“Thanks.” She smiles sadly, like she doesn’t believe me, then lays back down. I wonder how many people in her life have made promises they later reneged on. Any more than zero is too damn many. I make a silent promise, right here and now, to protect McKenzie with everything I’ve got.
True to her word, she falls asleep within minutes.
Downstairs, in the dark, I bring the damp towels to my nose. Beneath the clean scent of soap, I pick out McKenzie’s natural fragrance, holding a trace of her essence inside me since I can’t hold onto her.
Before I settle down on the couch, I load a round into the chamber on my Glock, then set the gun within reach on the coffee table.
I pray the cops catch the psychopath who raped and murdered those girls, I do. But fuck if I don’t want to be the one to put him down. After the way he terrorized McKenzie, and the things he planned to do... I crack my knuckles to keep my hands nimble and loose.
Let the bastard try to take her from this house.
He’ll have to go through me first.