Derek

Camryn, Riley, and I had been living blissfully in our own little dreamworld at my grandparents' place for almost a week. We spent our days playing and exploring with Riley, cooking dinner together in the evening, and in the early mornings I fell asleep with Camryn in my arms after making sweet love to her all night.

I loved watching her be a mother. The way they laughed together and the love between them was the purest form of art I'd ever seen. I knew it was too soon to be going there, but I could almost picture adding another little girl to the mix. One that would have my personality and hopefully her mother's looks. Riley would be an incredible big sister if that day ever came. Things were going so perfectly here that sometimes it was easy to forget the threats that were still out there.

Robby still hadn't been arrested again, and I still didn't know who was hijacking our shipments. I was getting anxious, but there wasn't a lot I could do from up here, and I wasn't about to leave Camryn and Riley again. I had to rely on Will, and while I trusted him implicitly, he had a lot on his plate. He was picking up all the slack for me, while also doing his own job. Right now, Camryn and Riley were on a hike, and I had stayed back to get a little work done.

They had only been gone about fifteen minutes when I heard the front door open. "Cam?" I called.

"Honey, I'm home."

Instead of seeing Cam and Riley come through the door, it was Will with a big goofy grin on his face.

I let out a sharp laugh. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I've been traveling all day, bro. At least pour me a drink first." He chuckled, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the dining room table. He had a small duffel bag with him and it looked like he was planning to stay, at least for a few days. I was thrilled to see him, but the slightest bit irritated that someone was infringing on my perfect world with Cam and Riley.

"Isn't it a little early?" I arched my eyebrow at him.

"Damn, you're right. Time zones." He shook his head. "Well, I guess that means it's five o'clock somewhere, right?"

"If you say so." I grinned, pulling a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet and pouring both of us a glass.

"Where's the wife and kid?" He shot me a smug smirk, trying his best to get a rise out of me.

I rolled my eyes. "Cam and Riley are hiking."

"Adorable. Will they be back soon?"

"Probably an hour. Why?" I joined him at the table.

His expression got serious. "I brought you a little present. It's tied up in the shed."

My eyes widened. "Robby."

"Hah. No. An NYPD detective under investigation for murder would be a little harder to smuggle across the border than a gang banger with a big mouth."

"You found the guy who has been stealing our money?"

He shrugged. "Tom came through. He's not the one actually stealing, but he's feeding information to whoever is."

"Impressive." I grinned. "Who is it?"

"His name is Jason. He's only been with Tom a few months, and he swears he doesn't know where the money actually is. That he's just the middleman." He continued. "Tom said to do whatever we had to do. I haven't even spoken to him since I grabbed him off the street, wanted to see how you wanted to approach it."

I rubbed my chin, mulling over the new information.

The front door opened again.

"I'm dying of thirst." Riley huffed dramatically, throwing herself onto the couch.

"Oh, you are not." Cam rolled her eyes, following her into the living room. "We didn't even go... Oh!"

Seeing Will shooting at the table was a shock to her. "I didn't know we were having visitors! It's good to see you, Will!"

"It's good to see you too!" He stood up, giving her a quick hug. "Sounds like things are going well up here."

"So far, so good." She smiled, glancing at me. "How long are you here for?"

"A few days. I'm not entirely sure yet." He said.

"Well, great! Riley this I'm trying to kill her with a little physical activity this morning, so I'm going to make some lemonade. You guys want some?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." My hand brushed against hers as she passed.

She disappeared into the kitchen, and Will turned to me. "You're fucking her, aren't you?"

"Would you keep your voice down?" I glared, gesturing towards Riley, who was lost in some cartoon on the TV.

"You totally are." We ducked out the screen door and went out onto the deck.

I couldn't help but smile. "We may have slept together once or twice."

Will's grin was a mile wide. "Well, good for you. I could tell the second I walked in here that something about you was different. You look happier."

"I'll be happier once Robby is gone and I get my guns back."

Will clenched his jaw. "There is one other thing. There were a couple of detectives by the office the other night. Apparently Robby is using you as an alibi for the night that Cam and Riley disappeared..."

"I hope you're fucking kidding. I was with him for an hour."

"I know. And you'll tell them that." He handed me a business card. "Here. Give them a call when you have a minute. I told him you were out of town, but they were pretty persistent."

I ran my fingers through my hair. This was the last thing I wanted to be dealing with. Honestly, he had been so drunk I was surprised he even remembered I saw him at that bar. This was dragging out too long, and I was beginning to think it was time I just took care of Robby myself.

"What do you want to do about Jason?" Will asked.

"Let's leave him to stew overnight and I'll take care of it first thing in the morning. I don't want to do it while they're here."

Will nodded. "I think that's a good call. Maybe some time alone out there will get him talking."

Camryn brought some lemonade out and the three of us sat on the back deck, talking for a little while. Seeing her and Will joking together was awesome. He was my best friend, and they seemed to be getting along really well.

After a while, Cam got dinner started. Will and I watched as Riley ran through the sprinkler in the backyard. When I went in to grab another couple of beers, I noticed Cam's eyes locked on the TV screen. They were running another story about Robby. There was a strange look on her face and she was so distracted she didn't even hear me come in.

"Hey." I walked up behind her, hugging her from behind and planting a kiss on her cheek. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just..." she trailed off.

I glanced at the screen to see if I could figure out what had caught her attention so strongly. They were showing a video from out in front of the house she'd shared with Robby and the protesters that had gathered, calling for his arrest. Once word got out that the police were trying to cover it up, people went crazy. Right in the center of the crowd, there was a man holding a big sign.

My daughter has been missing for nine days. Why is Robby Hastings still free?

"That's your dad."

She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't even remember the last time I saw him. My parents hated Robby, and he had me convinced they just didn't want to see us happy."

My heart broke for her. Robby took so much from her and we were probably only experiencing the very start of it. She felt so alone and isolated, and Robby continued to feed her lies to make sure she always did.

I didn't know what to do besides just hold her tightly in my arms as she watched the screen.

A reporter stood next to her father and held the microphone out to him. "That bastard took my baby away from our family years ago. He made her cut off contact with us, he beat on her, and he made her life a loving hell, and now he's killed her. I'll never get to see my little girl again, or meet my granddaughter. And he's living in the house they shared with her blood still on the walls. The police better do something about Robby Hastings or Camryn's murder won't be the only one they have to investigate." He gritted his teeth through heavy tears.

I liked where his head was at. I had a feeling, in another world, Cam's dad and I probably would've gotten along well. It was a shame I'd never get to meet him.

"I just wish I could let him know we're okay." She bit her lip.

"I wish you could, too." I sighed. "I know how tough this is and how badly it must hurt to see him like that. But you understand why it's just not possible, don't you?"

Cam hesitated, wiping away her tears. "But I could tell him how important it is that he keeps it a secret. He'd understand—he would just be happy to know that I was okay."

"Cam, look at me." I tilted her chin up. "I hate having to tell you no about this, but you can't. It doesn't matter what you tell him, he can't know the truth. You can't even call him. Chances are, Robby has someone watching and tapping their phones. He could find us up here and then this would all be for nothing. We talked about this. I'm sorry, babe. I really am."

The pain in her eyes killed me. It was another reminder that the mental abuse Robby had inflicted on her was almost worse than anything physical he could do to her. She thought her family hated her for years, and now that she knew the truth, she couldn't even do anything about it.

"Cam, tell me you understand." I pleaded. "Tell me you won't do something stupid."

"I won't." She let out a heavy breath, reaching for the remote and shutting the TV off.

"Mom! Will said there is a volcano that is as big as an entire state! Is that true?" Riley came bounding into the living room, with will close at her heels.

"Jesus Will, you're going to give the kid nightmares."

"I don't know, sweetie." Cam composed herself and bent down to Riley's level. "But I bet you could go look it up at the library tomorrow when Mrs. Leonard comes over. What do you think?"

"Yes!" Riley cheered.

Cam and I never got to finish our conversation, although I wasn't sure it would do much good. I knew she wanted to call her dad, and I wasn't going to let her. There was just no way it was a safe possibility. I could tell she was a little distant the rest of the night as we ate dinner and played a couple of games before Riley headed to bed.

"I think I am going to head to bed too, and let the two of you catch up." Cam smiled, standing up off the couch.

"Goodnight, Cam! See you tomorrow." Will said.

I followed her down the hallway a bit. "I'll be there in just a little while."

"Actually, I think I'm going to stay in my room tonight." She said.

"Why?" I asked, a little hurt.

"I'm just having a tough time with seeing my dad like that, and I just want to be alone. I'm fine, really. I'm not going to call him tonight. I promise."

"Okay." I agreed reluctantly, not because I thought she was going to do anything stupid, but because I didn't want to leave her alone when I knew she was hurting. "I'm right down the hall if you need anything."

"I know." She gave me a soft smile before standing up on her tiptoes to kiss me. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, baby."

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***If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, please reach out to someone in your community. In the US, that number is 1-800-799-7233**