I whisper, gently shaking her shoulder, careful not to scare her.
“Beau? Is that you?”
“Who else would be waking you up to go home, silly?”
“I don’t know, but yep, let’s go home.”
She lifted her arms toward me, and my heart soared. I reached down and lifted her into my arms. After shutting off the table lamp on my way out, I waved goodbye to Seth and Josh and took my girl home.