“I’m here too, Mommy.”
“Hi, Love. Where’s Grandma?”
“Upstairs takin’ a shower.”
“How did you get her phone?”
“Ro stoled it after he splashed her wif mud,” my daughter tattled on her brother easily.
“Sorry, Momma.”
“It’s okay, Rogan. Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“I didn’t know her code.”
Her password, he meant. God, my boy was brave and smart.
“Are you both okay?” Duncan spoke softly
“Daddy.” Reagan started to cry. “Can you come get us now?”
“I’m working on it, baby girl.”
The first time she called him Daddy, she nearly brought him to his knees. This time, he looked like he wanted to rip somebody apart, limb by limb, for upsetting her. Rogan hadn’t taken the leap yet. His behavior had improved tremendously, however he was still leery. That changed a moment later.
“Dad?”
Duncan stiffened. “Yeah, Bud.”
“Grandma brought us to a blue house with lots of trees. Did I do good?”
He looked at Nelson, who nodded his head. “So good, Ro. One more thing. Is anyone else in the house with you besides your grandma?”
“Nope.”
“Okay. I’m gonna give you back to your mom. We’ll be there soon.”
Handing the phone over to me, Duncan stood, then mouthed, “Keep them talking,” before joining his team. My brother dropped to his haunches, flashing me a reassuring smile, but he didn’t fool me. Finn had retribution in his eyes. Even if the law took care of my mother, he’d serve up his own brand of justice. By the time he was finished with her, she’d beg for a prison cell.
Within minutes, Duncan returned to me, reaching down to help me up off the floor. Then we were on the move. All of us: me, Duncan, Way, Finn, Shayne, and the remainder of the agents. Four nondescript SUVs, plus Finn’s Acura RDX, pulled away from the curb at the school while I did my best to wrangle my composure. It was hard, especially when the twins heard the shower turn off and disconnected the call. Thankfully, we were almost there.
A short time later, we pulled into a small cul de sac. It was a nice neighborhood, minus the part about Rogan and Reagan being kept there. We parked a few houses down from the blue Colonial Rogan described. Waverly was at my door immediately, leading me to the rear of the caravan of vehicles while explaining the next steps. I only heard half of what she said. Reality smacked me in the face watching Waverly, Shayne, and the four agents pulling on bulletproof vests. My worst nightmare was playing out in front of me and, for the life of me, I couldn’t wake up.
Duncan picked up on my panic. “No one here thinks your mom has a weapon. It’s just a precaution.”
His reassurance settled the nausea roiling in my stomach until Noah, Keaton, Koen, and Lanie took off at a brisk jog between two of the houses, disappearing between a row of hedges within seconds. They were getting intoplace to take down my mom. Jesus, what had she been thinking?
Waverly tucked an earpiece in her ear, then handed one to Duncan before she issued a warning. “You, Sloane, and Finn are to stay here until I say otherwise, copy?”
“Copy,” he replied.
“Sloane,” she turned to me, “once we have your mom in custody, do you want to talk to her?”
“That’s allowed?”
“Technically, no, but are you gonna report me?”
“Of course not.”