Page 35 of Kent's Honor
“Looks like it’s just you and me, pal, for the next hour or so. What shall we do?”
Nicky shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I’ve got it.” Kent set Nicky down, holding his hand. “Let’s clean out the fishing box so that when it’s time to go, we’ll be all ready.” He glanced at his phone. All he needed to know was that Daniel was miles away, hopefully never to return.
He brought the fishing kit out to the garage, setting it up on the ground. He’d bought a few new lures, different-size weights, and a couple of bobbers. “All right, Nicky, you take these round weights and put the tiny ones in this spot, the middle-sized ones here, and these big ones in this spot. Got it?”
Nicky nodded, his pudgy fingers plucking the silver beads from the floor and plopping them in their spots, just like Kent had instructed.
Anger and frustration swirled in Kent’s gut. He’d never understand men like Daniel. It was one thing not to be in love with Nicky’s mother. Kent hadn’t loved Elle’s. He tried like hell to after he’d found out she was pregnant, but it just wasn’t there.
But no way could he ever not want Elle in his life.
A door slammed, followed by a crash sound from inside the house. Quickly, he scooped up Nicky. “Elle? Dixie? Everything okay in here?” He sucked in a harsh breath, staring at two men with guns, holding the wide-eyed girls, tears streaking their cheeks. He shielded Nicky’s face. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
“Who we are is immaterial,” the man holding his daughter said. He wore a blue T-shirt and had a scar on his face.
Kent made mental notes of the tattoos he could see, trying to engrave the man’s face in his brain.
“But we want Daniel and the money he stole from our boss,” the man with the scar said.
“He left about an hour ago. No idea where he went.” Kent wanted to add that he couldn’t care less about Daniel but didn’t know if Nicky knew his father’s first name or not.
Nicky squirmed, trying to turn his body. “Is that a real gun?” he asked.
“I need you to be still and keep your eyes closed, can you do that?” he whispered into the little boy’s ear.
Nicky buried his face in Kent’s neck, fingering the tattoo.
“Can we let my girlfriend take the kids into the other room, and we can discuss this outside?”
“No can do,” the man with the scar said. “When we get our shit back, then we let them go.”
“Take me instead.” Kent knew these men wouldn’t go for that, but he had to try.
“Stop negotiating or we’ll take the little boy too. He’s more valuable anyway.”
Dixie cried out, her shoulders bumping up and down.
The man with the red T-shirt yanked her hair. “Be quiet.”
Kent tried to shield Nicky, holding him tight against his chest. “I’m going to pull out my phone and call one of my buddies who’s tracking him.”
The man with the scar cocked his head. “Why?”
“We want him out of our lives, so I’m making sure that happens.” He glanced between his daughter and the woman he knew without a doubt he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. His gaze pleaded with them both to trust him.
Holding Nicky with one hand, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’ll put it on speaker,” he said.
“If you signal them about us, she bites the bullet.” The man holding Dixie shoved his gun against her temple. “Then we’ll hurt the girl.”
Kent exhaled through his nose like a bull as he tapped on his phone. Darius picked up on the first ring.
“I was just about to call you,” Darius said.
“Just watch what you say, I’m in the car on speaker with little ears.”
“Hey, Elle, how are you doing?”
