Page 92 of Under His Protection
“I’m okay,” she says in a surprisingly calm voice.
We hear someone pounding a vehicle horn impatiently outside the security gate.
Mateo checks the camera view on an app. “It’s Mack.” He taps the screen. “I’ll let him in.”
“Haley, maybe you should wait upstairs,” Jake says. “Give me a chance to talk your dad off the ledge.”
She stands. “He’s going to want to see I’m okay. It’ll be better if I’m here.”
When there’s a hard knock on the back door, Mateo opens it.
Mack steps inside. “Where is she?”
“I’m right here, Dad,” Haley says as she steps around me. “I’m okay.”
The look on Mack’s face when he lays eyes on his daughter guts me. He really was worried.
“Sweetheart,” he says as he strides forward and embraces her. “Thank God. When Philip told me—”
“I’m fine, honest,” she says, her voice muffled against Mack’s shirt.
Mack releases her and holds her at arm’s length so he can scan her from head to toe. Once he’s assured she’s all in onepiece, he says, “Haley, go to your room, please. I’d like to have a talk with your security team.”
“Dad, no. I’m not going to be sent upstairs to my room like I’m a child. I’m part of this. I’m staying.”
“Fine.” Mack pulls her close and kisses her forehead. Then he releases her to glare at Jake. “How the fuck did this happen, Jake? How did your people not know this asshole was tracking my daughter?”
Haley pales. “Dad—”
“No, not you,” Mack says to Haley. “I’m talking to the so-called professionals in the room.”
Charlie steps forward, calm and collected as always. “Mr. Donovan, I understand your concern. But let me assure you, we checked her bags daily for devices. There weren’t any until today.”
“It’s too little, too late now, isn’t it?” Mack says. “The stalker knows where she’s at.”
“The townhouse is secure, Mack,” Jake says.
“I want her moved immediately.”
“To where?” Jake asks. “This is still a safe location.”
Mack opens his mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. That’s because there is no better place. This townhouse is safer than her dad’s apartment, and it’s safer than her mom’s house.
“I’ll ask Shane if she can stay at his estate in Kenilworth,” Mack says.
Haley steps forward. “No, Dad. That’s too far away from school for me to commute on a daily basis. I’m fine here.”
Haley’s phone chimes with another incoming text message. She picks it up, reads the screen, and then hands her phone to me.
I read the text aloud.
UNKNOWN – HALEY, WE GOT OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT. LET’S START OVER. WILL YOU MEET ME FORDINNER? PLEASE? LET ME PROVE TO YOU WE’D BE GREAT TOGETHER.
The room is silent for a moment, so quiet the only sound is the hum of the refrigerator.
“This is good,” Jake says. “We can work with this.”
“Tell me how in the fuck this is good!” Mack demands.
