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There was a few seconds of silence, then Ville was back. “She’s on her way. What’s up? Over.”

“Minor situation Bodhi needs to handle. Abi has the cooler head. Someone needs to be escorted off the property. Over.”

“Roger that. Abi will report in after. Over and out.”

I did not miss Wren’s smirk. I narrowed my gaze as I took the two-way back. “Listen, you didn’t need to do that. I can handle it.”

Wren stepped into my space and wrapped his arms around my waist, but he tilted his head back so he could keep my gaze. “Let Abi handle the removal. Just point her out and stand back. Please. For me.”

“You’ll go to the barn?” I asked, just as Abi arrived. She took everything in, but didn’t say anything.

“Yes. Thank you.” Wren gave me a quick hug and then stepped back, holding out a hand. “Come on, Ziggy. Tell me your favorite song.”

“Starman,” Shiloh crowed, taking Wren’s hand. I watched the little group walk off toward the barn, breathing a sigh of relief.

I first turned to Shannon and clapped a hand on his shoulder. I noticed David’s eyes were wide and Hayden was still tucked in close to his dad. “Take the little man to get hotdogs. I’m sure he’s hungry. I can hear his stomach growling.”

Hayden lifted his head so fast he nearly clocked his father in the chin. “Nu-uh!”

I laughed and nodded. The boy got indignant but then his stomach did let out a rumble and he started laughing so hard he nearly tipped out of his dad’s arms. Man, little kids had the best laughs. Shannon gave me a pointed look, but I just nodded to let him know everything was okay and they headed toward the correct food truck.

“Sitrep?” Abi asked.

I gave her a quick rundown. She nodded along, and I figured she at least had been apprised of the kid’s situation. I wasn’t surprised. Ville was thorough. As we headed toward the alcohol, I kept scanning, looking for the woman who should not be here.

I had really hoped she’d gotten herself into rehab, but I wasn’t surprised she hadn’t.

It only took a few minutes to spot her, leaning against one of the light poles. Since she was in a pool of light it was easy to see she had a wine slushie in one hand and a beer in the other. For fuck’s sake. She didn’t even notice as we approached.

When we were still a few feet away, Abi touched my arm and made the hand signal to wait. She clearly had a military background. The protector part of me wanted to ignore it, but I had enough sense to know I could make things worse if Laura saw me. So I hung back, ready to jump in if things got dicey.

Abi approached Laura, and they were just far enough away and their voices were low enough that with all the ambient crowd noises, I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Laura was clearly drunk, clearly protesting, but Abi was formidable and after a few minutes, Abi was leading Laura to the front entrance. I had no idea how Laura had arrived, if she had driven, but I was confident that Abi wouldn’t let her drive away.

I followed behind, keeping just enough distance, and then they stepped into the makeshift parking lot. I was about to follow when the two-way crackled to life.

“Ville to BH.”

I lifted it to my mouth. “Go for BH.”

“Situation is neutralized. Abi is driving her home. Over.”

I blew out a breath. “Thank you. Over and out.”

I had to stand there for a few minutes and let the emotions wash out of me. I’d been tense since meeting up with Wren, feeling the need to protect, and that had only ratcheted up when Shiloh had been scared. How dare she make him feel threatened in his home? But I wasn’t in a combat situation, no matter how I looked at the moment, and I needed to do some breathing exercises in order to get back to a civilian headspace.

When I was sure I was back on an even keel, I did an about face and headed toward my people. Only when I saw Wren and Shiloh safe would I be able to calm completely.

Chapter 12

Wren

Every time I touched Bodhi was so goddamn bittersweet. Even if it was in full costume just to hug him close to get my point across.

When Abi got there and Mal and I started to lead the boys away from the hubbub, I felt good about my decision to get her involved. Bodhi was a Marine, sure, but he was also incredibly protective of Shiloh and I didn’t need him doing the dirty work of removing that horrid woman off the premises. Abi was much better suited for the job.

Suddenly Shiloh tugged at my hand to get my attention.

“What’s up?” I asked, smiling at him as we walked.