Chapter 31

His brain literally stopped working as he watched the Bronco carrying Phoebe and Ally race out of the Circle Left parking lot. He couldn't breathe, and his limbs felt heavy.

"Move it, Brody!" Sawyer roared, pushing him back into his uncle's cruiser, and that was all it took to shake him out of the paralyzing fear that had gripped him.

He tried to leap in the front seat, but Dan stopped him. "I need to be in there, Brody."

He dived in the back with Ryder and Sawyer. Around him, other cars started, and soon there was a convoy on the tail of that Bronco. Uncle Asher was talking into his radio, and Dan was on his cell phone.

"Fuck!" Brody grabbed his hair and yanked. "Nothing can happen to them!"

"Nothing is going to happen, bro," Ryder said, voice hard. "We've got them, and you'll have your girls back soon."

"Zoe, you need to pull back now," Dan was saying into his phone. "We can't spook them with a convoy. "

"They can't outrun us," Sawyer said. "What do we do, Uncle Asher?"

"That car is going too fast, and there are a few sharp turns it's going to need to take, so we'll ease back now, Brody, so he does that safely with your girls inside."

"No! We can't lose them."

"Not happening. I have two deputies heading out in front of them to see which way they go, but we can't spook them into doing something with Ally and Phoebe in the car, Brody. We have to do this right."

Uncle Asher slowed as they watched the car in front turn and nearly hit a house. It managed the maneuver and was then heading out of town.

"Fuck me, he's a lunatic," Dan muttered. "Has to be those guys we've been looking for."

"That's my way of thinking," Uncle Asher said. "We're gonna need to slow it some more, Brody, or that car is flipping with your girls inside."

"Ally must be terrified." He felt like his throat was closing over. His heart was pounding, and he was sweating. Fear, shock, and a number of other emotions were chasing through him. He'd always protected his kid. Done what he could to make sure she hadn't suffered too much in her lifetime. Right then, he was helpless.

"She has Phoebe with her."

"And what?" he shot back at Ryder. "That's meant to reassure me?"

"She will at least have someone to hold on to," Ryder added. "She's not in that car alone."

"Sure as shit doesn't reassure me," Sawyer said. "I'm fucking terrified for both of them."

"I'm killing everyone in that car but Phoebe and Ally," Brody snarled.

"Yeah, that's not happening, nephew," Uncle Asher said, expertly turning the cruiser at speed so they were heading out of town behind the erratic Bronco. "But what will happen is those fuckers going away for a long time when I get my niece and Phoebe back."

It happened in the blink of an eye. The Bronco swerved and then was fishtailing across the road toward a tree.

"God no!" Brody roared. He watched as the Bronco swerved again and the rear of the vehicle clipped the trunk, sending it spinning the other way. It shuddered to a stop minutes later.

Brody was out of the car and running before Uncle Asher had stopped completely.

"They have a gun!" Dan yelled, tackling him to the ground as a shot rang out.

"Let me up!" Brody yelled, but hands pulled him back behind the fallen trunk of a tree.

"Hold him!" Dan snarled, and seconds later, Sawyer and Ryder had grabbed him.

"Everyone, out now, real slow!" Uncle Asher called out.

"Back away or I shoot!" someone yelled back from inside the Bronco. A rear door opened, and Phoebe and Ally got out. Two men and a woman followed.

Brody checked Ally and then Phoebe. They appeared unhurt but were white-faced and terrified.

"We're taking the cruiser. You come near us, and I'll shoot the woman and the girl," one of the men said.

They walked sideways, and Brody kept his eyes on Ally and Phoebe, willing them to know he would get them out of this. They were almost at the cruiser when one of the men tripped. He went down, taking Phoebe, who had Ally under her arm, with him. A shot rang out, and the man dropped the gun with a howl of pain, clutching his hand.

Brody ran, and this time, no one stopped him. Phoebe was fighting with the knife-wielding man now. He watched her swing a fist as the man brought the knife down toward her. Brody didn't think, just dived at him, taking the man to the ground.

"Bastard!" Phoebe shrieked. "You're not hurting anyone else!"

Brody had the man pinned beneath him. Rising, he punched him hard in the jaw and then again until he slumped unconscious.

"No one is stabbing anyone!" Phoebe yelled. Her foot came out and kicked the man slumped on the ground. "Do you hear me?"

Brody got to his feet and saw Ally was in Sawyer's arms with Ryder hugging both of them.

"You can't hurt me!"

"Phoebe." He grabbed her as she swung her foot at the unconscious man again. Wrapping her in his arms, he held her tight. "No one is hurting you, sweetheart. No one is hurting anyone. You and Ally are both safe."

"I don't want them to hurt us," she said, fighting him.

"I won't let them hurt you or Ally. Shh, now," he said into her hair. "I have you."

She let out a big, shuddering breath and then collapsed against him, crying.

"Dad!"

He lifted his arm, and Ally ran under it. He wrapped her into the hug. They both cried then, and Brody felt tears sting his eyes.

"It's okay now, Phoebe," Ally said when the tears slowed to sniffles. "Dad has us. We're safe."

He felt Phoebe's shuddering breath as her hands fisted in his shirt before releasing him. "I'm so pl-pleased we are safe," Phoebe whispered, easing out of his arms then. "You were such a br-brave girl." She then bent to hug Ally .

Brody picked up his daughter when she was done and simply held her. Her arms went around his neck, and they stood there, swaying. He inhaled her scent and thought, Safe . She was with him, and he wasn't letting anyone take her from him again.

"Ally!" This shriek came from Zoe, who was sprinting toward them with Robyn Duke, and Birdie. JD was running behind them. Soon they were encased in a huge Duke family hug. Phoebe was folded in too.

"Phoebe!" Brody raised his head at that and saw her family. She wriggled free and ran to them.

Uncle Asher and Dan rounded up the injured men and the woman, who'd tried to flee the scene, and drove them back to Lyntacky, while the others climbed into the cars that had arrived.

Brody wanted Phoebe with him and Ally. Felt a savage need inside him to keep her close, but she was with her family. He would hold her later, he vowed.

They went straight to the police station, where Ally and Phoebe would give their statements. Uncle Asher took Ally and Brody into his office. Phoebe went with Caleb into another office with Dan.

A knock on the door as Uncle Asher started to question Ally, had Brody rising to open it. Bradford stood there with take-out coffees and a box.

"The coffee and hot chocolate are from Lea and Klaus. Burgers and fries are from Linda and Frank," he said. "The town wanted to make sure you had food when you all returned."

Brody took it. "Thanks, bud, and thank everyone for us. Tell them Ally and Phoebe are doing good for me, will you, Bradford?"

"Will do." Bradford then walked around Brody to Ally. He bent and kissed the top of her head before leaving again.

It was a big gesture from a man that wasn't known for them, but for that reason, it was all the sweeter.

Brody handed over a coffee to Uncle Asher and a hot chocolate to Ally. Taking his own coffee, he drank deep, letting the liquid heat him from the inside.

Brody wasn't sure he'd ever rid himself of the memory of that moment his baby was taken from him. The moment he met Phoebe's eyes and saw her terror. It was then, when he couldn't do anything for her, he realized just what she meant to him. That he loved her. Not the selfish love from before, this was deep and all-encompassing. The love a man had for a woman he wanted to make a life with.

"How come Phoebe was with you, Ally?" Uncle Asher asked. He sat behind his desk, now eating a burger in large bites. Ally sat across from him with her own burger and fries. Brody wasn't sure he'd ever eat again.

"After the game, and those people being there."

"Your grandparents?" Uncle Asher said after swallowing another bite.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry that upset you, Ally," Brody said. "I never wanted that, and I should have told you about your mother coming to Lyntacky."

"It's okay, Dad." She patted his hand, smiling like the last few hours hadn't happened.

Oh, to be so resilient, Brody thought, feeling like he'd aged significantly since he'd woken this morning.

"I was confused and angry when we got to Circle Left. I went outside for a walk and to think. I found the storage shed open and went in there."

"You had to know Aunt Zoe and JD would be worried, baby. "

"I know, Dad, but I wasn't going to be gone long, and then Phoebe arrived, and she sat with me, and we talked."

"What did you talk about?" Brody asked.

"Not having a mother, and how she used to tell people she didn't need one because her dad could do everything like you, Dad."

He managed to nod and then leaned in to hug her again. When he looked at his uncle, he was wiping his eyes. "There's dust in here."

"Lots of it," Brody said, doing the same.

After they'd finished, he found Birdie and Sawyer waiting for them.

"Phoebe and her family just left, and we're here to take you home," Birdie said. "Come on." She held out her hand to Ally.

It wasn't until he had tucked his kid into bed and showered that he picked up his phone.

Brody: How are you?

Phoebe: Good, thanks. How's Ally?

Brody: Asleep, but I'm not sure that's happening for me tonight. I put her in my bed so I know she's close tonight.

Phoebe: I can understand that, and she's probably happier beside you after what she went through.

Brody: I can never thank you enough for what you did for Ally today, Phoebe.

Phoebe: She's a brave girl. You raised her well, Brody, and you should be proud of her.

Brody: Is someone looking after you tonight?

He watched the dots appear and then stop before reappearing.

Phoebe: Dad made me stay at his place.

Brody: I'm glad. If you wake and need to talk, text or call me.

Phoebe: You have a child in your bed. I have a brother, father, and Jonathan close .

Brody: I want to see you tomorrow.

He knew she'd seen the message, but no reply came. Phoebe may want to ignore him and think there was nothing between them, but he had other ideas for her. He just needed to find a way to make her understand that.