Page 25 of Sniper Daddy
Sadie nods from across the room. “I felt the same way when I first got here. I thought I was bringing my mess to everyone’s front door. But these men built this place knowing trouble might follow some of us. They chose this life. They chose to stand between us and whatever is chasing us.”
Fiona leans against the table, arms crossed. “This has happened before. Not exactly like this, but close enough. We’ve been attacked. Not even that long ago. We’ve lost sleep. We’ve patched up bullet holes in the walls. But we’re still here. Because this is what the men do. They protect what’s theirs. And you are theirs now. You’re ours.”
Daisy brings me a bottle of water and sits on the floor in front of me. “We protect our own. That is the rule here. And you became one of us the moment Boyd decided you were staying. The moment any of us decided you were staying.”
I take the water with trembling hands and sip it slowly. Their words wrap around me like a warm blanket, but the guilt still gnaws at me. I can hear the fighting above us. The sharp cracks of gunfire. The shouts. Every sound makes me flinch. Boyd’s up there. Fighting. Because of me.
The main line phone on the wall suddenly rings, loud and jarring in the underground space. Everyone freezes. Harper stands andwalks over to it, her expression cautious. She picks up the receiver and listens for a moment.
Her eyes flick to me. “It’s for you, Piper.”
My heart drops. I stand slowly, legs shaky, and take the phone from her. The women gather close, offering silent support.
I press the receiver to my ear. “Hello?”
“Piper.” My father’s voice is smooth and cold, exactly like I remember. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, sweetheart. You had me so worried.”
I close my eyes, fighting the wave of nausea that rolls through me. “What do you want?”
He chuckles softly, like this is all just a minor inconvenience. “I want my daughter home where she belongs. I know you’re up on that mountain with those people. I know you think you’re safe there. But I can make this all go away. Call off my men right now. Come home with me. We can forget all of this unpleasantness. You can go back to your old life. No more running. No more hiding.”
I grip the phone tighter. “And if I don’t?”
His voice hardens. “Then this doesn’t end well for anyone. Those men up there fighting for you? They’ll keep dying until you come home. I have more people. More resources. I will burn that entire compound to the ground if I have to. Come home, Piper. Be a good daughter for once.”
Tears burn in my eyes. I look around at the women surrounding me. Harper’s determined face. Sadie’s gentle strength. All of them watching me with love and support. I think about Boyd up there, risking everything for me. I think about the life I havestarted to build here. The Sunday dinners. The laughter. The safety I have never known before.
But I also think about the gunfire. The danger I brought here. The possibility that someone could die because of me.
I close my eyes.
“Okay,” I whisper, voice breaking. “I’ll come home.”
The line goes silent for a second. Then my father speaks again, satisfied.
“Good girl. I will call off the attack. A car will be waiting for you at the gate in thirty minutes. Do not keep me waiting.”
The call ends.
I lower the phone slowly, my hand shaking. The women are staring at me, eyes wide with shock and concern.
Harper steps forward. “Piper, you don’t have to?—”
“I have to,” I say, voice barely audible. “I can’t let them keep fighting because of me. I can’t let anyone else get hurt.”
Tears slip down my cheeks as I stand there, heart breaking.
I agreed.
Iamgoing back.
SEVENTEEN
BOYD
The gunfire stops as suddenly as it started.
One moment the air is thick with the sharp crack of rifles, the shouts of men, and the metallic ping of bullets striking the gate and lodge walls. The next, everything falls silent. The attackers outside the broken gate stand motionless, weapons lowered. They look at each other, confused, then begin to retreat in an orderly fashion. They climb back into their vehicles without another shot fired and drive away down the mountain road, taillights disappearing into the trees.
