Chapter 26

Jake

Saturday morning, Cameron and Killian show up at eight, right on schedule. I want to go over the day’s itinerary with them in excruciating detail to be sure nothing is left out. I still think it’s a bad idea to take Aiden to this carnival, but I hate to disappoint him.

“We’ll leave at ten,” I tell the guys and Charlie, who are all sitting around the conference table in the security wing of the estate. “I want every single base covered. I want contingency plans. Nothing can go wrong.”

“Annie and Aiden will ride in the Tahoe with me and Charlie. You guys follow in the Escalade. I told Aiden he can have one hour at the carnival—that’s it. One hour. Not a minute longer. We’ll just have to make the most of it.”

“Do you really think Patterson will show up?” Cameron asks.

I shrug. “Honestly, I don’t know. But I’m pretty confident that he knows about the carnival. We have to go on the assumption he might show. He’s already made two attempts to grab Aiden in the past two weeks. I don’t think he’ll miss another chance. He would see a crowded event like this as a tempting opportunity.”

“Why does he want to grab the kid?” Killian says. “He doesn’t seem to me like the fatherly type.”

“He’s not,” I say. “But Aiden is Annie’s weakness. I think he’s trying to get the kid so he can use him as leverage against Annie.”

“Charlie and I will stay close to Annie and Aiden,” I say to the guys. “I want you two keeping a wider perimeter, so you can alert us if you see Patterson on site. If Patterson is spotted, Charlie and I will get Annie and Aiden out of there, while you two run interference and prevent him from following.”

“It sounds simple enough,” Killian says, leaning back in his chair, crossing one cowboy boot over his knee. “So, why do I have a feeling it will be anything but simple?”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” I plant my hands on the table. “Now, who’s hungry?”

Killian rises to his feet. “Elly’s making breakfast?”

“You bet.”

“Then I’m eating,” he says. “Her cooking is almost as good as my mama’s.”

When we walk into the dining room at nine, Annie and Aiden are already seated at the table, along with Elly and George.

Aiden looks up from his plate, and his eyes widen with excitement as he chews. “Hi, Jake! Are we going to the carnival today?”

“Honey, please don’t talk with your mouth full of food,” Annie says, laughing as she pats the kid’s back.

“Yes, we’re going to the carnival,” I tell him. “Just as soon as everyone has had breakfast.”

* * *

As soon as Annie and Aiden are done eating, she hustles him upstairs so he can brush his teeth and get ready to leave.

“Let’s meet out front in twenty minutes,” I tell the rest of the team.

I head upstairs to my suite, pausing for a moment outside Aiden’s door. I can hear Aiden talking excitedly. I also hear an odd thumping sound which has me wondering what the hell’s going on in there.

I knock on the door.

The door opens, and Annie’s there looking flustered. She’s holding two tops in her hands, still on hangers. I glance over her shoulder to see Aiden jumping on the bed. That explains the thumping noise.

“Everything okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah,” Aiden says, answering for his mom. “She can’t decide which top to wear.” He rolls his eyes at me. “Girls. Am I right?”

I bark out a laugh. “Where did you hear talk like that?”

“Charlie,” he says, hopping off the bed and running into the bathroom. “Brushing my teeth!” he yells back through the open doorway.

I take advantage of the momentary privacy to sweep Annie into my arms and kiss her thoroughly.

“What was that for?” she says.

“That was for last night. I came to tell you we’re meeting out front in twenty minutes. Either Charlie or I will come get you.”

“Okay.”

I head to my room for a quick shower, and then change into jeans and a black T-shirt. I strap on my chest holster along with my Beretta and extra ammo. A black leather jacket conceals the handgun.

When I knock on Annie’s door, she opens immediately. Wearing jeans and a pink top, her hair up in a ponytail, she looks so much like my Annie from high school I could cry. Aiden runs up beside her, bouncing with excitement.

“Ready?” I ask.

“We are,” she says, ushering Aiden out the door.

Charlie joins us, and the four of us head downstairs, where Killian and Cameron are standing out front with George and Elly.

“Don’t you look pretty,” Elly says, smiling when she sees Annie.

Annie blushes. “Thank you.”

We’re off then, our little convoy of two, as we head for Lincoln Park.

“Okay, ground rules, pal,” I say, meeting Aiden’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “You stay with me at all times. Do you hear me, young man?”

He salutes my reflection in the rearview mirror. “Yes, sir!”

“I mean it. You don’t leave my sight for any reason. No running off. If you need to go to the bathroom, I’ll go with you. Got it?”

“Yes! I got it. What about my mom? What if she needs to go to the bathroom?”

Charlie laughs. “If your mom needs to go to the bathroom, I’ll go with her.”

“Right.” Aiden nods, looking so serious.

Before long, we arrive at the school and have to wait in line a few minutes before we can enter the parking lot. The parking lot is filled to overflowing, and we’re directed to park on the grass. Cameron and Killian are right behind us in the Escalade, and they park beside us at the end of a row.

“Now, we four stick together like glue,” I say, eyeing Aiden directly. “Got it?”

“I got it, Jake!” Aiden quickly unbuckles his seat belt and opens his door to climb out.

Charlie and I are both armed, of course, and wearing ear comms and wrist mics so we can communicate with the rest of our team. I give an ear piece to Annie, too, so she can hear our chatter.

“What about me, Jake?” Aiden says, missing nothing. “Don’t I get an ear thing too?”

“Sorry, buddy, they’re just for grown-ups.” I hold out my hand to him, and he doesn’t hesitate to take it. “Remember, you said you’d stick close to me,” I remind him.

Then Aiden reaches for Annie’s hand, and the three of us are holding hands, Aiden in the middle, as we head toward the carnival entrance. Charlie follows behind.

At the entrance, I buy all four of us entrance passes in the form of wristbands. It gives me an oddly pleasant feeling as I attach the wristband to Aiden’s little wrist.

He gazes up at me with wide, excited eyes. “Thanks for letting us come here, Jake.”

“No problem, kid.” I reach out and ruffle his hair. “So, now that we’re here, what do you want to do first?”

“Can we go down the slide?” he says, pointing at a forty-foot tall slide across the way.

It’s one of those slides where folks sit in burlap sacks and slide down the tall, wavy slide. It seems safe enough.

“Sure, why not?” I say.

Aiden starts off for the slide, but I whistle sharply, stopping him in his tracks. I crook my finger at him, and he runs back to me. “What did I tell you about sticking close to me?”

“I forgot,” he says. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Just remember to stay right by me at all times, okay?”

“Got it!”

Then he reaches for my hand, and we walk hand-in-hand toward the slide, Annie and Charlie following us.

Charlie and I already had a discussion this morning, before we left. Her job is to stick to Annie like glue, just as a precaution. Aiden is a much more vulnerable target than his mother, but we need to be prepared for all contingencies.

Aiden goes down the slide once with Annie, and then he asks me to slide with him. How the hell can I refuse? “All right, pal. Come on.”

I put my hand on his back and lead him up the steps to the top of the slide. While we’re waiting our turn, I glance down at Annie and Charlie, who are laughing at something—probably me. As Annie looks up and catches me watching her, her laughter morphs into a smile that hits me like a punch to the gut.

Aiden grabs my arm. “Jake, it’s our turn!”

“What? Okay. Right.” I lay the burlap sack down on the slide and sit on it, pulling Aiden onto my lap and securing him with an arm around his waist.

Aiden latches onto my arm with both hands, holding on for dear life, and leans back against me. I push us off with my free hand, and as we’re careening down the slide, he screams his head off, clearly delighted.

“Let’s go again, Jake!” he crows, when we reach the bottom of the slide. “Please?” He grabs my hand and tugs me after him as he heads for the steps again.

The smile on Annie’s face makes it all worth it.