Craving Molly (The Aces' Sons 2)

The next morning, she’d been back with the questions, though. I guess it was just one question, really. All day, every day. “Will?”

There wasn’t any answer she accepted. I could distract her for a while, but it always came back to Will.

I ground my teeth as I headed toward my dad’s house. I was starting my first night shift at the hospital and I was already so tired, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it. Rebel woke up at four in the morning pretty much every day, so both of us were usually dragging ass by the afternoon. I hadn’t asked for the shift change, but apparently, I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Unfortunately, the daycare we loved that Rebel had attended for years wasn’t open in the evenings. Thankfully, my dad had a room for Reb at his house, and he’d agreed that she could stay the night with him when I was working. I wasn’t sure how other single parents did it.

We pulled slowly up my dad’s driveway as I tried to avoid all of the holes that the winter rains had dug into the gravel. My dad lived on some property outside of town, and every year, he had to have his road re-graded because water had completely decimated it during the rainy season. It drove me nuts that he refused to pave it. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the money.

When we got to the house, there was a car in the driveway that I didn’t recognize, and it irritated me because he knew he was supposed to be watching Rebel. I wasn’t sure if it was a client or a woman, but I didn’t really give a shit. I only had a half an hour to get to work on time, so they were just going to have to deal with a busy three year old running around the house.

“Come on, Reb,” I said, climbing out of the car. She was busy on the Kindle she’d gotten last Christmas, and didn’t even bother acknowledging me as I moved around to her side of the car and unbuckled her from her seat belt.

I carried her toward the front porch, practically dragging her overnight bag behind us. The thing was packed full of her pajamas, three pairs of clean socks, her blanket, four stuffed animals, a change of clothes for the next day, and the ratty old towel that Will had put her to bed with when she was little and she couldn’t sleep without. My dad’s door was closed, and he didn’t answer when I kicked it repeatedly with my foot. I reached out and flung it open, glad it wasn’t locked so I didn’t have to go back to the car for my keys.

“Dad, you better be decent!” I yelled as I closed the door behind me. “You said you’d watch Reb tonight!”

I moved into the house, and only after I’d gotten like six feet from the front door did I notice how unnaturally quiet the place was. The hair on the back of my neck prickled, but before I could turn around, it was too late.

“Come in,” an accented voice called from the kitchen, making my head snap up.

There were two men standing there, one older and fat, the other tall and bulky. The short one had his arms crossed and was relaxing against the countertop, and the big one was standing with his legs braced wide, his hands loose at his sides.

My dad was tied to a chair in the middle of the kitchen, and his face was almost unrecognizable.

I made a noise in the back of my throat, and for a split second, I wanted to run toward him. But then Rebel shifted a little in my arms and I immediately took a step backward as some character on her Kindle giggled.

“Uh uh,” the short one murmured in amusement, making me break out in a cold sweat. “Come closer.”

I contemplated running for less than a second, but I knew I wouldn’t get far. Rebel was close to forty pounds. There was no way I could carry her out of the house with any sort of speed.

I didn’t move closer like he’d asked. Instead, I planted my feet and dropped Reb’s bag to the floor. I needed to make sure I had at least one arm free, though I wasn’t really sure what I could do with it.

“You shouldn’t have come,” my dad mumbled through swollen lips, making the big guy punch him in the side of the head. I jerked, and pulled Reb closer.

“Your father and I were just discussing some business,” the short one said calmly. “You’re Molly, yes? When someone doesn’t answer your calls, that usually means they are unavailable.”

I shuddered as the man picked my dad’s cell phone off the counter and dropped it to the floor so he could stomp on it.