Perpetual Devotion (Book 4 in the Original BOC Series) ✔

Chapter Three

"Romeo, what's your position? Over."

Graham's eyes were focused on his slow scan of the crowd, slowly raising his arm to press his fingers to the throat mic strapped around his neck. He paused a moment, watching the crowds of people cheering as the floats glided by at five miles per hour.

"This is Romeo. Located on Crimson Boulevard and Northrop. Over."

After a confirmation thanking him for his check-in, Graham was searching the crowd again in search of a particular dark haired pretty girl. He and his USWAT team had been placed in the middle of the mile road to be close by should the city's enforcement need assistance in securing the perimeter of the road the floats were parading.

The streets had been closed off for about a mile and the police department's head superior, Evan Rosenberg, had placed a few of his men at each post to keep anyone from going through the marked zones. Rosenberg's head of SWAT was given orders to be at the very end and beginning of the parade which gave Nathan the only option of patrolling up and down the mile-long perimeter for any suspicious activity.

Beforehand, Nathan had made it over to his family all gathered near the middle of where the parade would come by. He greeted the younger ones jumping up and down at the sight of him, and said his hellos to the rest of his family.

Nathan eagerly drifted his eyes to the two behind his family and his smile widened, making his way over to them.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" Mara smirked, raising a brow.

She stood in jean shorts, a blue t-shirt, and sandals that were fitting with the hot July summer day. Her arms crossed in front of her unfolded so that she could wrap her arms around Nathan's neck when he bent to kiss her.

Nathan nodded, "I am. But I had to make sure that you guys made it safely."

He looked at his son, ruffling the teenager's hair and commended him for taking care of his mother like he was asked. Arjen rolled his eyes, grinning it was only his responsibility when his father wasn't around.

"Got that right, kiddo."

Nathan wrapped an arm around his son to return the embrace, patting his shoulder as he looked up at Mara, his smile disappeared.

"Has Darla called yet?"

Since he ran into Sam and Graham earlier, Nathan had been awfully worried about his daughter. She was out at her art therapy sessions at the nearby Mental Health School, but was going to be traveling on her own to the parade. He'd offered to pick her up himself, but Darla stubbornly assured him that she'd been on the bus countless times and going on it again on the busiest day of the year wasn't going to be an issue.

"I'll be fine, daddy," she told him over the phone during a five minute break between her sessions. She'd told him that her session was going to be shortened today because of the celebration and that Darla would call when she was near.

Nathan sighed, covering his eyes with a hand and pouted as his daughter's sweet voice sang, "I love you!"

He nodded, returning the phrase of endearment before they said their goodbyes.

Now it was an hour after Darla had last called to say that she was on her way and Nathan was getting worried. It didn't take that long for her to get from the therapist's office to downtown. He knew because he'd calculated it himself. And it worried him the most that Darla was unchaperoned because of the paranoia branded inside him for the past thirteen years.

Mara pursed her mouth to the side, shaking her head and her blue eyes now starting to take on his worried glaze. She bit her thumbnail, pulling her crossed arms tightly to herself as Mara looked around the crowded area in search of her eighteen year old. It didn't help that Darla had the misfortune of inheriting her mother's height, making it so much harder to see her with all the people around.