The social worker looked torn. “I’d love for you to. Honestly, I would. But that’s… you don’t have any credentials. You’re not foster approved. You haven’t had any background checks. There’s a system in place for a reason.”
“Yes, they do.” Hunt butted into our discussion. “Check and see.”
The woman looked at Hunt for a long moment, then to us.
Blaise wasn’t saying a single word.
Neither was I.
Not when that girl needed something stable in her life right now.
Needed her hero—Blaise—if only for tonight.
“Sadly, a parent hasn’t been deemed unfit,” she said. “If my superiors approve, and everything checks out, then you can keep her for the night, but only if Brees doesn’t want to keep her like Ames said he wouldn’t. But seriously, don’t get your hopes up on long-term. They won’t allow that.”
Just as we were all getting antsy, a thud sounded from behind the door, and then the intercom beside the door sounded.
“What do you want?”
Brees’ voice was loud and pissed off, as if he wasn’t happy to be woken in the middle of the night by us.
“Sir,” Tatum said. “We found your daughter.”
There was a long pause and then, “Sorry, but was she missing?”
Hunt snorted from his lean against the pillar to our right.
“He was there, but according to the videos, the kidnapping happened after he left for the night. Unlike what Ames said. She probably never called him, either.” Hunt paused. “I can verify that as well.”
Hunt pulled his phone out before either Tatum or Shiloh could ask for him to.
The door was slowly opened moments later with Brees firmly planted in his wheelchair and glaring daggers.
At me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snarled, eyes snapping fire.
I wished I could throat punch him.
Beside me, Blaise trembled, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to her anger at the man in front of us, or the fact that she was scared of him.
Either way, I tossed my arm around her shoulders and didn’t say a word, waiting for Shiloh and Tatum to do the talking.
They did, explaining everything that had happened tonight.
“Not my kid.” He didn’t even spare her a look. “That’s Linnie’s kid with another man. She just stayed here while she tried to figure out what she was going to do next.”
Shiloh sighed. “You’re listed as the birth father.”
“I’m not.” Brees narrowed his eyes. “I’m more interested to know why the fuck y’all are here, and why the fuck you’re not fucking leaving.”
“All right then,” Tatum said. “Do you have the man’s name? The father?”
“Linnie can give it to ya,” Brees said. “I want you off my property.”
With that, he rolled backward in his chair and slammed the door. But not before offering a parting comment.
“Can’t wait to see you more in town, assholes.” Brees slammed the door closed in Shiloh’s and Tatum’s faces.
“Damn,” Shiloh breathed. “What an ass.”
“Hear that,” Tatum growled as he pulled out his phone. “Let me make a few calls.”
Shiloh’s eyes met ours.
“I…”
“Father is named Titus King,” Hunt murmured. “Ames and Titus had a brief fling about two years ago. She has the start of a child support petition with a lawyer in town after finding out that the kid she was carrying wasn’t her husband’s. Only, they didn’t go through with the suit. Was held after the kid was born.”
“Titus King?” Tatum paused. “As in the fucking professional football player, Titus King? That Titus King?”
Hunt looked up with confusion. “Titus King is a football player?”
“Uh, yeah.” Blaise shook her head. “How have you not heard of Titus King? He’s actually from around here.”
Hunt shrugged. “Got more important things to do than spend my time watching football. But it’s good to know he’s got money. He’s gonna need it to fight.”
“Fight who?” Shiloh asked. “If he’s the father, which will be determined pending a DNA test, then there is no fight. Ames will be going to jail after everything that she did. There’s no way she’ll be finding her way back to becoming a parent anytime soon.”
“Agreed,” Tatum murmured. “She won’t be seeing the light of day for a while.”
“In that case.” Shiloh rubbed her eyes. “Tonight, you can keep her. But tomorrow, Titus King will be taking her.”
“She doesn’t know him,” Blaise grumbled.
Shiloh shot her a grin. “She doesn’t know you, and she’s done okay.”
True words.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get home and grab a couple of hours of sleep.”
“I’ll find you everything you need to know on Titus King,” Hunt said. “Send it to both of your emails. But from what I can tell, this man is loyal as fuck. He’s got a friend that’s a Navy SEAL. You know him, Banner Spurlock. The first thing that pulls up is a photo of the two of them at a game a few weeks back. You should see his face. It’s like his best friend in the entire world showed up in uniform. I’m actually tearing up here.”