Chapter 19
BEAU
This case was dragging. It seemed like every time we made any progress, we would end up taking two steps backward. I knew that the guys were beginning to tire. I was missing home and my Little girl.
The only thing that had kept me going was the texts that Rebekah sent me every night.
I don’t allow myself long to look at them, but it’s like clockwork when they come in.
My Daddy heart is thrilled each time she sends them because it means she is thinking of me and trying her best to keep to the routine we were working on before getting called away on this mission.
My biggest struggle was that Seth was here with us.
Therefore, she didn’t have any of us around.
I knew that Vic had been keeping an eye on her as much as he could, but he had his own life.
Plus, I would never ask him to keep watch over his best friend like that.
He did text me the following morning after their sleepover to say Rebekah was doing okay and seemed to be in good spirits.
The only other way I was able to keep watch over her was that I was notified each time she left the house in my truck.
Call me a paranoid son of a bitch, but I had Seth install a tracker on my truck like we had on his car.
It gave me peace of mind knowing that if Rebekah was driving without me, I was able to make sure she was okay.
“Hey, Boss, come look at this,” Seth called.
I dropped down into the seat beside him. Looking at the traffic cameras he had on his screen, I scanned over what was playing. Ah! This was it! This was the final piece we needed to wrap up the case and go home.
After slapping a hand across his back, I told him to download that video and send it over to the police station. They should be able to use this to make the arrest we needed.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Seth shot me a puzzled look as my phone began to ring in my pocket. It wasn’t my standard ringtone. It was the one I had set specifically for Rebekah. Why was she calling me when she knew I was on a case and couldn’t talk? Unless something was wrong!
My heart began to race as I picked up.
“Daddy?” my girl whimpered.
Immediately, my senses went on high alert. Something was wrong, very wrong.
“Sweets, what’s going on?”
“Daddy, I’m scared.”
“What’s got you scared, babygirl?”
I tried my hardest to keep the nerves out of my voice. I needed to keep my adrenaline under wraps; no reason to scare my girl more than she already was.
“The van is following me, Daddy.”
I put my phone on speaker. The team had picked up on the vibes and had gathered around, ready to jump into action.
“What van?”
“The tan one. It’s been in the neighborhood for the past week. I thought maybe someone got a new vehicle. I should have known better than that.”
What in the world was she talking about?
“Babygirl, can you tell me where you are?”
“I was driving home from…” Her words were cut off by her screams.
“REBEKAH! WHAT’S GOING ON?”
“DADDY! THEY ARE TRYING TO PUSH THE TRUCK OFF THE ROAD!”
I looked over at Seth, who was frantically typing away on the computer. I didn’t think I’d ever seen his fingers move so fast. Looking at the tracker on the truck, I realized that she was coming back into town from Ridge Valley.
“Rebekah, I need you to listen to me, okay. Can you do that? Can you focus for Daddy?”
“I’ll try, Daddy.”
“That’s my good girl. I want you to continue on this road. Don’t stop for any reason. You will be coming up to the office in about a mile.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“When you get there, I want you to park the truck in front of the building. Don’t stop to turn it off, just get out and run, okay. Seth is going to unlock the door so you can run inside.”
“Daddy, I’m scared. I’m really, really scared.”
“It’s going to be okay, Sweets. Daddy is right here.”
“After you get inside, I want you to run to my office, okay. Do you remember the picture behind my desk?”
“The really ugly one?”
I huffed out a small laugh. Leave it to my girl to make jokes even when she was scared.
“Yes, baby, the ugly one. When you get to it, I want you to slide the picture to the right. When you do, a lock is going to trip, and a door will open. I want you to go inside that room and shut the door behind you.”
I tried my hardest to leave the terror out of my voice. I knew that Rebekah would feed off the emotions that I was currently feeling coursing through my body. I took a deep breath and shook the fear from my body. This was worse than anything I had experienced during the war.
The guys had begun racing to pack up our things. I’ve never been so grateful that a case was two towns over. We were still over an hour away, but nothing was going to stop me from getting to my Little girl.
I watched Josh wave the guys out. Stepping into motion, I jumped into the passenger seat as Josh took off before I got the door shut. Knowing the rest of the guys had explained what was going on, I kept my focus on Rebekah.
“Okay, I think I can do that, Daddy.”
“I know you can, Sweets. You are my strong girl. I believe in you.”
The tracker told me that she was almost at the office.
“Now, Seth.”
My hacker was on it; I trusted that he would have that door unlocked just in time for her to race inside.
“I see the office, Daddy. Maybe I should just go home.”
“No! The office is safer than our house, babygirl. You’re going to go into the safe room and hide until I get there, okay.”
There was commotion on the line. The sounds of shouts filled the air. There was no way this was happening. There was no way that my Little girl was racing for her life to protect herself from whatever psycho was after her.
I should have been there! I should never have left her alone, exposed with no security. There was a faint click on the phone before her sweet voice filled the phone again.
“I did it, Daddy. Are you proud of me?”
“Of course, my sweet girl. I’m so proud of you. Daddy is coming. I want you to sit tight and wait.”
“Okay, Daddy. I did it.”
“You did, Rebekah, you did so well.”
The line went quiet before a sob broke free. My heart shattered in that moment, and I was not sure it would ever be healed.
“Daddy is right here, babygirl. You just keep being strong for me.”
“I…” She let out another cry, “I’m trying.”
Seth’s phone rang from the backseat.
“You’re there and they are apprehended?”
Relief flooded my veins. She was safe, my Little girl was safe. Now I just needed to get home to her.
I didn’t think this drive was ever going to end. Seth informed me that John from the police department had pulled in immediately after Rebekah entered the safe room. The perps were currently in custody and waiting at the police station for us to arrive.
Rebekah stayed on the phone with me the whole time, waiting for me to come and save her. Not that she really needed saving, my Little girl had managed to do that all on her own.
“Are you still with me, Sweets?”
“Yeah, Daddy. I’m still here. Is it safe to come out now?”
I scanned my finger on the door and responded, “Yes, sweet girl. It’s safe to come out now.”
I barely had time to react before Rebekah was in my arms. The tears that had once stopped were back full force.
“Shhh. It’s okay, Rebekah. Daddy is here. I’m not going anywhere.”
After carrying her over to the couch, I sat down, pulling her onto my lap. We both sat there, cherishing the feeling of being together again. Soft footsteps approached before a blanket was wrapped around us both. Rebekah lay in silence, body shaking, tears rolling down her pretty face.
“They are waiting for you at the station when you are ready. Take your time, there’s no need to rush there.”
I nodded at Josh and continued to snuggle Rebekah.
I knew that she needed to give her statement, and we needed to talk about everything that had happened over the last two weeks.
All that would wait until tomorrow, though.
Tonight, I was taking my Little girl home, and I was not letting her out of my sight for the foreseeable future.