Chapter 1 #2
I’m overprotective, I know I am, and I probably convey that in a menacing way with a gun on my hip, but I can’t help it.
I almost lost Cali once, and I’ll be damned if that ever happens again.
So what if it makes me hard to work for, I’d rather have the reputation as a dickhead than checked out and content sitting their kid in front of the TV for hours on end and not giving a shit about anything going on around them.
I could do without the bit about being a womanizer, though.
Checking my watch, I huff out a frustrated sigh then start throwing together mine and Cali’s lunches. “I don’t think Morgan is coming.”
My daughter giggles as she grabs my phone off the counter, unlocks it, and starts swiping. “Told you.”
“I know.”
“GG or Aunt Lottie?”
I frown, tilting my head side to side as I grab a handful of Hershey kisses and toss them in my small cooler. “Start with GG.”
If Gidgette March is available, she’ll charter a damn jet to get to her granddaughter as fast as possible.
We might be closer to my family but my parents still live in the same house I grew up in, almost two hours away in Wrightwood, and my siblings are at least that far if not farther in opposite directions, so the distance makes babysitting on the fly tricky.
It’s also worth noting that my father just had both of his knees replaced, so god only knows what the hell my parents have going on, and both my brother and sister have full time careers of their own.
Last minute doesn’t always fly for us, and that’s exactly why I’m rushing around packing a bag for my daughter to bring with her to my office because that’s where she’s going to be for the foreseeable future.
And Craig Butler is going to have a fucking field day with that.
“I don’t know if I should be offended that I’m the last resort.” I look up over the top of my computer screen to find my brother leaning against the door frame, grinning like the asshat he is. “Or flattered that I made the cut at all.”
I roll my eyes and go back to typing. “I see you talked to Mom.”
“And Lottie,” he says with a chuckle. “Another nanny bites the dust, huh?”
“You could say that.” I haven’t had the chance to share with anyone about the display I walked in on the other night, but I’m sure Henry will get a kick out of it when I finally do. “Staying at my place?”
He pushes off the frame and walks into my office, plopping down in the chair on the other side of my desk before kicking his booted feet up on it.
“I thought we might go visit Dad. He’s going crazy, trapped in that house with nothing but Mom while she fusses over him.
You’d think they amputated both legs instead of replacing his knees with the way she’s acting. ”
“I don’t doubt it,” I say with a grin as I look up at him again. “I thought he had an appointment?”
Henry nods. “He does. Should be back home by the time the princess and I get there, though. Then Mom is heading to her over sixty’s hot yoga.”
We both shudder and I can’t help but laugh.
It’s been really nice being back home and seeing my family more often. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until we got here, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to reconnect.
“Okay,” Cali announces as she walks back into my office. “I didn’t have to poop, and I got all the pee out. I’m ready.”
“Perfect.” My brother claps his hands together and hops to his feet, trying—and failing—to remain serious. “That means you’ll have plenty of room for a milkshake and fries on the way to GG and Pawpaw’s house.”
“Is that okay, Daddy?”
I nod as my daughter rounds my desk. “It’s fine, baby. You can do whatever you want while you’re with Uncle Henry, as long as—”
“I don’t break any laws, and he doesn’t break any bones. I know.” She giggles as I snatch her up in a hug and squeeze tight. “GG says the same thing.”
“That’s where I got it from.”
“It’s basically our family motto,” Henry says with a chuckle. “I like to think I spiced things up for your grandparents. I’m sure it was extremely boring in the March household until I came along.”
I roll my eyes then give my little girl a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll try not to be too late.”
“We’ll see about that.”
My eyes shift from my daughter to the doorway, my gaze narrowing on the beady eyes and pointy nose of Craig Butler.
What the fuck is he doing here?
He’s usually out in Quantico, barking his orders at me via angry voicemails or snarky emails. He thinks it’s beneath him to come all the way out to a backwoods office like this one so if he’s here, I’m sure it’s to bring nothing but misery and bullshit to my already terrible day.
“Mind your uncle, okay?” I turn back to my daughter and give her a soft smile. “Be good for everyone, and I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
She nods and presses a kiss to my cheek. “Okay, Daddy. Love you big time.”
“Love you big time, too, baby girl.”
Butler watches as she grabs her backpack and stuffed elephant, staring right up until my brother picks her up and parks her on his hip, grinning at the fifty year old alpha in a way that conveys his threat without words before he snaps his teeth at him as he walks by.
Neither of us like the way he looks at my daughter. Never have. He’s a fucking creep, and he’s walking a fine line any time he’s sharing air with my baby girl.
Plus, Henry is an alpha, the only one out of the three of us, and while he’s younger than me by three years, it’s made him that much more protective of our family.
Neither of us would think twice about putting a bullet between this asshole’s eyes under the right circumstances but Henry would do it on camera in front of the entirety of this FBI office with their guns drawn and aimed at him, and he’d do it with a smile on his face. Especially if Cali was involved.
“I’m going to be moving up your lecture tour.”
I bite my tongue and try to school my expression as Butler closes the door to my office.
“And extending it.” He sits down in the chair my brother vacated as he unbuttons his suit coat.
“But before you leave, I’ll need you to do an entire case study on what we’ve collected on The Orphan.
” Butler holds up his hand as I open my mouth.
“Then I need you to rewrite it in a generic way, one vague enough that keeps the actual case secret while still delivering a working profile to local law enforcement.”
“This is bitch work,” I grunt as I lean back in my chair. Bitch work, but it somewhat validates my original thoughts that The Orphan could be a cop or agent of some kind. “And you know it, Butler. That’s not what I’m paid to do.”
“You’re paid to do whatever the hell I tell you to do, March.
I want the case study by the end of the week.
The Orphan has been quiet for too long and I want every office in California prepped without getting hysterical.
I want them looking for him without realizing who they’re looking for, and I want you to train them on how to do that. ”
I’m too fucking good at my job for this kind of bullshit. I have a 11-1 record when it comes to catching killers, my one loss is for a spree killer who offed himself during the final showdown, and I should be out in the field hunting this bastard instead of writing fucking essays about him.
Then what he says sinks in.
“Every office in California?”
Butler nods. “I told you, I’m extending your tour.”
“I thought you meant weeks, not months.”
“What you think doesn’t matter. California is his hunting ground, that’s where we need the training.”
“But, what about my daughter? I can’t just leave her for—”
“I don’t give a good goddamn about your offspring, March.
” He gets to his feet slowly, glaring at me as he adjusts his cufflinks.
“Take her with you, leave her at home, pawn her off on your parents, I don’t give a shit but you have a job to do and I’d suggest figuring out a way to do it.
” The bastard grins as he moves toward the door.
“Or you could retire. Call it quits now so you don’t have to worry about what to do with your little brat.
It’s up to you, but either way, I need it handled by the end of the week. ”
Then he’s gone.
Fuck.
I hate that son of a bitch.
We didn’t get along great when we were partners but as soon as he got promoted, shit went south real fast and he’s been an insufferable prick ever since.
I don’t understand why he’s got it out so bad for me, but I guess it doesn’t matter right now.
Right now, I need to pull everything we have on The Orphan, figure out what cities I’m supposed to be hitting, and if there’s a nanny in the entire state of California who’d be willing to not only work for me, but apparently tag along while I take my side show on the road. Thank god it’s summer vacation.
There is no way in hell I’m leaving my daughter for months at a time, not fucking happening.
Butler wants everyone on high alert and hyperaware of The Orphan and his bullshit? I’ll do him one better. I’ll catch the bastard myself, and I’ll do it while working my ass off to be father of the fucking year, too.