Ari took the company car to Rafe and Jillian’s the next afternoon. She didn’t know why she was going over there again, but Rafe had called her and asked if she could sit with Katie and Isaac while Marc slept and Rafe ran over to the hospital to talk to someone regarding missing prescription drugs.

It was the first time her brother had ever asked her for anything. That was what had her rearranging her schedule and calling for the car.

She’d spend a few hours with the kids, check on Marc, and then head to the temporary W4HAV office to go over the books again.

Katie was chasing Horace around the front yard when she arrived. She had the company car drop her off just inside the gate. Sometimes parking could be complicated down in front of Rafe and Jillian’s, and no one had fixed it yet, though Chance and Rafe had been bickering about location of a central parking area, and who was going to pay for it. Houghton had even been brought in for an engineering viewpoint. He’d bickered, too.

She just thought they liked to bicker about things.

Katie stopped and waved. “Hi Miss Ari!”

Ari quickened her step. There weren’t any adults around—and the bodyguards weren’t anywhere to be seen.

Marc had a very firm rule—they weren’t to be outside unsupervised.

“Katie, baby, where are Uncle Rafe or your Daddy?”

“Daddy’s inside, giving Isaac a bath. He puked everywhere. All over Daddy. It was super-gross. I didn’t throw up at all.”

Ari took the dog leash out of the girl’s hand and greeted the puppy. Then she put a hand on the little girl’s forehead. Warm, but not hot. “You feeling better today, sweetie?”

“Yep. Uncle Rafe says I’m healthy as Uncle Travis’ horse now. But Isaac,” she sighed dramatically. “He’s always been a wimp, I’m afraid.”

“Has he? Does Daddy or Uncle Rafe know you’re outside without them?”

A flash of guilt went across her face. “Uh…”

Ari could figure it out—Marc and Rafe had been distracted and Katie had slipped out with the dog. “Katie?”

“No. Horace had to potty and Daddy was with Isaac when he was puking and Uncle Rafe was on the phone. But Horace really had to go. I didn’t want him to get in trouble for pooping inside again. It makes Horace sad.”

“Why is Horace here, anyway?”

“Uncle Travis has the flu and can’t watch him today. Uncle Rafe was supposed to be dog-sitting while Aunt Lacy works.” She looked up and lowered her voice. “I don’t think Uncle Rafe is very good at dog-sitting. Horace is getting into all sorts of trouble.”

“I see.”

“You won’t tell Daddy, will you?”

Ari hesitated.

Katie sighed again. She slipped her hand into Ari’s as they walked toward the front doors. “I know that look. I broke the rules. I probably should tell him myself. Daddy gets lots less cranky that way.”

Ari smiled. Somehow, she doubted Marc ever got that cranky with his kids. Handfuls or not, he seemed to really appreciate who they were. “That’s probably a good idea. It’s better to accept responsibility for our actions and move on. That way we can fix things faster.”

“You’re probably right. Daddy can be pretty hard to handle sometimes. It’s because he’s too smart for his age. Makes him a trouble-maker.”

Ari laughed outright. The little girl looked so serious.

“Uncle Rafe is your brother.”

That was a conversational turn she wasn’t expecting. “Yes, he is.”

“And so is Simon.”

“Yep. And Mr. Luc.”

“But my Daddy’s not your brother.” Katie looked up at her, her confusion clear in her brown eyes. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s something you’re going to have to talk to your daddy about. That’s sort of a Daddy-kid thing.”

“I really wish grown-ups would just answer questions when I ask them. It makes things a lot less complicated that way.”

Horace pulled away and Ari waited while Katie caught him. She took the leash herself and bent down.

When she stood up, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Two men in dark clothing appeared—directly behind Katie.

They didn’t belong there.

She was moving toward the little girl before she even realized it. She yelled, hoping Marc or Rafe would hear.

The taller guy headed straight for her.

The shorter, straight for Katie.

Ari ignored the one headed for her and dove toward Katie instead.

She kept yelling. Katie screamed. Ari’s hands went around Katie’s tee shirt. She yanked the little girl closer.

Marc was inside. He had to hear.

The taller man drew back his fist and struck out. Ari fell to the ground.

Her head slammed into the ground, missing the sidewalk by a handful of inches. Her cheek scraped the pavement. She rolled, putting Katie partially beneath her, hoping to buy them a little time. She tightened her arms around Katie and screamed Marc’s name as loud as she possibly could. Marc and Rafe would hear, or the guards. She just had to hold on to Katie until then.

Someone yelled. The hand yanking at her arm let go and she heard them run off. She pulled herself to her feet and lifted Katie.

She didn’t stop running until she slammed into Marc’s broad chest. His hand came up and wrapped around her and his daughter.

Rafe barreled past them all, shouting for the guards. Where were the guards? They should have stopped this before it even started. Katie should have been safe.