Chapter 18 #4
“We protect Charlie. We protect every child in this room. We find Malachi, and we end whatever he came here to begin.”
Sunshine drew a shuddering breath.
Charlie pulled back enough to look at both of us.
“Is the bad man gonna come in?”
The question silenced the room nearest us.
I looked into her blue eyes and refused to lie.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep him outside.”
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
Sunshine’s gaze shifted toward me.
Charlie frowned. “Daddies get scared?”
“All the time.”
“Then what do you do?”
I looked at Sunshine, then at the room filled with children, women, and people who trusted us to hold the line.
“We stay together and make good choices even while we’re scared.”
Charlie considered the answer. “Like Sunshine?”
“Exactly like Sunshine.”
She leaned toward her and placed one small hand against Sunshine’s cheek.
“You’re brave.”
Sunshine’s expression crumpled for only a second before she gathered herself.
“So are you.”
“I know.”
The confidence in Charlie’s answer drew a few fragile smiles around the room.
My radio crackled.
“Toxic to Remedy.”
I pressed the button without releasing either of them. “Go.”
“Courtyard secured. No suspect. Box is being scanned remotely.”
“Any sign of entry?”
“Negative.”
“Cameras?”
“Cipher has partial feeds returning.”
Sunshine’s grip tightened.
“What’s in the box?” I asked.
A pause followed.
Then Toxic answered.
“Photographs.”
Cold moved through me.
“Of what?”
“Harbor House. The clubhouse. The children’s garden.”
Sunshine stopped breathing.
Toxic continued, his voice lower now.
“And one of Sunshine holding Charlie.”
The room disappeared beneath the force of her reaction.
She swayed, and I caught her before her knees gave way. Charlie began asking what was wrong, but Daisy moved quickly, taking her from my arms while I lowered Sunshine to the floor.
“Sunshine. Look at me.”
Her eyes had gone distant.
Not here.
Not in this room.
“Listen to my voice.”
She shook her head, one hand pressed over her mouth as though holding back a scream.
“He watched us.”
“I know.”
“He was there when she was with me.”
“I know.”
“He could’ve taken her.”
“But he didn’t.”
“Not yet.”
The words came raw enough to cut.
I took both her hands and held them loosely, leaving space even while urgency pressed against me.
“Where are you?”
She could not answer.
“Sunshine, where are you?”
Her eyes finally moved toward mine.
“The nursery.”
“What do you hear?”
“Charlie.”
Daisy had carried her only a few feet away. Charlie stood in her arms, frightened but safe, Mr. Pickles tucked beneath one elbow.
“What else?”
“Rain.”
“What can you feel?”
Sunshine’s fingers tightened around mine.
“You.”
“That’s right.”
Her breathing remained uneven, but the room slowly returned to her face.
“You’re here,” I said. “Charlie is here. Malachi is outside, and the entire club is between him and this room.”
Tears slid down her cheeks.
“He took pictures.”
“Then he made a mistake.”
She stared at me.
“He showed us what he knows. Now Cipher can study every angle, every timestamp, every route he used. He wanted fear. He gave us evidence.”
The medic in me understood how little words could repair in that moment. The man in me needed them anyway.
Sunshine looked toward Charlie.
Daisy lowered her carefully, and Charlie ran back to us.
Sunshine pulled her close so tightly that Charlie made a small sound of surprise, though she did not complain. She simply wrapped her arms around Sunshine’s neck and held on.
“I’m okay,” Charlie whispered.
Sunshine closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“Daddy said we’re together.”
“We are.”
Charlie leaned back enough to look at the family drawing still resting on the floor.
“Our roof got wrinkled.”
Sunshine followed her gaze.
The purple line had folded across the center when she nearly collapsed.
“We can fix it,” Charlie said.
The simple confidence in those four words settled over all three of us.
Sunshine reached for the drawing with one trembling hand.
“Yes,” she whispered. “We can.”
My radio crackled again.
“Toxic.”
I answered.
“Box has another item,” he said. “A note.”
“What does it say?”
The pause before his answer told me I would hate every word.
“Return what belongs to the Order, and the children remain untouched.”
Sunshine heard.
Her face went still in a way that frightened me more than panic.
Charlie did not understand the message, but she felt the silence that followed. She looked between us while clutching Mr. Pickles closer.
Sunshine rose slowly.
I stood with her.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Her eyes held none of the distant fear from moments before.
Only resolve.
“He thinks I belong to him.”
“He’s wrong.”
“I know.”
She looked toward the door, toward the men downstairs, and toward the dark woods beyond the walls.
“For the first time in my life, I know exactly where I belong.”
Her hand found mine.
Then she reached for Charlie’s.
The three of us stood beneath the wrinkled family drawing while Malachi waited outside for fear to send Sunshine running back toward him.
It would not.
He had mistaken love for leverage.
Soon, he would learn it was the reason she stayed.