Chapter Eighteen
Malik heard a car pull up outside and looked out the kitchen window. “What the fuck?”
Aiden came to stand beside him. “A limo? Who the fuck drives a limo up a mountain?”
They watched the driver open the back door, and an older man stepped out and looked around. Malik could see, from where he was watching, the disdain the man had for their place, and the man looked like he had smelled rotting food or something.
“That’s got to be Warner. What the hell is he doing here this early?”
Malik glanced at Aiden and shook his head. “I’ve no idea. But I don’t like this one bit. I’ll go out and talk to him while you get Camila up. Remind her she isn’t going anywhere. Her stepfather will look at her, they will talk, but then the man will leave.”
“The sooner, the better.”
Malik nodded. “Keep her out of sight for a bit until I can get a read on the man.”
“Good idea.”
Malik waited until Aiden walked out of the room before he made his way out the front door.
“You must be Edward?” Malik ignored the disapproving look the man gave him as he walked toward him.
“Yes, I’m Mr. Warner. Now, where is my princess?”
Malik knew the man was off from the first look he got, and it just kept getting worse the longer he stood with him. He made a snap decision.
“She went into town with Aiden. We thought you said you’d be here late afternoon. They went in to get stuff for dinner for all of us. We hope you can stay.”
Malik bit back a smile as the man cringed.
“Absolutely not. We won't have time for a meal,” Edward said. “How long have they been gone?”
“Not long at all, so it could be a few hours.”
“I can’t wait for her for hours, and we certainly can’t stay for dinner here,” he said, and looked around like he was in a slum. “I just want my daughter so we can go home. She’s not well.”
Malik scowled. “Oh, what’s wrong with her?”
“She has mental problems that need attention, and I am determined to get her the help she desperately needs.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. She’s staying with us. If she needs help, we’ll get it for her.”
“What? Absolutely not! She belongs to me. She’s mine, and you can’t take her.”
“What if she wants to stay?”
“I already told you, she is emotionally unstable, so anything she says is most likely a lie or a delusional fantasy.”
Malik was getting the picture, and it was making him sick to know he and Aiden had put her in this type of danger.
As her legal guardian, he had the right to take her and put her in an institution, and there was nothing they could do about it.
If she were married to them, then the father couldn’t do anything to her.
That was the only thing he could think of that would protect her.
“Let me go inside and get my phone. I’ll call them and see how much longer they’ll be.”
“Make it quick.”
“You can come in if you’d like,” Malik said, but he already knew the man wouldn’t set foot inside the house that was inferior to him.
He walked back in and closed the door. Aiden was waiting out of sight.
“She’s gone.”
Malik’s heart stopped. “Gone, where?”
“She got out of the office window. She’s injured, there was blood, I just don’t know how bad.”
“Her stepfather is fucking crazy. He’s saying how she’s emotionally unstable.
He’s her next of kin, so we have no grounds to fight.
I don’t have a lot of time. I told him you, and she went into town and won't be back for a few hours. That will give us a little time. We need to find her and take her to Judge Peters. He owes us, and I think we can talk him into getting us married. That way, he can’t take her from us. ”
“I like the sound of that. I’ll suit up and find her. You call the judge and then deal with her stepfather.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Malik muttered. “Keep her hidden, and I’ll call with an update.”
“You got it.”
Malik watched Aiden get into his camo, grab the emergency backpack, and rush out the back door before he put in a call to the judge. After explaining the situation, Peters agreed with his assessment and would start on the paperwork so it would be ready by the time they got there.
Malik hung up, took a few deep breaths, pasted on a smile, walked out of the house, and up to Camila’s stepfather.
“So, I talked to Aiden. They went a little farther than they first thought. I guess Camila wanted to see a movie, and Aiden had a hard time telling her no. So, it’s going to take them a few hours, but if you’d like to come in, I started some chili if you’re hungry.”
Malik bit the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing out loud at the disgust on the man’s face.
“No, we’ll just come back.”
“Okay. If you think that’s best.”
Malik watched the chauffeur open the man's door. Before he slid in, he saw the pale face of a woman who looked an awful lot like Camila. He couldn’t miss the fear and desperation she had on her face before it became vacant of any emotion.
He waved to them, and when they were out of sight, he rushed into the house, got his own hunting gear on, and was out the door tracking Aiden’s footprints and the signs he left behind for him.
They needed to find her as soon as possible and do everything they could to protect her.