Daddy Defender

Ashton cocked his head sideways, studying her for a long minute, but he didn’t ask her what she meant. “It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Let me double-check the fuse box, then I’ll go to the main breaker near the street.”

She stood at the top of the stairs as he made his way down into the basement/laundry room of her condo. He was back up in just a few minutes.

“You were right. There weren’t any fuses tripped in the box,” he said softly, making her appreciate his awareness of Chloe’s sleeping state.

She smiled at him. “I’m glad. If you had been able to come over here and fix the power in under ten seconds, I would’ve never been able to show my face in this town again.”

He smiled. “It looks like you’re free to show that beautiful face whenever you want to because there’s nothing you could’ve done about the power.”

Summer just stood staring at him. Not only did he just speak an entire sentence to her without stuttering, but did he just flirt with her?

“Oh. Oh, okay. Good.” Now who was stuttering?

“Let me go check the larger fuse box out by the street.”

Summer watched him walk back outside, trying to get herself under control. Maybe Ashton was just more confident and talkative at night.

If she thought she was attracted to him before, now she felt like she was smoldering inside.

Maybe she should’ve met him at the door in a negligee.

She needed some water to cool herself down. She turned away from the window—because staring at him probably looked a little desperate—and walked into the kitchen.

And found the same hooded face pressed up against her kitchen window.

This time she knew it wasn’t any figment of her imagination.

She ran to the front door, then stopped. She couldn’t leave Chloe alone in the house.

“Ashton!” she yelled.

He looked up from where he crouched at the fuse box by the street. He got one look at her face and began immediately running toward her.

He grabbed her arms. “What? What happened?”

“The face in the ski mask. It was back. At my kitchen window.” She could hardly get the words out around her own breaths.

“Go inside and lock the door, okay? Don’t open it for anyone but me. Call the police and tell them what happened.”

“But—”

“Summer, just do it, okay? I’ll be alright. I promise.”

She nodded and did what he said, locking and dead-bolting the door. She grabbed her phone and called 911.

* * *

ASHTON PUSHED AWAY all physical discomfort from his injuries as he bolted around the building and into the woods behind Summer’s unit, Glock in hand. He knew how much she loved the privacy these trees provided. He hoped this incident wouldn’t change her opinion.

The electrical box near the street had definitely been tampered with. The lock on the outside was broken, wires inside had been hacked. Someone wanted the power out in Summer’s home, maybe the entire condo unit.

Ashton didn’t know if it was some punk kid playing pranks or someone with much more sinister intent. If he was still around here, Ashton would catch him.

He wished he had his sniper rifle with him. Not because he planned to shoot the guy outright, but because looking through the scope for an enemy target was Ashton’s forte. Hiding from Ashton when he was in a secure location with his riflescope to his eye was damn near impossible.

But instead, Ashton got to the cover of the trees and stopped. He held himself still, looking for any sign of movement in the darkness. One thing Ashton had learned as a sniper was patience.

But nothing moved. After long minutes of holding himself completely still, he felt sure he was alone in the trees. Whoever had peeked through Summer’s window evidently had taken off as soon as he’d realized Summer had seen him. Which was good. That probably meant it was some sort of sick Peeping Tom or burglar, not someone who meant true harm.

Although who would mean true harm to Summer? Bailey Heath, the woman who had kidnapped Summer and Chloe, had died that day on scene.

Stupid punk teenagers out to cause trouble and damage buildings was a much more likely scenario than someone intending to hurt Summer or her daughter.

Ashton made it back to Summer’s door and knocked, letting her know it was him.

“Oh my gosh, are you alright? I was worried about you.” She threw open the door, grabbed his shirt and pulled him inside. “Did you see anything? Are you okay? The police should be here in a minute.”

She ran her hand from his shirt to his arm, but didn’t let him go. He didn’t wince even as her fingers hit some of his sore spots.

“I’m fine. I searched the woods but didn’t see anyone.”

“You could’ve gotten hurt!” Now she had both of her hands on his arms.

This was the perfect time to tell her, he realized. It would only take ten seconds and he could get it out, at least letting her know that he was law enforcement. He didn’t have to provide details.

“Summer, there’s something I should tell you.”

Her big gray eyes looked up at him expectantly. “What? Do you think it was someone with a gun? Someone trying to break in to the house?”

“No. I mean about—”

A knock on the door stopped him. It was too loud and it woke up Chloe. She started crying as the police identified themselves outside the door.

The moment was lost.

“You answer the door,” he told her. “I’ll get Chloe.”

Ashton made his way into little Chloe’s room. He didn’t turn on the light, hoping he’d be able to soothe her into going back to sleep. But as soon as she saw it was him and not Summer in the dim glow from the night light, she scooted herself around onto her little bottom and pulled herself into a standing position on her crib.

“Ah-ta! Ah-ta. Ah-ta.” Glee tainted her tone. She held her arms out to him.

He couldn’t resist her, didn’t even try. “Hey there, sweetheart.” He swung her up in his arms. “I’m sorry all the racket woke you up.”

“Ah-ta. Mama.”

“Yes, your mama’s right out in the living room. Let’s go see her, since I’m sure you’ll scream bloody murder if I put you back in that crib right now.”

Summer was telling the two police officers what she saw at the window. A man in a ski mask.