Tough Love

Chapter One Hundred Ten

Chapter One Hundred Ten

Eli

It's close to midnight when I arrive back at my parent's house. My pops is sitting in the kitchen at the breakfast bar when I go in for a snack.

I smile at him, "Hey pops."

"Hey son. Did you finish packing everything up?"

"Yes sir. It's all ready for the removal company tomorrow. I'll be glad to get into the new house. It'll be a new start. Something we're long overdue."

He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. Something is wrong. My thoughts are only confirmed when he runs his hands through his hair.

"What's wrong, dad?"

He sighs, "She knows."

"Knows?"

I'm guessing he means Dani, but he could mean that my ma knows about Dani's past.

"Dani. She knows what you're working on. She's scared."

I let out a deep breath.

"I know. I've known for a few days."

"And you haven't said anything to her?"

"I didn't want to confirm or deny anything. I don't want her to worry about it. We've got it covered. We're taking extra precautions. It should be done in the next week or so."

"You need to tell her this. She's really frightened, Eli. She thinks they're going to do horrible things to you and then kill you."

"My team will be there. Actually, both teams from our precinct will be there. Greggson will have a team there too. I'll have a truck load of backup. It's not like I'm going in alone."

"You need to talk to her about this. She needs to hear that you're being extra careful. She knows better than anyone what these people are capable of, and that's feeding her fears."

"I don't want to bring all of her memories up, pops. She's been doing so well lately and I don't want to ruin that."

"I think you'll find it's already ruined. The fact that she's worrying about this has her mind in overdrive, I'm sure. I don't think you discussing it will make it any worse for her. In fact, it might actually lessen her fears about you getting hurt. She actually admitted that she's scared of losing you. She told me that outright."

"Really?"

He nods. Wow, Dani must really be scared to admit something like that to my pops. She struggles with affection and speaking things like that to anyone, including me.