MC: Moniz: Book 9 by L. Ann Marie

again. I have concerns about that.’
    ‘I’ve never seen him cry. For some reason she’s affecting him more than the other things he sees. He helped with Diego. He kept telling me ‘like Diego’ when we got to Marty and again with Aubrey.’
    ‘I don’t know what to do. I want to help him deal with this but I don’t know where to get help with this one. CJ is nervous because Christian is shutting down and Jeremy is crying.’
    Janelle is the parapsychologist we used for Tess and Christian but she’s so far removed she wouldn’t be any help now. Kate gets kids but doesn’t get all the vision shit. The kids have always been the best at answering for the others. ‘Ask him? At the worst you get nothing. Maybe Jacob knows. I know why he was crying the first time. Jacob was going to be taken and he couldn’t change that.’
    ‘There are times when I wish he could just talk. His head is in perpetual orbit.’
    I look at him. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Everything moves so fast. He isn’t ever thinking of one thing or if he is it’s hidden under layers of shit.’ He looks frustrated. ‘I think he doesn’t talk because it all moves too fast. I don’t know how he gets through a day.’
    ‘Your dad catches for him maybe he knows.’
    He laughs. ‘He’s almost as bad as Jeremy. I’m going to ask Danny. Maybe he can point me in the right direction.’
    My head flashes with Aubrey a couple of years older. She’s laughing running in the sand. Jacob and Jeremy are chasing her laughing. “Holy fuck.” I look at her. “You need to cool it with the flashes.”
    “Okay Geek. The men aren’t here for me right?”
    I hold her tighter. “No one here is going to hurt you.” I’m talking to her but I’m looking at Little Ben.
    He signs, ‘Jeremy will be back. Jacob said maybe later or tomorrow.’ I nod.
    Danny comes in and my cling-on holds me tight. This has got to stop. “Aubrey this is my friend Danny. He helps make kids stronger. He has a bunch that he helps. You said Ally talked to you. This is her dad.”
    She sits up and looks at him. “You know Ally?” He laughs. “She’s my daughter. I brought her today. She’s going to help watch you and Harley. Harley is my granddaughter, Blaze’s best friend, that means I’m her dad’s dad.”
    She watches him make a coffee. When he sits she surprises us. “You don’t hurt kids you help them?”
    He smiles and nods. “Every chance I get. I help anyone that can’t help themselves.”
    She looks at Little Ben. “You help people too like you helped me so I could sleep?”
    He nods. “We take care of our own. That means when you come to us you belong to us. We take care of you from then on. Remember what I said last night?”
    “You always take care of your girls. I’m a your girls?”
    Danny laughs. “Definitely one of ours.”
    “That means we take care of you. We protect you and make sure you don’t ever see the bad people again.”
    Faces flash through my fuckin’ head. Fuck! Little Ben grabs my arm. When she hits on a familiar face my breath catches. “Fuck!”
    He squeezes my arm. “Keep it together Brother. You can take this for her. It will give her peace.”
    I clench my jaw and breathe deep. I hope she lets them all out and want her to stop all at the same time.
    The doorbell goes off and it stops the fuckin’ slideshow of pussies running through my head. Danny goes to the door and I’m trying to stop shaking and breathe. Little Ben takes Aubrey. “Take a minute Brother. Calm down and catch your breath. You’re needed for what she has next.”
    “Right.” I walk out the garage door and punch the first wall I see. Fuckin’ bastards. I lean my head on the wall and breathe. She needs a better fuckin’ Brother than me. Why the hell is she stuck to me? I take a breath and push the anger away. I need to be there for her.
    Walking back in I see Samantha sitting by Little Ben. He has Aubrey on his lap and it doesn’t look like she’s