“No!” Christopher said sharply – and Laura knew that she was right.
Something here was very, very wrong.
CHAPTER FOUR
Laura’s hand formed into a fist on the countertop, her mind ready to reach for her gun. Not that it was necessary, not right now – and besides, she was off duty, not even wearing it. But she was angry. She’d almost been fooled. She’d really started to think that Christopher Fallow could be genuine.
He sighed, the sharpness going out of his face. “Sorry, sweetie, but we talked about this,” he said, focusing on Amy. “Not until the fence has been put in around the pool, okay? I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’ve got to stay inside unless I’m with you.”
“Then let’s all go outside,” Amy said. She seemed to have recovered a little. Laura noticed how she’d shrunk down at his sharp word, like she was bracing for the hit. Her voice still trembled slightly, pleading rather than suggesting.
The only thing was, she couldn’t tell whether that was a learned reflex because of her father, or whether the girl had come to expect it from Christopher as well.
“In a little bit,” Christopher said, glancing at Laura. “Actually, I wanted to talk to Laura about some… some grown-up stuff. Why don’t you play in your room for a little bit? You can take your juice with you.”
“Okay,” Amy said, getting down from her stool. She was obedient, not even sulking. It was like she’d learned to accept being told to go away, rather than getting hit or shouted at, as the best option. It still made Laura’s heart break every time she saw a new sign of the damage that had been done to the beautiful, sweet little child. She shouldn’t have had to go through any of that.
It wasn’t until Amy was out of the room completely, her tiny footsteps disappearing up the stairs, that Christopher seemed to sag.
In front of Laura’s eyes, he dropped the charming and friendly smile, the almost fatherly look – the one that just seemed to need a little more practice – and leaned against the counter as if he needed the support. When he looked up at her again, he seemed tired, drained. Barely holding it together.
“Christopher?” Laura asked, prompting him, but also with some concern. The man looked like he was about to fall down.
“Sorry,” he said, running a hand over his face. “God, I’m just… I’m so scared something’s going to happen to her.”
Laura found herself blinking. “What?”
He gestured around, presumably at the house in general. “It’s just… not child-proof. At all. The whole place. After I agreed to take her on, at first, I was just thinking about making sure she would be happy again. Getting her to school, making sure I had childcare covered while I was at work, that kind of stuff. But then I found this article about child-proofing your home and I just… do you know how many things there are that could hurt a child in a kitchen alone?”
Laura felt like she was on the back foot. This wasn’t what she had been expecting him to say after sending Amy upstairs. Maybe some polite but thinly veiled threat about leaving them alone. An attempt to reassure her that he was going to look after her and she didn’t need to check up on them again. Even an outright charm offensive.
But not this.
“Yes, I do,” Laura said, as evenly as she could. “I have a daughter around Amy’s age, myself.”
“You do?” Christopher’s eyes seemed to light up with hope. “Oh, God, please help me. I don’t know if I’m doing anything right. Will you just… will you take a look around with me? Just see if anything stands out to you? And… her toys and her clothes and all that stuff. I went to the store and just asked them to give me everything a six-year-old girl might need, no expense spared. I have no idea if they gave me everything or just ripped me off.”
Laura held up a hand, trying to slow his rapid babbling. “Christopher?” she said, hoping it would get his attention and make him focus.
“Chris,” he said, like it was an automatic reflex. “Sorry. I hate my full name. Always makes me feel like I’m being summoned by my dad.”
“Chris,” Laura said, keeping her tone the same. “Just slow down. Making a child happy is not about buying them everything under the sun.”
“I know that,” he said, nodding glumly into his coffee cup. “I just… I don’t know what else to do. She’s been through so much. How am I supposed to make her feel safe, now? After what my brother did… I just can’t even stomach the thought of it.”
“You make her feel safe by showing her that she is safe,” Laura said. She glanced down at the counter for a minute, considering her next words, before looking up at him again frankly. “And by showing me. Because if I get even a hint of concern that things aren’t right here, I’m not going to hesitate.”
“No,” Chris said, seemingly in full agreement. “No, you shouldn’t. But I’m not going to… I mean… I’m not John.” He said the last words with what seemed like some difficulty, having to swallow around a lump in his throat.
“I will hold you to that,” Laura said, making sure he kept eye contact, that he saw how serious she was.
And, totally unexpectedly, he smiled.
He wasn’t a bad-looking man, Chris Fallow. And when he smiled like that, it transformed him. Made him charming and handsome and erudite. It was the kind of smile you’d want to take home to meet your parents. But Laura wasn’t going to let her guard down just because of a smile like that.
“I’m glad,” he said. “Because I was going to ask you for your help.”
“My help?” Laura frowned.