Frey (38 page)

Trevor investigated the area, but whoever it
was had vanished. How could that be? He’d only taken his eyes off
the guy long enough to look at the dog. Molly stopped being vocal
as if nothing had spooked her. Had Trevor imagined it? Were the
events of the past few days wearing on his nerves so much that he
was now hallucinating? Why would someone be in the woods where
there was no path to walk on? If Molly hadn’t caused such a fuss,
he would think he was seeing things. When the dog was content to
continue on, Trevor allowed her to lead the way. He looked
backwards several times, feeling as if someone was watching him. If
the text and random photos were any indication, someone had been
watching him.

No longer feeling safe, Trevor was ready to
head back to New Atlanta and talk to Dante. Hopefully he and his
badass club could protect Trevor.

Frey was getting anxious. He was ready for
Abbi to be finished with school so he could take her to the
community center. They had discussed his presence in her classroom
and decided it was best if he waited in the empty room next door. A
man his size could intimidate adults, not to mention small
children. It was a little past three, and Dane had called letting
him know Quinn didn’t show up for work. He had called the
dispatcher, claiming to be sick. Protocol dictated he call his
immediate supervisor. When he didn’t do that, Dane and Kaya knew he
didn’t plan on coming back to work.

What was going through the human’s mind? How
did he plan on getting out of the mess he was in? Victoria had been
waiting at the precinct, but since Troy hadn’t shown, she was going
to have one of his fellow officers serve him with the divorce
papers. Normally, she used a specific civil servant unit for that,
but they felt Troy would be more inclined to talk to one of his
officer buddies. Soon, Troy would find out his marriage was over.
With him assaulting Matthew the way he had, Quinn had to know it
was over anyway.

Abbi texted Frey when she was on her way
outside. He parked next to the walkway and opened the door for her.
She climbed in, smiling. “Hey,” she said breathily. Good gods, she
couldn’t do that to him.

“
Hey yourself,” he said as
he pulled the truck away from the building. “How was your
day?”

“
Good for the most part.
I’m just worried about Amelia. You remember her, the little girl
from the sporting goods store?”

Of course he remembered. The little girl
stole his heart when she told Abbi she loved her. He had the
feeling she didn’t feel the same way about her mother. “Sure, cute
little girl.”

“
Yeah, well she wasn’t at
school today.”

“
Is she sick? She didn’t
look sick yesterday.”

“
Exactly. She misses a lot
of school, and it’s usually when her mother is on a bender. It
breaks my heart that kids have to put up with their parents’
addictions when life is hard enough on them as it is. She should be
loved and nurtured, not shoved in a corner and
forgotten.”

Frey could tell Abbi loved the little girl.
She probably loved all her kids, but her heart was in her voice
when she spoke of Amelia. He didn’t have it in him to share what
Dane suspected about the little girl. Neither did he want Abbi to
know of the pitiful home conditions the child endured. How would
she feel about the child if the girl turned out to actually be
Troy’s? Would she still open her heart to a child her husband had
with another woman when she herself couldn’t carry a baby to term?
Or would she embrace the child more knowing Amelia had no chance in
hell at being loved otherwise? Knowing Abbi’s heart, it would be
the latter.

“
Let’s hope she is okay
and will be back to school tomorrow.” Frey reached for her hand,
entwining their fingers. “Dane called. Troy didn’t show up for
work, and he still hasn’t been located. Victoria is going to have
one of his fellow officers serve him the papers. Hopefully, that
will bring him out of hiding and they will arrest him.”

“
I just want all of this
to be over with so I can move on with my life. I hate looking over
my shoulder all the time.”

Frey squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to
worry about that now. I’ve got your back. As long as you do what I
ask you to and be smart about your surroundings, we’ve got you
covered.” Abbi nodded and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. He
wanted to erase all the pain and doubt in her heart. He wanted the
smile she gave him when she first got in the truck, before she had
time to think about the bad things in her life.

When they arrived at the community center,
Frey accompanied Abbi to her classroom, making sure it was empty.
He left her to do what she needed to do to prepare for the kids. He
made himself scarce, hiding out in the empty room next to hers. One
by one the students arrived. Most of the parents left their kids,
but there were a few of the moms who sat on the side of the room,
watching their little one dance. Abbi went through some warmups
before getting into the lesson. All of the kids in her class went
to the school where she taught, and they would be part of the fall
festival.

Once the music started, Frey couldn’t stay
put. He made sure nobody was around, and he stood in the shadow of
the hall as Abbi showed the children their dance steps. Soon, her
studio at home would be finished, and Frey would have the pleasure
of watching her dance all the time. He would do what he needed to
convince her to dance again. As she smiled at each of the children
when they did something right, or even when they got the steps
wrong, his soul reached out to the heavens and did something he’d
never done before. He prayed for himself. Frey prayed that he would
one day have the privilege of seeing Abbi teach their child how to
dance.

The time flew by, and soon Abbi was telling
the kids she would see them the following day. Since they were all
in the festival, Abbi had changed the practice schedule to every
day instead of three days a week. Frey hid until all the kids had
been picked up. Amelia was among the kids, so Frey had to wonder
why she hadn’t been in school. He waited for her mother, but saw a
stranger walking with both Amelia and another child.

Once Abbi was alone, Frey walked into her
classroom. If there weren’t other people in different areas of the
building, he would ask her to dance for him. Since they weren’t
alone, he didn’t risk it, because when she started dancing, he
would want to grab her and kiss her. Kissing would lead to
touching, and touching would lead to fucking. No, not fucking. Not
with Abbi. They would make love. Even if they got down and dirty,
it would always be making love.

On the way home, Abbi was quiet. Frey could
feel the turmoil within her. “Abbi,” he reached for her hand. “I
saw Amelia. Did she say where she was today?”

Abbi responded without looking at him, “She
said her mother was sick and couldn’t take her to school.” Frey let
it go, but he was pretty sure there was more to it than that.

When they got out of the truck, Frey offered
to carry Abbi’s bags, but she took them instead. He really needed
to figure out what was going on with her. They walked into the
kitchen just as Jasper and Matt had finished eating. Jasper had
their supper warming in the oven. He stood and put his and Matt’s
plates in the dishwasher. “I have some work to do, and I have
training in the morning. Mason will be here before you take Abbi to
the school, and then I’ll relieve him later,” Jasper told Frey as
soon as they walked in the door.

“
I thought you were on
leave,” Matthew said as he gingerly stood up from the kitchen
table.

“
I have Amazon work to
tend to,” Jasper joked.

“
Ahh, fighting the good
fight,” Matthew responded. He had no idea how close to the truth he
was.

Abbi put her bags down in the living room
and returned to the kitchen. “What kind of training do you have?”
she asked as she cocked her head sideways looking at Jasper.

Jasper looked to Frey for help, so Frey
answered for him, “He has sword training. The badass club we belong
to believes in being prepared for any type of assault.”

Abbi rolled her eyes. “It’s the Amazon club,
and whatever.”

“
I want to watch,” Matt
told Jasper. Everyone looked at each other, but he continued, “I
would love to get out of the house. If you don’t mind, I’d like to
ride with you and watch.”

“
It’s fine by me if Jas
doesn’t mind swinging by to get you. That would save Mason a trip.”
Frey was going to tell Matthew about the Stone Society as soon as
he cleared it with Rafael. The Goyles didn’t phase during training,
so it should be okay for Matt to go with Jasper.

“
Yeah, sure. I’ll pick you
up at seven-thirty.” Jasper shook hands with the men, fisted his
heart to Abbi, and said his goodbyes.

“
Is he really going to
train with a sword?” Abbi asked incredulously.

“
Yes, he really is.” Frey
let it go. If Abbi had questions, she would ask. If she didn’t,
well, she would eventually find out what was going on. He grabbed
two plates from the cabinet and handed one to her. “This smells
delicious,” he said as he removed a casserole dish from the oven
while Abbi reheated the green beans in the microwave.

“
I’m telling you, Jasper
would make a great husband. He can cook, he’s got really great
toys, and he’s funny,” Matt extolled the qualities of his new
friend.

Abbi laughed, “It sounds like you’re a
little smitten with him.”

“
Nah, he’s got his heart
set on Trevor. I hope for both their sakes, Trevor gets his head
out of his ass and comes back. I hate seeing Jasper
sad.”

Again, Frey didn’t miss the fact that
Matthew didn’t deny his feelings for Jas. “Matthew, can I ask you a
very personal question?”

“
Sure,” he said as he
grabbed a dinner roll out of the basket.

“
If Jasper didn’t want
Trevor, would you be interested in him?”

“
Well, he is hot, if you
like redheads. But he’s too old for me. Besides, I prefer blonds.”
He stuck the roll in his mouth, tearing off a huge chunk. “Do you
have a problem with that?” he asked around the bite of bread in his
mouth.

Frey took a beer out of the fridge and sat
down at the table. “Not at all. I want you to be happy, even if
that means you’re going to deprive yourself of the possibility of a
great relationship because you won’t consider a man with brown
hair.” Frey wiggled his eyebrows at Matt. “Please pass me a roll.”
The teen grabbed bread from the basket and threw it, grimacing
after. Without thinking, Frey caught the roll with his shifter
speed.

“
Holy crap,” Abbi gasped.
“That was… You
are
an Amazon. You all are. Tell me I’m not crazy,
Geoffrey.”

“
You’re not crazy. I just
have quick reflexes. It comes from years and years of training.
Please pass the green beans,” he hoped she would drop it. When Frey
stuck Matthew’s thrown roll in his mouth, Matthew grinned and
grabbed another one.

“
You really should wait
until you’re healed before you try out for the baseball
team.”

“
Tell me about it. This
sucks donkey balls.”

“
Matthew Swanson!” Abbi
chastised him.

“
Sorry, Abs. Amazons are a
bad influence on an impressionable young man.”

Frey coughed to keep from choking on the
bread he’d been swallowing. He sat the beans down and really
laughed. He couldn’t help it. Matthew was witty and funny, and Frey
never wanted the kid to move out. Abbi pointed her fork at Frey.
“Don’t encourage him,” she said, trying to hide a smile.

Frey gave Matthew his homework before he and
Abbi cleaned the kitchen in companionable silence. While Abbi
worked on the festival, Frey excused himself and headed out to the
garage for some privacy. He called Rafael for an update on the
construction. They talked about Dante and his new family as well as
Kaya’s last day at the precinct. When they got to the subject of
training, Frey admitted about Matthew seeing the basketball
scrimmage. “Rafe, I screwed up, but the boy’s going to be my
family. He will eventually learn what we are, so, if you have no
objection, I’d like to be honest with him.”

“
Dante and I had the same
discussion regarding Trevor. He is Jasper’s mate as well as Dante’s
assistant. He will have to know sooner rather than later, and Dante
feels he can shed a little light on Jasper’s predicament by telling
him the truth of our kind. As long as the boy is trustworthy and
can keep our secret, I have no objection.”