Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
“Can’t sleep. Sisters.” Her voice was so low that it was almost a struggle to hear her.
Walking over, he sat on the sofa next to her. They’d grabbed a pillow out of the safe room for her to use, and he had also picked up the paper and pens.
She’d written a few things about this guy but she didn’t have much. Hopefully Brody found some camera footage. Then there was Monroe’s husband. She’d given them a name and that was about all she knew.
What kind of asshole married someone and then just ditched them the next morning, disappearing into thin air?
Bizarre.
“Is there anything I can do to help you sleep, Stowaway?” he asked.
She shrugged, looking slightly bewildered. Moving on instinct, he slid back into the corner of the sofa and lifted her into his lap, holding her tight.
“How about if I get your toy out and hold you like this, do you think you’ll sleep then?” he asked.
She shook her head, but he wasn’t so sure. Her eyes looked very heavy, and she seemed awfully sleepy.
“Why don’t we give it a try?” he suggested. “You know, you haven’t told me the name of your tiger.”
“Snaggles,” she said. “But I don’t need him.”
Hmm. She was definitely lying to him and he had to resist the urge to tell her that she should never do that.
“Because you’re worried about what someone might think of you? I wouldn’t worry. My sister, Greer, has a toy worm called Wally. I made it for her when we were kids. You give it your worries and it eats them.”
She stared up at him with wide eyes. “You made it?”
“Yeah. I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen apart by now. You don’t have to worry about people judging you here for your needs. I wouldn’t allow it for a start. No one will harm you while I’m around.”
Was that too much? The look on her face was dazed and he thought he’d probably gone too far. He cleared his throat. “You just do what you need to do to take care of yourself.”
Slowly, she nodded. Cash grabbed her backpack, pulling Snaggles out. He handed the toy over to her, and she hugged him tight, a look of relief filling her face.
“Good girl. Now just lie there and relax. Okay? Close your eyes. I’m going to tell you a story my mom used to tell me when I was having trouble getting to sleep. It’s called Lullaby Hill. Once there was a boy who couldn’t sleep, and so his mom took him to Lullaby Hill.”
He continued to tell the story in a quiet voice as he placed the blanket around her and rocked her back and forth.
Very soon, she had drifted off to sleep, and he stilled. Shifting her slightly, he managed to get his phone from his back pocket and sent a message to Ink to let him know that she was asleep in the staff room.
Cash stared down at her. He should put her down, distance himself a bit. There was just something about her that tugged at his Daddy instincts. The more he took care of her, the more settled and in control he felt.
As long as he remembered that she wasn’t his.
15
“How do we know that she’s telling the truth about all this?”
Addie opened her eyes and glanced around, her heart immediately racing.
Where was she? Addie didn’t know this place. How had she fallen asleep here? She rolled to her side and nearly fell off a sofa.
Why was she sleeping on a sofa? That was weird.
Sitting up quickly, she saw that she was alone, but there were voices coming from the other side of the partially opened door.
“What do you mean, telling the truth?” someone asked.
Wait, she knew that voice. That was Cash.
Okay, okay. She knew where she was now. She was at Callahan Security. These people were helping her find her sisters and figure out what happened with the man carrying the body.
“We saw the hotel room and the message,” someone else said.
Ralen.
She knew she probably shouldn’t eavesdrop, but they seemed to be talking about her. They shouldn’t be discussing her behind her back.
“Not that,” Butch said roughly.
“We watched Addie try to contact her sisters. And they were definitely at the bar with her,” Cash added.
“Not that either,” Butch said. “If you’d let me talk.”
“Sorry, we’re just not used to you saying much,” Ralen told him. “To be honest, I didn’t think you communicated except for grunts and glares.”
“Grunts and glares. Old grouch language,” Cash said.
Hmm. She was starting to think that Cash and Ralen didn’t get on with Butch.
Which meant that she didn’t get on with Butch.
Wait. You don’t even know him.
No, but she owed Cash and Ralen so much. And Addie had always been intensely loyal. If she claimed someone, then she stood by them.