Page 98 of Fourth Point Of Contact

The officer shook his head. “Until the situation is sorted out, the social worker makes all the calls.”

I didn’t like it, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I wasn’t related, and Edu hadn’t been checked out yet. “Yeah, I get it. What hospital?”

“Mercy. If you hurry, you can follow the ambulance.”

I nodded and steeled myself to have it out with Edu. The last thing he would want to talk about was the welfare of this kid. Hell, he’d struggled with the fact that Harper was pregnant. How would he deal with this? But none of that mattered—only the child in the back of the ambulance did.

I forced myself to head back to the hallway where we found the hatch. Edu was pacing angrily, glaring at the hatch every few seconds.

“Edu!”

He tore his gaze from the hole in the floor and walked over to me. The anger was rolling off him in heated waves. I knew he was seconds from snapping.

“The ambulance is leaving. The social worker is with her now, and will be responsible for her welfare and placement.”

He nodded, his eyes flicking toward the door. “I can’t fucking believe it,” he mumbled. “She was here all this time and?—”

“You didn’t know,” I cut in.

“I didn’t want to know. I hid from the truth.”

“Edu—”

He turned, his hand scrubbing at his face as he stared at the offending hatch. “How fucking long did she suffer down there? This is all my fault?—”

“It is not,” Raven cut in. “You didn’t know.”

“I fucking knew what kind of monster he was!” Edu shouted. “I fucking knew and I said nothing!”

“You were a kid,” I said slowly, trying not to set him off. The last thing we needed was for Edu to admit he’d tried to kill his father when he was seventeen. It was done and in the past. He’d more than atoned for any sins he committed that day.

I walked toward him and gripped his shoulder, forcing him to look at me. “Hey, that little girl needs someone, and you could be that someone.”

He scoffed in disgust. “I’m not the man to help?—”

“Should I ask Harper about that?” I snapped. “Should I tell her you no longer feel like you’re capable of taking care of a family?”

His eyes slowly slid from the hole in the floor to me. I saw the war raging on his face, and I knew this could go either way. If he fucking walked out on Harper, it would be hell on her. Hell on that little kid waiting at home for him. But the gravity of the situation was pushing down on him, threatening to bury him alive right alongside that little girl.

“How could any of them live with what I’ve done?” he whispered.

“Forgiveness, man. You were a kid,” I reiterated slowly. “You were just a kid trying to survive. You were scared. But that little girl is scared, too. And she needs someone in her life who will look out for her and protect her, and I don’t know a better man for the job.”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.

“You can do this. I know you can. And Harper would love that little girl just as much as her own kid. We both know that. But you have to be willing to fight for her.”

“I can do that,” he said with a stuttered breath.

“I know you can.” I gripped his shoulder and squeezed. “She’s headed to the hospital.”

“We should go,” he croaked out, shooting a final look to the hole in the floor. “She won’t ever fucking live like this again.”

It had been two days.Two fucking days of sitting in the hospital, waiting for any word from the social worker about where the child would be placed. She was still sorting out court records and birth certificates—it was a fucking mess. How long had that kid been hidden from the world?

“She’s still not speaking,” Edu grumbled, pacing the waiting room. He was fucking exhausted. He hadn’t slept once since we came to the hospital. Loading up on coffee and energy drinks, he was strung tight.

“The social worker should have some information today,” I said, trying to reassure him.”

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