Page 61 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

“What’s going on?” I asked urgently.

“Keep your eyes on that door, Leo. Stand down, people,” he called out.

As soon as the cops put their guns away, the fire door opened slightly, and to my surprise, Maddie came out slowly, looking all around her.

I kicked open the car door, but North held me back.

“Hold it! Wear a bulletproof vest first,” he said, getting out of the car and grabbing a vest from one of the cars. “Now, slowly. Don’t spook her, and don’t make a sound. You don’t want Monani to know she’s out already.”

I lunged towards Maddie and she came running to me, howling bitterly. I picked her up and ran to the car. Setting her down on the backseat, I showered her face with kisses.

“You sit tight, baby. I’ll go get Tia,” I said, preparing to go back.

“Tia’s not coming,” said Maddie in a small voice.

My blood turned to ice.

“Why?” I asked.

“She stayed back even though I begged her to come, Daddy.”

I hugged Maddie to me tightly and rocked her.

“Marcus, back out of this area now. Cop cars only from now on. If the district attorney finds out that we let a civilian car into the formation, he’ll have my badge,” muttered North.

“Why are we leaving without Tia?” cried Maddie, as we drove away. I kissed the top of her head.

“We’ll get her out, baby. Don’t worry. How did you get out, though?”

“Rico carried me out and pushed me through that door. He said you were waiting for me,” she said, pointing toward thedoor she’d just exited. She told us how Tia had pushed the bed to the window and helped her climb out with Rico’s help.

Marcus and I stared at each other in surprise.

“Rico Chavez is the man who kidnapped them in the first place. Why did he help Maddie escape, Commissioner?” I asked, knowing I wouldn’t like the answer.

“This stays between us, Leo. He’s our man. Undercover, and that’s all I’ll say,” replied Commissioner North shortly.

Marcus parked in our old spot, and I called Luke.

“What’s going on inside? Did they find Tia?”

“I can’t see. It’s utter chaos, Leo,” he replied miserably.

“That’s it! I’m going in,” I announced. I couldn’t wait anymore.

Tia was still inside, and when her brother found Maddie missing, he was going to take his anger out on Tia. I had to find her and bring her home!

“Don’t be mad, Leo. You can’t go in there,” argued North.

I ignored him and got out of the car. I jogged up to the fire exit, but there were far too many cops around. They would never let me pass. So I walked around to the main entrance and called Luke.

“I’m going in, Luke. You’ll need to be my eyes on the ground.”

“I’ve got you, Leo. Let’s find our girl and bring her home.”

The SWAT team had left a lot of debris in their wake, and there was no one guarding the entrance because the guards were either down or inside aiding Monani in the fire-fight.

I walked in without being stopped, but there was no sign of Tia or her brother. There was too much smoke and dust to see anything clearly because the SWAT team had used smoke bombs to distract Monani’s men.

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