She’d drifted off, poor kid. Carl shot a quick look at Annie as she slept pressed against the window of his car. How much she’d reminded him of his daughter all those years ago struck him.
The pang of losing Kami would never lessen. Nor of losing Kyle, his son. Five years had passed between the loss of his daughter and that of his son. In the thirteen years since, Carl would like to think he had healed a bit. Made a difference in the world in their honor.
He had devoted himself to Jason. And to Jennifer.
A pang of longing for her went through him.
It had been far too long since he’d seen her, though it had just been the day before. He needed the comfort of having her in his arms. How close Turner had come to losing this girl tonight hadn’t been lost on anyone.
Turner was a lucky man to have the woman beside Carl. She understood him.
She could have pressed to go with Turner tonight, but she’d trusted him to do what he needed to do. Carl had been wise to what she was thinking. What Turner had been thinking, too.
He’d wanted to protect her from the ugliness of what was happening in their world now.
Annie had known enough to let him.
Now it was Carl’s job to see to it that she stayed safe until she could return to Turner. Maybe it was old-fashioned of him, but he was going to see to it that the girl stayed as safe as he possibly could.
Turner had let it slip that she wasn’t close to her mother and had no father in the picture to speak of. Had told Carl that she hadn’t had much family at all. It made Carl even more protective.
Annie was too damned young to be so alone.
“Annie, time to wake up. We’re here.”
Carl shot a quick look around the front of the house. Everything looked exactly as he’d left it. He’d take Annie inside and keep her safe until Turner came for her. It was the least he could do for the two of them.