“Are you scared?” He nodded numbly, and so she rested a hand on his cheek. “Auntie Lake said no one can hurt you if you don’t allow it.” It came out a jumbled, three-year-old mess, but I’d been there when Lake told her, and so I recognized what she meant.

“She’s right,” Keenan spoke. Although his voice shook, he still sounded strong. Kennedy nodded once as if accepting his acceptance. “My name is Keenan.”

“Keenan,” she repeated, but it came out more like Keena. “Are you mommy’s friend?”

“Yes, I’m mommy’s friend, but I’m your friend, too.”

“You saved me from bad men.”

“Did they hurt you?” I held my breath even though I had asked her the very same thing last night along with the doctors who checked her over. When she shook her head, I exhaled quietly. Keenan took his eyes off Kennedy long enough to nod in my direction. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you sooner.”

The hard edge in his voice told me that he meant more than just last night. There was no way I could let this happen now if ever.

“Kennedy, why don’t you go upstairs and get ready so I can take you to the beach.”

Her excited shriek ripped through the air and just like that, the spell was broken. “Can Keenan come?”

I ignored the flinch from Keenan at hearing her call him by his name. “I don’t think Keenan wants to come with us.”

“Keenan does and Keenan will,” he said, but it came out as a threat. Fortunately, Kennedy seemed completely oblivious to the drastic change in his mood and atmosphere. She screamed her excitement before taking off to retrieve her bathing suit.

“Do you think a trip to the beach is a good idea so soon?”

I felt a flash of anger at the idea of him questioning my parenting skills so soon after just meeting her.

“I think it’s exactly what she needs. I don’t want this to be something that traumatizes her.”

“You don’t think it already does? She may not understand, but trust me when I say she’ll never forget. If you don’t think I’m right, try talking to Keiran.”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“But it could have been which is exactly why I’m sticking around. You can’t protect her on your own. You almost died because you can’t even protect yourself.”

“Are you blaming me? This is your fucked up family’s fault.” We were now shouting, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

“Guys.” Dash’s voice intruded on our heated moment, and when I turned around, I saw why. Holding Dash’s hand was Kennedy, who looked on the verge of tears. Before I could think of something comforting to say, Keiran, Lake, and Q filed past them, which meant they must have all heard, too.

They each took a seat and pretended nothing was wrong, all except Keiran, who watched me with a cold look in his eyes. Lake cast worried glances between Keenan and me while Q silently observed.

Dash thankfully broke the silence again. “Kennedy, why don’t you go play with your toys while your mother and I have a talk?”

“Will you play with me?” she directed to Keenan.

“I need to talk with your mother too, but I’ll play as soon as I’m done.”

“I’ll come play, sweetie,” Lake offered. She patted Keiran’s shoulder on the way out, and just that simple touch from her seemed to calm him.

“Why are you guys here?” I asked as soon as Lake led Kennedy from the room.

Keiran and Keenan quickly ran down the events of last night leading up to Kennedy’s rescue. “One of the men who took Kennedy was one of the investigators your father hired to find her.”

“How is that possible?”

“That’s something we’d like to ask your father,” Keiran replied with ice dripping from every syllable.

“Are you seriously suggesting my father had something to do with his own grandchild being abducted?”

“What I’m suggesting is that we ask him. He at least has to know some information about the men he hired that could lead us to why he hired them in the first place.

“Which man was it?”

“The one Keiran didn’t try to kill,” Q answered matter of factly.

“And if my father doesn’t know anything?”

“Then we start looking at him as a suspect.”

“Yeah, but there is just one little detail you’re missing. Why would my father want you dead? This whole nightmare started because of you. Someone is after you, not me, and not Kennedy.”