Page 316 of The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The Second Collection
“No, hasn’t come through yet, and I’m not walking into a store on a Saturday morning carrying a piece. I’ve got pepper spray.”
Logan shakes his head. “Mad Bob’s more likely to be there on the weekends. Let’s wait until Monday.”
“No, we’re doing this tomorrow. If there’s any chance of getting the book back for her straight away, we’re taking it.” Am I playing the hero? Probably. Doesn’t make me wrong. “Mad Bob might be more likely to be there tomorrow, but there are more likely to be other people in the shop and on the street as well.”
“You’re killing me,” Logan grumbles. “Let me text Manny to make sure he can be there. You’re not doing this without real back up, Mac.”
“I don’t consider you fake back up, Lo, but I’d be happy to have Manny there, too.”
“Well, that’s something.” Logan pulls out his phone and taps out a text. His phone immediately beeps in response. “Manny says he’s free until noon.”
“Shop’s listed as being open at oh-ten-hundred,” Max says.
“Let’s give him a half-hour to get busy and I’ll go in.”
“That’s a plan,” Max says.
Logan groans. “Can we go over this some more before the sacrificial lamb trots into the den of Aryans? Max, do you have a floor plan of the shop? Can you add Manny to the call so we can strategize?”
I clap Logan on the shoulder. “What would we do without you, son?”
“Get to bed earlier,” Logan grumbles. “Emily, don’t think I’ve taken my eye off the time. You have five minutes.”
Despite the fact that she has a large headset on and is talking into it, Emily doesn’t miss a beat. “Yes, Daddy.”
“If you need to put her to bed, we can reconvene in the morning?—”
“Emmy knows the routine. She can get started by herself and I’ll go up in thirty.”
When we’re still strategizing thirty-five minutes later, Logan gets visibly twitchy. Other than talking through a couple of worst-case scenarios, I don’t think we’ve made any headway in the last ten minutes, so I call time.
“Boys, I think we have a plan.” I clap Logan on the shoulder. “Let’s call it a night.”
The tension slides off his face and he closes his notebook. “Sounds good. See you guys at oh-nine-thirty?”
Max and Manny nod before Max abruptly cuts off the call.
“Still hasn’t learned how to say goodbye, has he?” I observe to Logan.
“Nope. He sucks at hello, too. You ever peg him for a Dom?”
I shake my head. I liked all of the men in my unit well enough, but Logan was the only one I openly discussed my sex life with.
“What made you realize he was one?” I ask as we leave his office, shutting off the lights and checking the front door security before Logan leads the way up the stairs.
“Seeing him interact with Emily. I had my suspicions before then. He was always more interested in kink than a vanilla would be. But as soon as I saw him try to protect Emmy, I was sure of it. Daddy Dom if I ever met one.”
“Cynnie’s a sweetie. Max mentioned you introduced them.”
“Yeah, Emily bribed him into coming to our littles playgroup and maneuvered them into playing Twister together. Max never stood a chance.”
I chuckle. “And she looks so innocent.”
Logan snorts. “You know what they say about appearances.”
“I do, son. I surely do. I’m lucky I met Bren before Emmy decided to play matchmaker.”
Logan turns to me as he reaches the landing at the top of the stairs. “You honestly think she didn’t?”
