Page 40 of Waging War
A pained cry climbs out of Hazel’s chest. “Daddy!”
Like a child, she bolts across the garage and throws her arms around his neck.
I fold the cuffs in my hands before stuffing them back into my pocket. I can hardly bring myself to look at them as her cries echo around the nearly empty garage.
“Oh my God. I thought I lost you.” He wraps her in his arms as she sobs into his thick flannel shirt. “I’ve missed you so much. I-I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Shh. I’ve got you, baby girl.” Kenneth smiles against her hair, and I’m already mourning the feel of it sliding through my fingers. “You ought to know it takes more than one lousy shot to keep me down.”
I shift my attention to Cooper as a pregnant silence falls over the room. The stubborn set of his jaw gives me the feeling we’re all remembering that moment as if it were happening right now.
“Where were you?” Hazel asks, pulling back to check him over.
“Jackie relocated me to another hospital a couple hours from here to heal.”
That gives her pause. Seems I’m not the only one surprised by his random acts of kindness.
The door Hazel and I entered creaks open, and the same man who escorted us here now has two young girls and a woman in tow. Their terrified gazes bounce all over the room before finally landing on us.
They must be the chief’s family.
Cooper nods toward them, softening his scowl as he approaches the children. They clutch their mother’s hands and angle their bodies into her.
The girls appear to be late-elementary to middle-school aged, and the eldest struggles to maintain a brave face. When the chief’s wife turns her deep brown eyes on me, I do my best to give her a reassuring smile.
“Everything is going to be okay, ladies, I promise,” Cooper says as he reaches inside his pocket and produces a fidget spinner. “Here, this might help you take your mind off things during the drive. It’s my lucky charm.” He winks at the youngest, who smiles shyly before reaching for the toy.
“Thank you,” their mother says quietly.
Cooper directs them to what looks like the main office and hands them over to Andy before returning to Kenneth and Hazel.
“You.” Hazel’s dad draws my attention. “I’ve given my word that the women would be taken care of. It seems you’ve kept your word and left Hazel alive.”
“What?” she grinds out as she glares my direction.
“But don’t think for one second that I won’t take action if I catch you slinking around my turf.”
The sneer on my lip has his guard dog inching closer to Hazel.
“I don’t appreciate being threatened,” I say coolly.
“And I don’t appreciate being shot and left for dead, so I’m gonna call us even.” He gently guides Hazel toward Cooper, and I see red when he tucks her tightly into his side.
“Daddy—” she starts, but Cooper interrupts her with a gentle,Shh.
I wait patiently for her to snap at him the way she has with me. Any minute now, I’ll get to watch as that fiery tongue give this prick some well-deserved whiplash.
When she casts her gaze to the floor, I blink at the three of them. She doesn’t appear happy about the situation, but the fiery hellion I’ve come to know has suddenly become submissive.
The cause of her cowardice has me clenching my fists. “Is this the way you treat your women, Cooper? Cowing them into obedience?”
Shut up, Ben. Just shut up.
But I won’t sit here and watch the woman who’s possessed my mind and body be afraid to even speak. These guys are living in the dark ages if they think they could truly keep her secluded. They’re no different than Jackie. She’ll just be living a little more comfortably.
“Don’t you worry about how I treat my women. Hazel’s no longer your concern, so you can see yourself out.”
I glare at her, astonished by what I see. Where’s that hellfire I’ve come to look forward to? “You don’t have to live like this, you know.”
