Page 12 of Daddy Erik
“I know so.”
A small smile ghosts her lips, and something inside me clicks into place like a code finally decrypted.
The wipers move in a slow rhythm. Rain turns the city into a watercolor of light and motion. I could drive forever like this, her warmth beside me, the road unspooling ahead, the world briefly forgetting how cruel it can be.
She reaches for the radio, searching for distraction. A soft melody fills the car: an old love song played on cello and piano. Her hand lingers near the console, close enough that her fingers tremble against the air between us.
I cover her hand with mine. The spark isn’t metaphorical. It’s real. Instant. Controlled chaos.
“Erik,” she whispers, not pulling her hand away.
“Hmm?”
“I think about you too much.”
“Good.”
Her laughter spills out, breathless and surprised, the sound you want to protect. “I’m not sure how to feel about that.”
“We’re taking this one day at a time, little one.”
At the red light, I turn to face her. She’s looking up at me with wide eyes, pupils blown wide from the dim light. The sight undoes every bit of discipline I’ve trained in my bones. I want to tell her what she’s doing to me, how her steadiness has rewired the part of me that only knows mission parameters and exit routes.
Instead, I squeeze her hand, my thumb tracing the pulse at her wrist. “Dinner tomorrow night. My place.”
Her breath catches. “That an order?”
“A request.” I let the pause stretch with a smirk. “A strong one.”
“Then… yes.”
The light turns green.
We move through the city in companionable silence. Her fingers stay under mine until she pulls away only to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. When we reach her building, the rain has softened into mist again, the kind that clings to glass and skin alike.
I park, but don’t cut the engine. “Top bolt,” I breathe.
She nods, a smile curving at the edges. “Already done.”
I watch her disappear into her apartment and wait for a second before shifting the SUV into reverse and then driving away.
As I merge back into traffic, my phone vibrates against the console, a single encrypted ping from the family network.
Bjorn: A possible Veritek trace bounced east of Baytown. You see anything?
Me: Yes. I’ve got it contained.
Contained… for now.
Through the windshield, lightning forks across the sky, painting the clouds silver-white. For a moment, the reflection catches in the glass, the ghost of her silhouette still sitting beside me, smiling.
I reach for my phone again, typing one line I’ll delete before dawn:She’s safe tonight.
Then I pocket it and drive toward the edge of the storm.
Claire
The following morning…
