Page 85 of Mile High Baby

"I saw him when he left. He said everything was fine and then headed off."

The relief on my father's face matched my own. Alex wasn’t lurking about, ready to kill my father. I realized we needed to say something to Jacob, but I still didn't want to tip my hand.

"It was after that. Would you mind looking?" Even though we knew now, no one was in the house, the search of the house didn't seem like a bad idea. When Alex was here, he searched the house all the time. Now I wondered why. Perhaps he was doing his job as he was supposed to but was tempted away by Pitney. He essentially said as much in their conversation. He went where the money was. That didn’t explain how he ended up on the airplane, but at this point, the how or why didn’t matter. All that mattered was staying safe.

Jacobs completed the search and left.

“I know it’s late, but you still haven’t eaten. Caroline has prepared a meal for you,” Knightly informed us.

I’d totally forgotten about dinner. By the way we both picked at our food, neither Dad nor I were very hungry. But I forced myself to eat because I knew that's what the baby needed.

I wondered for a moment what Alex's parents were like that they ended up raising a son like him. I knew his father had disowned him. At the time, I thought it was a rotten thing to do, but maybe he did it because Alex wasn’t a good person. Maybe he was born that way.

I pressed a hand over my belly, making a promise to my child that I was going to do my best to give it all the love and support it needed to grow into a happy, productive citizen of the world.

After dinner, my father tucked himself away into his office, and I probably should have done the same. But I decided that since I'd been kidnapped earlier, it was okay if I took the evening off. Instead, I hid myself away in the living room with a pad of paper as I tried to sort my thoughts and map out a plan for my future. A future that for the time being would probably require me to stay with my father.

When I yawned, I checked my watch and realized I'd been there for nearly two hours. It was time to put the hot mess of my life away and get some rest. I had just stood and stretched when there was a knock on the front door. I knew nobody could get up to the door without first passing through security. For a moment, I wondered if it was Alex. He wouldn’t have been stopped unless they knew what he’d done. Now I second-guessed our not explaining things to Jacobs.

I went to the entryway of the living room and watched as Knightly opened the door. “Mr. Shepperd. Mr. Jorgenson." Knightly pulled the door open, allowing them into the foyer.

"Is Alex here?" Dax asked. The fact that they were looking for him here suggested they didn't know the type of man he was, or they did and they were here to stop him from killing my father.

"No. He was here earlier but left before seeing Mr. and Ms. Banion."

From where I was eavesdropping, I could see Dax's brow furrow. He looked at Ian. "And Jacobs saw him leave."

He nodded. "Yes. He said Alex was on foot. He told Jacobs that all was well and then he continued up to the corner."

"Are you here to terminate that motherfucker?" My father strode into the foyer.

Both Dax and Ian's brows shot up to their hairlines.

"Excuse me?" Dax bristled.

"That asshole seduced my daughter." My father seemed more concerned about Alex sleeping with me than his being hired to kill him.

Dax's brows drew down while Ian's went impossibly higher.

"Then is Victoria here?" Dax asked.

My father stepped up to him. "Why? Do you want to be the next—”

I rushed out, pressing my hand against my father's chest. "I'm sure that's not what he means.”

Dax and Ian looked at me and my father like we’d gone mad.

“What’s going on here?” Dax demanded.

“Like you don’t know,” my father scoffed. “I trusted him.”

Dax turned to me, clearly ignoring my father. “Have you heard from him?”

“Don’t talk to her.” My father moved to push Dax away.

Again, I held a hand out to stop him. “The last time I heard Alex was when he took money from George Pitney to kill my father.”

Neither Dax nor Ian looked surprised by that.