Austin caught the end of the rope between his feet and climbed toward the balcony. In seconds, he windmilled his legs over the edge. By the time Gray joined him, Austin had worked the doorknob, then the dead bolt with his lockpick. When he heard the telltale snick, he said a prayer, turned the knob, and the door opened.
“Got your six.” Gray crouched behind the balustrades, weapon drawn, watching the property, the street, and the surrounding homes.
Austin stepped into the dark room and took a second to slow his breathing and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He found her small form beneath the covers on the bed, and his heart kicked hard. Once he took this final step, there was no going back. Yet, without this step, there would be no moving forward.
He found the baby monitor and switched it off, then moved to the bed. He pulled the mask up, sat on the edge of the mattress and covered her mouth with his hand.
She woke instantly. Her eyes flew wide with terror. She scrambled to get away, mewling with fear.
“Mirabella,” Austin whispered, the sounds yanking at his guts. “Bella, look. It’s me.”
She blinked, focused. Austin put a finger to his lips.
When she nodded, he tentatively pulled his hand back. Anticipation hung heavy in his gut. He hadn’t seen her in two months. Two fucking months. It felt like an eternity.
She was breathing hard, and tears glistened in her eyes.
“I’m sorry I scared you, honey.” He ran a hand over her hair.
A sob escaped her throat, and Bella launched her little body into his arms, clinging to his neck. “Daddy, I miss you.”
He wrapped his arms around the tiny wisp of a person, just four years old—going on twenty. “I missed you too, baby.” To his team, Austin said, “Package safe and sound. Prepare for extraction.”
She pulled back, and tears glistened in her eyes. “Grandma say you no want me.”
That motherfucking sonofabitch.
Austin gritted his teeth, pushing past the fury. “Shh-shh-shh. We have to be really, really quiet so Grandma doesn’t hear.”
“Her mad, Daddy.” Bella’s lower lip quivered. “Her always mad. Her mean. I want you.”
His heart snapped clean in half. He choked back his own sob—of relief, joy, triumph, love. So much love. More love than he’d ever known existed before he’d discovered he had a kid. He’d gone from zero to sixty in milliseconds. Now, this four-year-old waif could drop him to his knees with a few tears and a crack in her voice.
“You got me, princess,” he murmured into her hair, rocking her. “You got me.”
“Prepared for extraction, Alpha One.” Lorenzo’s voice filled Austin’s ear, telling him the team was in position to circle the wagons once he brought her out.
Bella pulled back and put her hand to the com device. “What in your ear?”
“A toy.” He covered her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll let you have it when we get to the car, okay?”
“’Kay.” When he stood, Bella fisted his shirt, her eyes wide with fear, her feet marching on the bed, the way they did when she needed to be urgently picked up. “No go, Daddy.”
He lifted her into his arms, grabbed the stuffed bunny he’d given her at Easter along with her favorite blanket. She pulled them both into her arms, laid her head against his shoulder, and popped her thumb into her mouth. He’d almost had her broken of that habit before Seaver slammed him with a restraining order and a suit for sole custody. Now it was Bella’s go-to soothing technique again.
Triage. There were far more important things to deal with first. Like bundling her for the weather and getting her the hell away from Paige Seaver.
“Don’t worry, baby.” Austin grabbed another blanket from the bed, then turned for the door to the balcony. “Daddy no go anywhere without you again.”
2
Ten months later
Everly Shaw wandered along the stone pool deck, her attention torn between the view of the ocean below and the deep blue water at her feet. She turned her back to the house and the security guard watching her every move.
“This place is incredible.” The invisible communication device deep in her ear transmitted to her boss and teammates, Roman, Ian, and Sam. Roman and Ian were both at airports, waiting for their flights to Costa Rica. Sam was at the home office in Colorado. “The pictures
in the file don’t begin to do it justice.”