Page 27 of Vanishing Legacy
“You got it.”
The door closed with a soft click, and Cash sank into a silk striped armchair. He shifted Penny off his shoulder and cradled her in his arms. He probably should let her rest on the couch, but he couldn’t bear not holding her. At least, not right now.
He brushed Penny’s tangled hair away from her forehead. It needed washing and brushing, but Penny’s sensitivity made it near impossible to get through without tears. It was a daily battle, and today he didn’t have the heart to put her through the fight.
The door opened and Alana crossed the room with a soft stride. She wore black pants and a white silk shirt under a leather tactical jacket. “Hey, how’s she doing this morning?”
Cash shifted the sleeping Penny in his arms. A bit of drool had trickled out of her open mouth and dried her cheek to his arm. “She’s sacked out. Has been for a few hours.”
Alana sat in the matching chair beside him and angled herself to face him. “Good. And emotionally?”
He bobbed his head side to side. “Too early to tell. But by the way she screamed bloody murder about the needle last night, I wonder if the blood draw was more traumatic than the abduction.”
She flashed a tight smile. “I get it. I hate needles too.”
Interesting. So there was something that scared the woman. Seeing her dangling from a rising hot air balloon last night had him thinking she was fearless.
“So, what changed your mind about professional security?”
He huffed a laugh. “Are you kidding? I’ve done some death-defying things in my life, but you did it without gear or backup. All to save my daughter from a kidnapper. Seeing you in action sealed it. I don’t think I’ll ever forget watching you pull yourself up and into the basket. The image is burned into my brain.”
“It’s my job.” She averted her gaze and focused on smoothing an invisible crease on her pants.
He caught the flicker of doubt in her features and put his hand over hers. She stilled and stared at his fingers. “You charged headfirst into danger to save Penny, and I know it meant leaving Rocco alone in a dangerous situation. It takes one decisive, brave person to make a choice like that. My daughter over your son.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you for what you did.”
Her dark eyes fluttered up to look at him. The muscles of her neck jerked with a hard swallow. “It wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but?—”
“I have beverages,” Raven said, carrying a silver tray with bottled waters and a cup of coffee. The coffee cup clinked against the tray as she lowered it to the wooden console.
Noelle and Juliette came in and each took a seat on the Crillon sofa opposite him. They made polite small talk while Raven placed their drinks on coasters and arranged them on the glass coffee table.
“That should do it,” she said. “Buzz if you need anything.”
Cash was still getting to know each of the women in the office, but he had to admit the team stood up to the Elite name.
Noelle Burton headed up the Savannah branch of the Elite Guardians and came across as a tough-as-nails rule follower. Could’ve been a hard lesson learned during her time as a Savannah PD detective.
Juliette Montgomery’s soft brown eyes and delicate features framed by a honeyed pixie cut made her appear gentle. Harmless, even. But he wasn’t fooled. Underneath that unassuming exterior, the former Army Ranger harbored a concealed fatal power.
“So, Dr. Thomas. Any clue about what was in the injection?” Juliette asked.
“Please, call me Cash. The doctor thing makes me feel like I’m at work.” He grinned, letting her know he wanted to keep things casual. “The tox screen came back clean. It wasn’t a narcotic. She has a slightly elevated white blood cell count. Other than that, her blood work is normal.”
“Elevated whites? Is that bad?” Noelle didn’t take her eyes off him while she smoothed the folded sleeves of her blouse.
“Not necessarily. Stress could cause it, and Lord knows she’s been through the wringer the past few days. There’s one more test we’re waiting on, but the way everything is reading, I think it’s possible she was injected with nothing more than saline as a scare tactic.”
“Or maybe God protected Penny from something more sinister,” Alana said.
He nodded. “That would be an answer to my very fervent prayers over the last twelve hours.”
“Mine too,” Alana said.
“I’ll keep monitoring her for symptoms and keep you posted. How about Rocco? How’s he doing after all the excitement last night?”
“He can’t stop talking about it. He’s out there right now telling Raven how cool his mom is.” Juliette’s eyes glinted and she gave Alana a single nod.
“All I know is she’s a force to be reckoned with. You guys should have seen her hanging from that hot air balloon basket. If Alana hadn’t been there…well, I don’t want to think about what could have happened.”