BROKEN COURAGE (Broken Redemption Book 3)

Chapter 35

Lucas

"We've got something," Owen says as he enters the family room, where Mallory is sitting on my lap, engrossed in one of her TV shows.

"Here," Jenny offers, scooting closer from the other end of the couch. "I've got her."

The moment Mallory senses what's happening, she clings to my shirt and buries her little face against my chest. Though she's not crying, the soft, strained sounds she's making warn she's on the verge of yet another round of tears.

This is how it's been since we found her. Her attachment to me has increased tenfold since coming home from the hospital last night. Thankfully, an overnight stay is all it took for the doctors to confirm her injuries were minor—a tremendous relief for sure—but for every hour that's passed since, she's become increasingly agitated and anxious. The only time she seems to relax is when I'm holding her in my arms.

"Mally, sweetheart, listen to me, please." I wait for her to calm down before continuing. "I need for you to sit with your Aunt Jenny for a few minutes while I go talk to your uncles. I promise I won't be long."

"About Mama?" she asks, her big, sad eyes—the same whiskey-brown as her mother's—piercing right through me. She looks so much like Embree, it sometimes hurts to look at her.

"Yes, sweetheart. Will you stay with your Auntie Jenny until I get back?" Like she's satisfied with my answer, she nods and reaches for my sister, who pulls her onto her lap.

Though she's doing what I asked, I'm surprised by the sudden rush of anxiety that grips me at the thought of leaving her. I guess it's not just her struggling with separation anxiety; I'm feeling it too. The past two days have been the worst of my life, which is saying something considering all I've been through. Aside from not wanting to be apart from her, I'm also wrestling with how much information is too much for a four-year-old to handle.

At first, I tried to sugarcoat the situation, reassuring her she was safe and that everything would be alright. But after a while, it was like she could sense I wasn't being entirely truthful, which only made her more anxious and clingy. Her moods would fluctuate between times of quiet despondency to extreme stress, where she would collapse into a heap of four-year-old emotions at the smallest provocation, complete with inconsolable bouts of crying that could last for an hour or more.

Desperate to help her and at the suggestion of the psychologist on staff at the hospital, I began opening up to her a bit more. Talking about how much I missed her mom and sister. Letting her know I was scared too, but that her uncles and I were working really hard to find them so we could bring them home. To my surprise, talking about it seemed to put her little mind at ease, which is when I realized that despite being so young, her intuition and awareness of the world are far beyond her years.

"I'll be right back," I tell them, leaning down to plant a kiss on Mallory's little head. As I pull away, Jenny gives me a look filled with silent understanding.

Walking away from them, the ache inside my chest throbs that much harder. Not knowing where Embree and Alyssa are, or what's happened to them since they were taken, is suffocating. It's like a relentless pain with no relief, like a thirst that can't be quenched, like a boulder the size of the universe is sitting right on top of me, crushing my chest. And no matter how I try to fill my time, no matter how hard I try to push through it, there's just no end in sight. After every stone we've upturned, every lead we've chased down, the fact we're no closer to finding them is devastating.

In the control room, I close the door behind me, taking a moment to breathe in and out before turning around to face the team. Owen sits at the head of the small table, his eyes fixed on the laptop screen in front of him. To his left sits Zeb and then James. Pastor David is on his right. Nero nudges my hand in his familiar greeting, and I let the comfort of his presence wash over me.