“Don’t worry,” Carter said, hooking his arm through Amanda’s while he looked at Dante. “She’ll be safe.”
He nodded. “Run Lyle through the system.”
“Already started.” Carter grinned, patting his laptop case with his free hand. “Accessed my girl remotely. Ole Bertha will find out stuff even Lyle didn’t know about himself.”
Carter loaded an entire room at headquarters full of servers and computers he built from scratch that could backdoor into any system in the world.
“Stop by tomorrow,” Carter said. “She should have a complete history of goodies to share.”
Dante nodded, unsure if he’d actually go, though. Tomorrow was Saturday. Noah would be with him.
“Ready, Amanda?” Holden asked, reappearing in the doorway with Emily. “We’re going to follow you to make sure you’re not followed.”
“Well, if you’re following us, then doesn’t that mean we’re being followed?” Carter asked with a grin.
Holden shook his head and groaned. “Let’s just get in our cars and go. It’s been a long night. I’m sure Amanda is tired.”
She glanced at Dante. “Keep Noah safe.” She swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
Before he could reply, she stepped into the night with Carter on her six, and his door shut behind them.
With his chest tight and the world askew, Dante locked the door and armed his security system, then walked woodenly up the stairs to his room where he heard his son softly crying.
He rushed over, concern now ruling his breath. Noah looked so tiny in the large bed all curled up under the covers. “Hey, little dude. What’s wrong?”
His son turned over and his wet face shimmered in the glow from a nearby nightlight. “Miss Amanda doesn’t want to be by me. She said it. I heard her. She don’t wanna be anywhere near me.”
Dante’s heart squeezed tight.
“Oh, Noah.” He sat on the bed and hauled his son onto his lap. “That isn’t what she meant, though.”
Big, brown watery eyes blinked up at him. “It isn’t? But I heard her.”
“I know. But what she meant was that she doesn’t want you to get hurt because of her.”
Noah pushed back to stare into Dante’s face. “She would never hurt me.”
“I know she wouldn’t.” He exhaled, trying to figure out how to phrase the situation so his son would understand. “You know those bad guys who took the mayor’s purse on the TV?”
“Mayor Goodway?” Noah nodded. “Yeah. They weren’t nice.”
“No, they weren’t,” Dante agreed. “Well, there are some bad guys that want something from Miss Amanda, and she is afraid if she’s with you, then they might hurt you. That’s why she is going to stay away. Not because she wants to, but because she has to. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Noah nodded. “Bad guys want Miss Amanda’s purse, and she don’t want mewidher whendeytake it ‘cause I might get hurt.”
Close enough.
“Yes. She’s only doing it to keep you safe.”
Noah’s eyes filled again. “But who is gonna keep her safe?”
“She’s with Carter. You remember him, right? The man who installed our television and outside cameras?”
“Yeah, but you said he was an idiot.” Noah’s bottom lip quivered. “I don’t want an idiot taking care of Miss Amanda.”
Damn, he really had to start watching what he said around Noah.
“Carter isn’t an idiot when it comes to keeping people safe, though,” Dante corrected. Man, he couldn’t believe he was defending the…idiot. “He’s kind of like Ironman. You know, he makes all the gadgets and things?”
