Lillian Duncan - Until Death Do Us Part by Lillian Duncan Read Free Book Online Page B

reached up and pulled off the sunglasses. A faded bruise covered her left eye. She gave a weak smile to Reggie. “Guess, I didn’t hide it very well.”
    “Is that why you’re traveling?”
    Suzie piped in. “We’re going to Grandma’s house. That way Daddy can’t hit us anymore.”
    Reggie felt a squeeze on her heart. Children were a precious gift from God, not something to take your frustrations out on —like a punching bag. She glanced over at Misty who was wiping away a tear. “It’s okay. Things happen sometimes.”
    “Frank’s not a bad guy. Just loses his temper sometimes.” She lowered her voice and looked around. “It was one thing when he hit me, but he hit Noah yesterday.”
    “The cut on his eye?”
    She nodded. “He knocked him down and hit his eye on the corner of the toy box. That was it. He crossed the line. I waited until he went to work this morning and we left. I’m not going back. Ever.”
    “Good for you. It sounds like you made the right decision.”
    “I hope so.” Misty took a deep breath. “As l ong as he doesn’t come after us.”

 
     
    CHAPTER 16
     
    Dylan cleared his throat and stared at Billy Clyde as he tossed the paper on the counter. “Are you going to do it?”
    Ignoring his question, Billy Cly de picked up the GPS triangulator and hit some buttons. A moment later, he looked up at Dylan. “I’ve got an address.”
    “Let’s roll.”
    The two men rushed out of the house in silence, both walked to the driver’s side of the SUV. Dylan held out his hands for the keys. “Let me drive, Billy Clyde. You need to conserve your strength.”
    Billy C lyde opened his mouth as if to argue. Instead, he closed it and nodded. He placed the keys in Dylan’s waiting hand. “Get in and I’ll go let the dogs in the garage. Just in case anyone comes in here, they won’t get far.”
    Billy Clyde had let the dogs out. One more extra measure of security. The dogs would never attack Dylan since they knew him without a direct order, but he preferred to keep his distance. Especially when Billy had them on security detail. The dogs took their job seriously.
    Bil ly Clyde climbed into the passenger seat of the van. He winced as he snapped his seat belt. He held the triangulator in his hand. “Ok, when you get to the end of the drive, turn right and head into Paw Paw.”
    Dylan nodded, grim-faced. “So, are you going to do what they want?”
    “Do I have a choice?”
    Dylan loo ked at his friend and knew if it was Reggie, he’d do anything in the world to get her back safely. Philosophy is all well and good until it’s your loved one in danger. He only hoped it was something his friend could live with. “No, I don’t suppose you do. What do they want you to do?”
    “He wants me to get into the Secret S ervice database and delete a file.”
    “That’s it? That doesn’t sound like such a big deal. It doesn’t make much sense to me. What kind of file?”
    “A case file.”
    “What kind of case file. I thought they protected the president. What would they have case files for?”
    “The Secret Service has two main duties. Protect high profile politicians, like the president but they have another duty.”
    “What’s that?”
    “The Secret Service used to be part of the U.S. Treasury Department. They aren’t anymore but they retained the duty of investigating crimes relating to our treasury system so they’re responsible for investigating counterfeiting, money or bonds.”
    “Interesting. So, this joker must be under investigation for some white collar crime. And he thinks he can have you erase his file and the investigation will go away?”
    “That’s what I’m thinking.”
    “That couldn’t happen, could it?”
    “In theory—no . In reality, I suppose it could. Especially, if he had someone working on the inside and they took the paper copies and any evidence relating to the case.”
    “But if he had someone working on the inside, they could erase the file just