“If I am caught with you, I could get in a lot of trouble,” he said. “We may need to find someone to help me, help you.”
“I want you to help us,” Karli pleaded.
“Karli, how do you know I’m not a bad man too?” Raphael asked, looking into the rearview mirror to see her face. “I can’t see you Karli.”
She slid over in the seat. She wore a purple slip dress with daisies and other flowers covering the fabric in sporadic spots. She had caramel skin with thin braids in her hair and an adorable upturned nose.
“How old are you, Sweetie?”
“I’m 10, but Willow Rayne said on my next birthday she would make me a cake. I really like cake, but we don’t get to eat sugar,” Karli told Raphael. “That soda was really sweet and I’m probably going to start pinging as Willow Rayne calls it.”
“Karli, we need help. I need to make some calls to get a few people to provide me with more information before I get myself into a mess I can’t get out of, or these bad men will end up hurting me too,” Raphael explained.
“No, the less people the better,” Karli said. “If anybody asks, I’ll just say I’m your daughter. When you get Willow Rayne and Dusty Rose, you can say Dusty Rose is your daughter from your first marriage and I’m the one from you and Willow Rayne. We can be a family. I can go to a regular school with real friends. Please. Please help us. I hate it there.”
“So, you’ve told me.”
“We just have to wait until morning, just after sunrise. I can show you,” Karli said. “I can ease in and tell them we’re being rescued, they follow me back to the truck, and we’re outta there!”
“Karli, it’s not that simple,” Raphael tried to warn the child, who popped up on the back seat.
One look at her sweet cherubic face did him in. The idea of a 10-year-old child being taken to grown men for date night made the acid in his stomach bubble and his trigger finger itch. A thing he didn’t care for was people with vices who hurt others. Him, whoever ‘him’ was, had earned an assessment from Mr. Exit. It wasn’t his place to pass judgement, but he didn’t mind expelling a few bullets when needed.
“Helping people is easy. Help me. Help my Mothers,” Karli pleaded.
The sign came up for Pine Knot. Before he knew it, he had hit the turn signal to exit the interstate. Once he secured Willow Rayne and Dusty Rose, a call would be made to the Archangel for assistance with the women. Tonight, he needed a place to rest. Karli needed more food and a hot bath once he collected her mothers, and the rest he’d have to figure out.
“I’ll grab a couple of burgers and fries for right now,” Raphael told the small face in the back seat.
“Oh, for you maybe. But we don’t eat animals,” she said, arching her tiny little eyebrows as if she were passing judgement. “I’m not too keen on fried food either.”
On second thought, he reached for his cell phone. The number programmed into each Technician’s phone, but seldom used unless it was an emergency, Raphael stared at with a bit of hesitation. He didn’t want to call but he had to, he needed to, and he reluctantly hit the icon of the angel. The line rang three times when the voice came across the line.
“State your need,” the voice said.
“Archangel, it’s Mr. Exit. I have three serious issues outside of Pine Knot near Daniel Boone National Park. I’ve been told by a credible source that the best time to go in is right after sunrise,” Mr. Exit said. “I don’t know what I’m walking into and could use some guidance.”
The voice replied, “We are aware. Our eyes are on it.”
“Should I make a move?”
“Sending support at sunrise; anything else I need to know?”
“Yeah,” Mr. Exit said, “she’s about 10 and in my backseat. I saved her from a date night; I think that’s the word she used. There are two mothers. I don’t know what that means. The little lady wants me to go in at sunrise to get the Moms.”
The line was quiet except the clicking of computer keys. Mr. Exit held his breath, awaiting a response. The normal calm which kept him company began to quickly evaporate and the thought of having to spend the night with a 10-year-old made him extremely uncomfortable.
“Archangel?”
“This may be sticky,” the Archangel replied. “Wait for the diversion. Go in. Get the women.”
“Then what? Do I bring them to you?” Mr. Exit asked.
“No, take them home and lay low, and I’ll be in touch in a week,” Gabriel Neary said into the line. He looked at his schedule. It would be more like three weeks, but in seven days, he would call the man.
“Take them home? Are you out of your mutherf...hello? Archangel? Hello?” He looked in his rear-view mirror at the adorable face. Truly, the Archangel didn’t expect him to take a 10-year-old and two hippie commune living women to his home. What if they smelled weird and wanted to bathe him in rose water and cook vegetable stew? “Hello?”
From the backseat, the small voice piped up, “I heard what he said. We are going home with you. We can be a family,” Karli said.
Mr. Exit didn’t know about all of that. He wasn’t the family type. Raphael Ian Hoyt was a loner who appreciated the life he led with no ties outside of his sister and niece. They were self-sufficient. He touched base and checked in with them on a regular basis and sent money when needed. Now, the Archangel expected him to take two women and a feisty 10-year-old home with him for a week?
“The Devil you know...,” he mumbled, looking for a restaurant that sold a variety of meals which were not fried and had vegetarian options. Raphael Hoyt was already making adjustments for a little lady in his backseat that he barely knew. The idea of taking her home along with her ‘mothers’ made his nut sack itch.
“Damn you, Archangel,” he growled between pursed lips. This was always the way it started. As much as he hated the idea of having three people in his home, he hated the idea of letting down Karli Jebsen, who smiled at him with hope and wonderment in her eyes. To think of a grown man touching that little girl hurt the spot in his chest where he believed his heart rested. The other issue that he had to reconcile more than his nut sack itching was his trigger finger.
That bitch was itching, too. His eyes went to the rear-view mirror. She was the key to more than just rescuing the ‘mothers’. Karli was also the key to unlocking the heart Raphael Hoyt hid away in the back of the closet away from prying eyes. If there was one thing which chapped his ass, it was nasty people with nasty vices. The man who ran the ‘nests’ as she called them was about to get a pink slip terminating his employment as the leader of the cult of sexual sadists.
“Karli, can you tell me what Him looks like?”
Chapter One – Lookalike
IT WAS ONE BIG, STEAMY pile of horse hockey, and the Archangel was the primed and primped stallion strutting his stuff and dropping loads of work for those who followed. Raphael Ian Hoyt wasn’t a follower. He wasn’t a leader either for that matter, but fancied himself as the lone gunman on the grassy knoll keeping his skills sharp by shooting the wings off gnats. A loner. A man with a specialized skillset who enjoyed fishing off the back of his boat, and living in an orderly home, clutter, animal, and noise free. The last thing he wanted, needed, or ever desired to have was a house full of any of the aforementioned, especially not a little snippy ass dog with a stupid name or an overfed lazy cat who sat on a high perch, looking down on him in judgement until he got up to feed it. This was not his way and not his life.
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” A small voice called out.
Raphael didn’t hear the child. He barely heard the voice until a small hand tapped him on the shoulder and made him jump. The scowl on his face was deep as he looked in the rear-view mirror, ready to snap off her little fingers for daring to touch him. The look on his face made the child draw back, and he softened his gaze.
“Sorry, were you talking to me?” he asked, trying to sound as if he actually gave a shit about what she was saying. His mind was focused on how to get
through the night with a 10-year-old girl child he didn’t know and how to stage an early morning rescue of her ‘mothers’.
“Yes, I was trying out calling you Daddy,” Karli, the child in the backseat said. “It will seem kind of weird when we go to dinner and I’m saying ‘Daddy’ and you don’t answer. We need to practice.”
“What?” he asked, genuinely surprised.
She repeated the new label for Mr. Exit and once more said, “Daddy?”
“What?” he asked again, trying to figure out where she got the idea it would be okay to call a strange man who allowed her to climb in the back of his truck Daddy.
“No, you’re supposed to answer with something cute, like a pet name for me. Like Pookie Bear, or Bunny Wunny,” Karli answered, her little face looking at him with sincerity.
“No,” he said, hitting the turn signal to pull into a gas station chain that had a family friendly dining experience attached with shopping for the traveling family. “I will never, ever call you Bunny Wunny or anything else as ridiculous as that.”
“Then what are you going to call me?”
“Why don’t I just call you Karli?” Raphael said with a frown.
“Stop frowning. It looks weird,” Karli said, scooting up in the seat. “Every father has a pet name for his little girl. You need to have one for me. We need to seem natural.”
“Nothing about this is natural,” he grumbled. “We’re going to pull into here, use the bathroom, grab some dinner, and go over the plan for in the morning.”
“Fine,” she said, crossing her small arms over her tiny chest. “You’re going to wish we had come up with a cute name for me that’s all I’m saying. Every Daddy has a cute name for his daughter. I think I should have one.”
“Seriously? You’re pouting over me not giving you a nickname?”
“Daddy, I should have a pet name,” she said.
Raphael scratched at his mustache, then his neck, and finally his chest. Karli calling him Daddy had begun to cause red welts to form on his skin, and he didn’t like it one bit. What he didn’t like more than anything was a 10-year-old being right and giving him directions. He parked the vehicle, searching the surroundings for potential threats.
“Okay,” he said, hoping to lessen the itching. “I will call you Angel.”
“Boring!” she huffed, reaching for the door handle. “I need to pee. Can we go inside? I think I want some smashed potatoes. Do you think they have smashed potatoes with cheese?”
“Karli, stop it. We have to have a plan. We never make a move without a plan. It is important for you to be able to read my movements and react, and I can do the same with you,” he said, as if she would understand his instructions.
“Daddy, how are we supposed to do that when you can’t even come up with a simple pet name for your adorable daughter? People are going to think it weird when you speak to me in public and use my actual name,” she said, looking at him with let that sink in your thick skull look.
“Oh shit, you’re right,” he said, turning in the seat to look at her. Parents rarely used their children’s actual names in open spaces. Predators who lurked in public facilities would mimic the child’s name to lure kids into aiding in the search for a non-existent lost puppy.
“And you can express yourself with using potty words,” Karli added to her reprimand.
“And I can save myself a big ass headache by taking you inside, calling the police, and going about my merry way,” he reminded her.
Karli sat back in the seat. Her face showed signs of defeat, but he didn’t buy it. Thus far she’d mastered the handful of cards she held with precision timing. Everything in him screamed he was being played, but now he was more curious than anything about her next move. He sat behind the wheel and waited.
“Daddy,” she said, “Willow Rayne, my mother unit for our nest, taught me to always be ready for an opportunity to escape from Him. This is my chance for all of us to get free. She taught me to be smart. Willow Rayne taught me how to look in a man’s eyes and see his heart. I have looked into your eyes and I see you. Now, would you please select a nickname for me so I can go and pee?”
“Wait...what? Hold on, Karli, like I said, we need a plan,” he said, stunned, shocked and a bit shook. A name popped into his head out of the blue and he thought of Pooh Bear. His sister never went anywhere without that damned stuffed animal in the red tee shirt. Even when its head hung on by a thread, their mother had sewn the animal back together and added more stuffing. His sister even took it to college when she left home. Raphael went with it, hoping she liked the new name. “Pooh Bear. I think I would like calling you Pooh Bear, so when Daddy says we need a plan, then that’s what we have to do, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy,” she said with a satisfied look on her face.
He knew that he’d been thrown on the field, tossed a ball, and told to run towards the end goal. The more he spoke to the little lady as he went over how they would enter the facility, the use of the family bathroom, and having dinner, she nodded, squirmed, and agreed. Karli didn’t argue or question when they stepped out of the vehicle, and she slipped her small hand into his. The air was cooler than he’d anticipated, and she was sleeveless. The second thing he planned to do after relieving his complaining bladder centered on finding a sweatshirt to go over the simple summer dress.
“Let’s move, Pooh Bear,” he said, taking smaller steps so she could keep up.
“BLESS MY SOUL AND WATERY eyes. My goodness, you have a mini lookalike sitting across the table from you. She has your eyes,” a middle-aged woman with a reddish bouffant chirped. “Her manners are absolutely impeccable, and I can tell she’s Daddy’s little girl.”
“Yes, my little Pooh Bear knows how to pull on my heart strings,” Raphael answered, adding an uncharacteristic smile.
“I love that little sweater! Do you buy souvenirs when you stop at places like this?” the lady inquired.
“Not usually, but the weather changed, and it’s cooler than expected, so I don’t want my angel catching a cold,” he said. “It would be hell to pay with her Mama when we get home.”
“You are incredibly lucky to have such a doting father, young lady. Make sure you tell him often how much you love your Daddy,” the red-haired lady scolded, looking over her shoulder at a man in plaid pants who urged his wife to move her ass. “Oh, put a sock in it, Harold. I’m a-coming. Nice meeting you two.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you as well,” Karli said, showing off a mouth full of teeth. The yellow sweater accompanied the purple dress and colorful flowers well, and she buttoned the two highest buttons. It seemed everyone who passed their table commented on her manners, how cute the kid was, and how much she favored her father.
In his head, it was more horseshit. He and Karli weren’t related and there was no way in hell he planned to check into a hotel room and share it with the kid. Tomorrow, once he had her mother with them, maybe then a hotel room and maybe that would work. In the meantime, he’d buy a travel pillow and warm throw for the back seat, and she could sleep there. He would sleep in the front seat and be absolutely miserable until he got home to his own bed.
“You’re going to like her,” Karli said, looking at the sleep pillow, but spying a unicorn travel set that came with a suitcase, pillow, and matching unicorn blanket. “Daddy, oh my goodness. It’s a unicorn. I love unicorns. Can I have this, please? Please, can I have this?”
“What...that?” he said, trying not to frown in utter disgust at the loud, colorful, cheaply made suitcase with matching accessories. “You want that?”
“It has all my favorite colors, yellow, purple and that blue on the unicorn horn is adorable. Please can I have it?” Karli asked, touching the suitcase as if she’d just discovered the last of the lost jellybeans from the Easter bunny. “If we don’t have enough money, I understand.”
A man in dark denims, listening close by, offered to chip in to help Raphael pay for the $70 set of ugliness, but he refused the assi
stance. Two mothers who overheard Karli’s pleas also offered to chip in 20 each. His Pooh Bear was working him and he knew it.
“Thank you, but I have it,” he said, lifting the set off the shelf. “You sure you want this?”
Karli twirled twice in the floor, gave him a smile that radiated he was her personal hero, and she did a dipsy doodle. At least that’s what his mother used to call his sister’s attempt to do a herkie and a happy jump at the same time. “Well, I guess that fancy move deserves this, too,” he said, reaching on the shelf to grab the stuffed unicorn to go with the rest.
“Thank you, Daddy; you’re the best!” she said, grinning up at him and rolling the case to the register.
The look of defeat on his face struck a chord with every father in the family-friendly travel stop. He could tell that several were either on their way to a theme park or coming from a family vacation. Weariness in the eyes of the men at being locked up too long with family showed. Raphael’s heart rate picked up at the thought of two more women in his shop, in his home, and in his life. In the past hour, he’d spent $165 on a stuffed unicorn with matching suitcase, pillow, throw, and a yellow sweater – plus the cost of dinner. He presented his credit card to pay for the items and looked down at the girl. Joy radiated through her eyes as she slipped her hand inside of his.
“Shit,” he mumbled as he squeezed her hand. Before he knew it, he’d purchased a navy-blue girly track suit, a pair of plain navy sneakers, socks, a unicorn hair clamp, tiny size panties and a new toothbrush. The more he watched her, the more he realized his Pooh Bear didn’t deserve to spend the night in the back of his shop, and he sure as hell didn’t want to sleep behind the wheel. The idea of her waking in the middle of the night and needing to pee worried him. Karli didn’t need to cop a squat on the side of his truck in the wee hours of the morning.
Blind Copy (The Technicians Series Book 5) Page 2
