But she’d fought through her fear, run after that last time, determined that she wasn’t going to be anyone’s punching bag any longer.
That same determination filled her now.
No one was taking this little girl on her watch.
“Excuse me,” she said, taking a step closer as the trio prepared to pass her.
As his gaze swung toward her, she noticed the man closest reach for the inside of his jacket almost on instinct.
She caught sight of the weapon there, and if she’d had any doubts that these men intended to abduct the little girl they vanished.
Phoebe had no idea what came over her. All she knew was that she wasn’t a victim anymore and she wasn’t going to allow this innocent little girl to become one.
After what happened to her cousin, they’d both taken self-defense classes. While what she’d learned had done little to help her with her ex, she hoped it was enough to save this child.
Slamming her foot into the closest man’s groin, she was pleased when he groaned and released his hold on the child, dropping to his knees. He had been unprepared for her attack, and she’d caught him unawares, but now the other guy knew to expect trouble.
Still, she wasn’t giving up.
Dodging sideways as the man pulled out a weapon, she kicked him in the side and when he stumbled, she followed it up with a one-two punch to his head.
The little girl opened her mouth and let out an ear-piercing scream, and as though afraid the sound would bring more witnesses than they could safely take out and make it away without getting caught, the two men ran to the van, jumped in the back, and it took off into the traffic.
It had worked.
She’d done it.
Phoebe almost couldn’t believe it, but she felt a piece of herself that her ex had stolen return.
“Are you okay?” she asked the little girl.
In answer, the child flung herself into Phoebe’s arms and began to sob.
“Lolly!” a male voice screamed.
In a blur, a large body came flying toward her, knocking her down. Her head slammed painfully onto the concrete, hard enough that she saw stars, and the next thing she knew she was being flipped onto her stomach, her arms wrenched behind her back, and secured with handcuffs as her body was pressed ruthlessly into the ground.
Chapter Two
February 14th
5:11 P.M.
After forty-three agonizingly long minutes, Mouse heard the most beautiful sound.
Lolly screamed.
While the terror in her voice about destroyed him, Mouse would know his daughter’s voice anywhere, and she was close by.
As he rounded a corner and saw a woman touching his child, he didn’t think, just reacted.
He and Brick moved at the same time. While Brick snatched Lolly away from her would-be abductor, Mouse slammed the woman onto the ground. Her cry of pain as her head likely hit the concrete barely registered, an anger like no other he’d ever experienced clouded everything.
This woman had tried to take his child from him.
The most precious thing he had, and she’d tried to steal it.
Yanking her arms behind her back, he secured them with handcuffs, then shoved her into the ground to hold her in place even though she wasn’t fighting him.
“Here, I got her, go to your daughter,” Domino said.
Not needing to be told twice, Mouse handed the woman off to Domino—he’d deal with her later—and reached for his daughter. Lolly’s thin arms wrapped around his neck, holding on with a grip that belied her small size, and sobbed into his chest.
His own eyes misted. He hadn’t cried since the day his wife died and he realized that not only had he lost the love of his life, but he was also solely responsible for a tiny human being who relied on him for everything.
Today he had failed that tiny human being.
It was only because his daughter was a fighter that he was still able to hold her in his arms.
When she tried to move, he tightened his hold on her, not ready to let her go yet. There were things he needed to do, question Lolly, interrogate the woman before she was handed off to the cops, but right now he just needed to hold his baby girl for one more minute.
“I’m okay, Daddy,” Lolly said. Although her voice was a little hoarse from sobbing, she sounded stronger and more in control than he felt.
“Are you hurt, baby girl?” he asked, pulling back but keeping his hands on her shoulders.
“No. And I’m not a baby.” The disgruntled face she shot him was one he’d seen dozens of times before. While he still saw her as the little baby she’d been the day she’d been born, she saw herself as a big girl now, and she got annoyed with him when he didn’t agree.
“I know you’re not, bumblebee,” he said, tweaking her nose. Bumblebee was his very own nickname for his daughter. As an infant, she’d made a buzzing sort of snoring sound that reminded him of bees. “I need you to go with Brick for just a little while. He’ll take you back to the picnic. I just need to talk to the lady first before I come find you, okay?” Mouse did his best not to let his fury show. Once his daughter was safe, he was going to find out exactly what the lady’s plans had been, no matter what he had to do to get her to talk.
Nobody messed with his child.
Lolly looked around him, presumably to her abductor, and her little brow creased into a frown. “Why is the lady wearing handcuffs? Only bad guys wear handcuffs.”
His own brow furrowed. “What do you mean, bumblebee?”
“She saved me,” Lolly said, her voice calm and confident. “She kicked the bad men and they let go of me, then I screamed, and the bad men ran away.”
“She saved you?” he echoed.
Lolly shot the woman a warm smile. “She saved me, Daddy. She’s not a bad guy.” The reprimand in his daughter’s tone was clear, and Mouse felt a stab of guilt. He hadn’t even attempted to be gentle when he’d taken the woman down, he’d thought she’d tried to kidnap his little girl.
“Okay, bumblebee, go with Uncle Brick now.” It was hard but he lifted his daughter and handed her off to Brick. He was sure Lolly would complain about being carried, but he needed to know his child was completely safe.
Once Brick and Surf had disappeared with Lolly, he turned to look at the woman who was standing beside Domino. She was dressed in black leggings that hugged long, slim legs that seemed to go for miles, a bright pink hoodie, and matching hot pink sneakers, with her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.
She had large blue eyes that were currently wide with fear as she stared at him, and he could already see a large lump forming on her temple from where her head had hit the ground when he’d knocked her down. From the way she hunched her shoulders, it was like she was trying to fold in on herself and disappear, and Mouse got the distinct feeling that she’d been hurt before.
Nodding to Domino, his friend produced the handcuff key and unlocked the cuffs from around the woman’s wrists. Very carefully she brought them around in front of her, wincing and then rubbing at her wrists.
“You saved my daughter?” he asked, stepping closer. The woman took a step back and he stopped, hating that she was afraid of him but completely understanding why. She’d risked her life to help a child in trouble and had been assaulted and cuffed for her trouble. “How did you know she needed help?”