Her Valentine by Amanda Anderson Read Free Book Online

crying, but her pretty blue eyes were dry now.  She looked up at Nick with the same eyes that he looked down at her with.  Her little fingers traced the tattoo on Preach’s arms.  She traced the cross’s intricate lines as if they somehow held her to the world.
    “Are you my daddy?  Mommy said my daddy would come get me.  You look like the picture she gave me.  Are you him?”
    Nick nodded.  “I’m him.”
    Her little arms reached up to him and he fell to his knees and held her as the men around him set to work on the warehouse.  Nothing mattered right in that moment.  Nothing but his little girl.
    “I was so scared.  Those men were mean.  They said they would hurt me.  They hurt mommy.  They said nobody loved me enough to look for me.”  Her sniffles broke up her words.
    “I know Daisy.  I know.  You’re alright now.  Everything is alright now.  Nobody is going to hurt you, not ever, not ever.  I love you baby, I love you and I would never have stopped looking for you, not ever.”
    “They said they killed Mommy.”  Fat tears rolled down her face.  “Are you really my daddy?  Why did you let them take my mommy?”
    “Yes baby, I am and we are going home where you will be safe.  I’m so sorry they took mommy, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”
    He looked up at Preach and found the man’s eyes misted with tears.  He squatted by Nick in the dust.
    “Daisy.  Look at me little darlin’.”  He reached back and pulled Shadow over to stand near them.  “Look at him.  This is my son.  His name is Shadow.  Will you look at him so you remember?”
    “He looks sort of scary Mr. Preacher.”  Daisy shivered and Nick held her closer.
    Nick looked up at the dark haired man that everyone feared and saw a single tear roll down his face.  His eyes were black and filled with fury only a second ago, but now he looked almost like a broken child himself.
    “There are scary people in the world little darlin’, but that don’t mean we are all bad.  Sometimes we need to be just as scary as the bad guys to be the good guys.  You don’t understand this right now, but if you ever need us, we will be right there for you.  Me and Shadow.”  Preach nodded and his jaw went hard.
    Shadow reached out and ran his hand over her dark curls and then turned and walked away.
    “Hey Preach, he alright?”
    Preach shook his head.  What they had seen in that place had shaken them all.  These men were what most people thought of as the boogey men, but what was in that warehouse had torn them apart.  There were few things that mattered to men like the Defenders, but family was one of them and these men had ripped apart families for their sick pleasures. 
    “Let him go.  He needs to get things done.  Quiet his demons before he can let this go.  He will find his way back.”
    Nick had heard about SHadow and the things the man had done.  He was a phantom.  He killed without mercy and without remorse and Nick almost felt sorry for the rest of the Flores cartel.
    Nick climbed into the truck with Daisy on his lap as the warehouse was lit.
    “Flores wasn’t there.”  Chester said as he drove toward his bar.
    Nick felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach.  Storm.
     
     

 
    XXX
     
    Nick held on for dear life as Chester drove hell for leather toward the bar.  Black smoke billowed into the sky and they saw it miles before they saw the cause, but they knew.
    “She’s not there Chester.  She’s not in there.”  Nick kept saying.
    “She could have been.  She could be gone.  I should have gotten her clear of this place years ago.” 
    Chester looked like death as he pulled to a stop in front of the blazing building.
    “I’m such a fool for keeping her in a place like this.”
    The smoke smelled like death.  Nick knew without looking that there had been someone in that bar before it was torched.  It wrenched at his heart.
    Daisy was wrapped in his jacket, against his chest.  She