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stakeout?” Dee asked as she walked in.
    Micah nodded and glanced at her. “You’re not mad I let him go, are you?”
    She shrugged. “No. I had a feeling he would go watch over her.”
    “He’s going to make sure she doesn’t run.”
    Dee shook her head and sat down beside him. “No. You didn’t see that house. It isn’t just where they live, she’s made a home. There were pictures on the walls, and it was well cared for. And, you didn’t see his face when he got that picture. He looked stunned.”
    Micah heard a suspicious sniffle. When he looked at her, he saw the tears. She had been the same last time during her pregnancy. The truth was, he didn’t know how to deal with it this time around any better than he did last time. Dee wasn’t a woman who shed tears easily. So, he did the same thing he always did. He patted her knee.
    “He’ll be fine. He comes from tough stock.” He kissed her on the nose. “I know that for a fact.”
    She smiled at him. “He’s not as tough as I am.”
    “No way.” He glanced back at the closed door to their room. “Is Alana still sleeping?”
    She nodded, as she sniffed.
    “So, we’re all alone in this big, beautiful apartment without a meddling brother and a sleeping child?”
    She smiled. “Yes.”
    He eased her back on the sofa. “Whatever will we do with our time, Mrs. Ross?”
    She slipped her hands up to his shoulders. “I’m pretty sure you can come up with something.”
    He chuckled as he leaned down to kiss her and forget about all their troubles for at least a little while.
    * * * *
     
    Alicia tucked Bridget into bed, then sat beside her. She was exhausted, as if she’d been on a three day stakeout. Every muscle felt strained and every one of her bones ached.
    She was only thirty-years-old and she felt as if she were three times as old.
    “Do you think the man will come to visit again? You said he would.”
    She nodded. Since Devon and Dee had left earlier that day, Bridget could not stop talking about Devon. She was definitely intrigued by him, but Alicia had waved the concern away. It probably had more to do with the fact that he was a man. Other than service or deliverymen, there had never been any in the house.
    “Do you think he’ll be here tomorrow?”
    Alicia thought back to the look on his face when he had accepted the picture.
    “I’m pretty sure he’ll come back tomorrow or the next day.”
    Bridget yawned, as her eyes started to close. Alicia leaned down and kissed her forehead.
    “Sweet dreams, poppet.”
    She rose from the bed and walked toward the door, stopping just as she stepped over the threshold. As Alicia looked at her, Bridget turned over on her side, her breathing eased into a steady rhythm.
    Alicia decided to make some tea and then head to bed. Just as she reached the kitchen, the lights flickered three times, signaling someone had broken through her hundred yard perimeter.
    Panic came first, surging up so fast that her head spun. Bile rose in her throat as she tried to pull herself together. As soon as she had her head screwed on straight, in the next second, she ran back toward Bridget’s room. Her daughter was still sleeping since the alarm hadn’t hit the second stage yet.
    Alicia squatted by the bed and gently shook her daughter. “Bridget, we have to go.”
    Her daughter sat up, her eyes barely open. “What’s wrong, Mummy?”
    “We’ve got a situation.” She pulled her onto the floor and looked at her. Alicia kept her voice as even as she could even though fear danced over every nerve ending. “Now, I told you something like this could happen. We need to get out of the house and we need to do it as quietly as we can.”
    Bridget’s eyes widened but she said nothing. She was her mother’s daughter after all. Bridget nodded and slipped out of bed to the floor beside Alicia. She picked her up.
    “Wrap your legs around me.”
    Bridget did as ordered, and Alicia stood and ran out of the room. She stopped along