CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Mo stood outside the glassed conference room, watching his daughter spill her soul to Ashley and Bree. Ophelia was seated beside her, holding her hand.

"She told you," whispered Hayes. Mo stared at the young man.

"You knew?"

"Please don't be mad, sir. I promised I wouldn't say anything. I knew she was safe here and that I could leave without worrying about her. Now, maybe she can leave as well."

"Hayes, I'm not mad at you, son. I'm glad that she had a friend she could trust with such a secret. But we try not to keep secrets here. We could have helped her. We could have found her parents and taken care of this matter months ago."

"I know that now," said Hayes. "I just didn't want her mad at me."

That's when it hit Mo. Hayes was in love with Victoria. They might only be seventeen and eighteen, but for Hayes, he knew this woman was the one for him. One day.

"You love her?" smiled Mo.

"I'm not sure I know what love is, sir. My parents left me as well, but I don't remember anything about it. Poor Victoria, she remembered it all. Sometimes, she would remember the beating her mother gave her and cry in my arms. It would kill me, sir. Just kill me. She was afraid that she'd have nightmares and wake you and Miss Ophelia."

"And we would have run to her side and comforted her," said Mo. "She is everything to us, Hayes. We will ensure her safety and happiness going forward. Anything she wants to do, we will be there for her."

"When I finish my training, if I make it…"

"You'll make it," smirked Mo.

"If I make it, sir, will you bring her to my graduation ceremony?"

"You have my word, Hayes." He hugged the young man, slapping his back. "Hayes, you're going to be a great SEAL, and your intelligence is going to make them love you."

"Or hate me," he smirked. "Sometimes nerds aren't liked very much."

"SEALs respect the nerds. They keep them alive," said Mo. "We'll be there for your celebration right beside your own parents."

Hayes could only smile, nodding at Mo. He left Mo standing there, heading toward his home to tell Hoot and Scout of what had happened that day. Ophelia stepped out of the room, hugging her husband.

"Is she alright?" he asked.

"She will be. She knew exactly what she was doing, babe. She developed that device herself. It tells her when someone is telling the truth or lying and allows her to send a pretty dangerous volt of electricity to their brains."

"I can't believe she's held this in for so long," said Mo.

"She was afraid if we knew who they were, we'd tell her to go," said Ophelia. "I think she knows now that it would never happen. She's stuck with us." The door opened, and Bree and Ashley stepped out, smiling at the couple. Victoria was close behind.

"Are you mad?" she asked her father.

"No, honey. I'm so proud of you. I'm proud that you figured out how to get them to tell the truth."

"But it resulted in them dying," she said to the four adults. Mo nodded.

"Sometimes, that's the outcome for the type of people we deal with. I wish that this had never happened. I wish that you had been born to Ophelia and me. But you weren't. I'm damn glad we have you, though. That you came to be ours and ours alone."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," said Ophelia.

"Well, I missed out on a lot of stuff as a kid. I didn't get to go to the zoo or the circus or the mall. I never had a sleepover or went to a dance. Do you think we could do those things?"

"We can do them all," smiled Mo. "Every last one of them."

"Cool! Can I go see where Hayes is?" she asked.

"I think he went to get some food," said Mo. "We'll see you later." She started to walk away, then turned back to the couple.

"Am I going to be in trouble for this? Will the police want to talk to me?"

"Nope. No trouble, no police," Mo assured her. She leaped into his arms, kissing his cheek, then hugged Ophelia. The couple just chuckled as Bree and Ashley laughed.

"This isn't the last daughter crisis we'll have, is it?" he frowned. The women laughed at him, kissing his cheek.

"Nope."

"No way."

"Positive thoughts, Dad. Positive thoughts."