“Please hurry.”
“I’ll call you back shortly.” He dropped his phone into the cupholder. It was normally a fifteen-minute drive to Grayson’s. He made it in nine.
His friends would be on the deck, so he bypassed the front door and jogged to the back. Ruby thought this was a new game and bounced around ahead of him. “I need you to find me a charter that can take me to Atlanta,” he said, stopping in front of Grayson. “Tonight. Now.”
Without asking questions, Grayson picked up his phone from the table and scrolled through his contacts. That was what he loved about his brothers. They knew if he needed a plane immediately, there was a damn good reason for it. He paced while Grayson talked to someone.
“What airport?” Grayson asked.
“Decatur.”
“Your plane takes off from Beach Aviation in forty-five minutes.”
He glanced at his watch. It would take him at least twenty minutes or more, depending on traffic, to get to the airport. “Thanks.”
“What’s going on?” Liam asked.
“My daughter’s missing. Gotta go.”
“Whoa. Stop,” Grayson said.
He was halfway down the steps, and he turned. “What?” Four pairs of eyes stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“How come you never told us you have a daughter?” Harlow asked.
“Because I didn’t know until tonight.” He glanced at Ruby, who was sitting by the door waiting to be let in so she could play with Grayson and Harlow’s son and their cat. “Can you keep Ruby for me?”
“Of course.” Harlow got up and let Ruby into the house.
Quinn, Liam’s fiancée said, “Your daughter’s missing?”
“Yes.”
“You can spare five minutes to tell us what’s going on,” Grayson said.
Liam nodded. “And you know we’ll give you any help you need.”
He blew out a breath. “I got a phone call tonight.” He told his friends how he’d met Kendall and what she’d said on the call. “So, that’s it. Now, I have to go.”
“I’ll have a car waiting for you in Decatur,” Grayson said. “As soon as you get a handle on what’s happening and you need us there, call. Anything you need, we’ll get for you.”
“Thanks.” He hadn’t thought past getting on the plane and getting to Kendall. “I’ll keep you in the know.”
He always kept a go bag in his truck, so he didn’t have to return home and pack. Two hours and thirty-three minutes after Kendall called, he turned into the driveway of the house his GPS took him to. There was a police car parked on the street, and it appeared every light in the house was on.
The sun was low in the sky, and it was going to be dark soon. The thought of his little girl somewhere in the dark, probably crying and begging for her mother… No, now was not the time for the rage building inside him that someone would take an innocent child. His child. More than ever in his life, he neededa clear head, and for that to happen, he had to stay calm so he could think clearly.
As he walked toward the front door, he noted that the house was small but well kept. Flower beds gave color to the landscape, and the scent of what he thought might be lavender filled the air. This was where the woman he’d thought of often lived with the baby they’d made, and for five years, he hadn’t known he was a father.
Whom should he be mad at over that? Kendall for refusing to give him her name? Himself for not insisting? Maybe he shouldn’t be mad at all as neither one of them even considered they would make a baby that night, but the regret for not being here for Kendall was heavy.
A pink bicycle with training wheels leaned against the wall of the house, and he paused. His daughter rode that little bike.His daughter.He was still having trouble wrapping his head around that. He touched the handlebar, smiling at the pink tassels. What was she like, his little girl?
He moved on to the front door. There was a knocker in the shape of a heart, which he assumed was a play on Kendall’s last name of Hart. Before even walking inside, he had the sense of a home filled with love.
The door swung open before he could lift the knocker, and Kendall stood there, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy but she was as beautiful as he remembered. Acting on instinct, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. “I’m here,” he softly said. She melted into his embrace, and nothing had ever felt so right as holding this woman in his arms.
“Who’s that?” a man said.