Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Unable to refuse that command, Juniper pushed her worry about crushing him away as he brushed the hair from her face with a gentle stroke of his hand. “Magnus, he sent me an email.”
“Who?” Magnus asked.
“I don’t know. Someone who thinks I know where something is, and he’s asked me to return it. I don’t know anything. I still can’t believe that my father was involved. Even if he was, it’s not like he would tell me. I was just a daughter who visited in the summer,” Juniper said, feeling the words tumble from her mouth.
“He must think you know something.”
“He can think anything he wants. I can’t help that. You believe me, don’t you? My father never told me anything about the robbery—if he was even really involved,” Juniper said, feeling defensive.
“I’m on your side, Little girl. Can I read the email?”
“Oh. Let me pull it up.” Quickly, Juniper scanned through her messages to find the spooky one.
“Here.” She handed her phone over to Magnus so he could read the message.
As he looked at the email, she scanned the room. This wasn’t a storage area. There was a huge table that would fit at least ten people and a workout section. She had a feeling the computer displays taking up a chunk of space were Magnus’s.
Distracted by his movements, she focused back on the phone and watched him forward the message to himself. “Do you think you can find more information from the email?”
“I don’t know, Juni. I don’t like this at all. I suspect that email is from a man named Edmund Rivers. He was involved in the bank robbery. Let’s try to think about this logically. He thinks you know something about the bank robbery. It has to be something to do with Danger Bluff because this is the only place you spent time with your father, correct?”
“Yes. We were here for my summer vacations, which was winter in New Zealand. It wasn’t a touristy time at Danger Bluff. I think Dad got a special price for staying here during the off-season.”
“You played with the owner’s daughter?”
“Yes. Sammi was my friend. We had so much fun together,” Juniper said.
“We have to figure out why this Rivers thinks you know something about the money.”
“But I don’t,” Juniper wailed, feeling overwhelmed by the looming threat of this man.
“Okay, Little one. Let’s leave that for a while. The first priority is to make sure you’re safe,” Magnus stated firmly as he pulled her against his torso.
Yielding to his control, Juniper sagged against him. It felt wonderful to rely on his strength. The last weeks had been crazy, getting things in order to settle her father’s estate. Between making funeral decisions and clearing out his apartment, Juniper had run herself ragged. Coming here had seemed like a chance to spend some time where she and her father had been happy.
“Should I go back to the States?” she whispered. “Maybe he’d leave me alone then.”
“Or maybe he’d decide you’d found the money and have taken it home,” Magnus pointed out. “You’re safer here with me.”
“Where is here?” she asked. “I thought this was a storage area.”
“It’s our command center,” Magnus said.
“Command center,” she echoed before adding, “like in spy stuff?”
“We’re not spies, Juni.”
“Who’s we?” she asked, suspicion rising.
The elevator door dinged, and Juniper’s spine straightened. Desperately, she attempted to move onto the couch, but Magnus held her firmly in place. “Stay here, Little girl. The others won’t mind if you’re on my lap.”
“Magnus!” she hissed, still resisting.
“Hi, Juniper. Nice to see you again,” the man wearing hiking gear said as he walked forward with Sadie at his side.
Sadie gave her a wave and a smile.
“Sit, Little girl,” Rocco said to Sadie as he pointed toward the couch.
“Little girl?” Juniper repeated, glancing between the two of them, confused. She knew she sounded like an idiot but couldn’t process the information he’d just handed her.
“Daddy, she’s new to everything,” Sadie said, making a face at the handsome man next to her. “She doesn’t understand.”
“You Littles will have to help her,” Rocco said as Sadie moved to sit on the couch with Magnus and Juniper.
“Littles?” Juniper echoed. “As in plural?”
Magnus stroked up and down her spine, reassuring her. “Littles don’t just exist in books. There are Little boys and girls everywhere.”
“Really?” Juniper said.
A movement in her peripheral vision made her turn around. To her astonishment, two other women walked out to take seats next to Sadie. Both were dressed in lab coats.
“Hi, I’m Celeste. I’m with Hawking.”
“I’m Zara. Kestrel is my Daddy.”
“Daddy?” Juniper repeated, feeling her head swim. What was going on here?
“It’s okay, Juni. I’m a member of a team brought together by a man named Baldwin Kingsley to save people in dangerous circumstances. It turns out that each man on the team is a Daddy. The woman he’s in charge of saving always seems to be his Little girl,” Magnus explained.