Rescuing Emily (Delta Force Heroes Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

situation. I’ll see you later.”
    Fletch mentally rolled his eyes at her offer. It was sweet, but there was no way he’d ask her to do manual labor. She could look after his house when he was on a mission, but other than that, there wasn’t much needing to be done that he couldn’t do himself.
    “Okay. See you later.”
    Fletch closed his front door and heard her car start up, complete with the muffler backfiring. After turning on the security monitor, he watched as her car backed out of his driveway and disappeared onto the road next to his house. He picked up the piece of paper with Emily’s information on it and called Tex. He was ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure Emily was just who she said she was, and what she looked like—a woman who was down on her luck and wanted a quiet place for her and her daughter to live.
    Suddenly, he was looking forward to meeting her daughter. From the little bit Emily had said, she sounded precocious and fun. Fletch hadn’t ever really thought about having children, or even been around many, but it occurred to him that it might be fun to teach a child things like how a garage door opener worked.
    As far as he was concerned, the sooner Emily and Annie moved in, the better he’d feel. They’d be safe in the small apartment above his garage. He’d make sure of it.

Chapter 2
    “ W hatcha doin ’?”
    The question came from behind Fletch, and wasn’t all that surprising. He’d been working on the vintage 1968 Dodge Charger all that week, and he’d seen the little girl peeking in on him every afternoon. But it wasn’t until today that she’d gathered up the courage to talk to him.
    The signed lease agreement had been stuck inside the storm door of his house the day after he’d met with Emily. He’d left a key under the mat, as he told her he would, and given her his extra garage door opener as well. She’d moved in one day while he’d been on the base. Fletch had planned to help her, but she either didn’t have that much stuff, or she’d gotten assistance from someone else, because when he’d knocked on her door to make sure she’d gotten moved in all right, she’d opened it a crack, leaving the chain on the door, and told him everything was perfect.
    Fletch had let her be. He’d gotten the locks updated on the small apartment, wanting to make sure Emily and her daughter felt secure. He’d added a new deadbolt as well as two chains on the door. One was around Emily’s eye level, and the other was three feet from the floor. Fletch wasn’t sure why he’d thought about putting in the second lock so low, but he supposed it was the thought of the single mother being alone in the little apartment, and wanting her daughter to be able to lock the door as well.
    Without looking up, Fletch continued to work on the engine. He was leaning over the car, changing the spark plug wires. “I’m trying to fix this old car.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I want it to work again.”
    “Why?”
    “Why not?”
    “Because it’s old. You can go buy a new one.”
    “Why would I want to buy a new one when I have a perfectly good car right here?”
    “I don’t think this one is perfectly good.”
    Fletch couldn’t really argue with the little girl. He had a lot of work to do on the Charger before it’d be street-ready again. He looked over at her. “Annie, right?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Sometimes old isn’t a bad thing.” Fletch could see Annie digesting his words.
    “Someday I’m gonna own stuff that isn’t old.”
    Fletch felt his gut clench, but Annie continued before he could examine her words or his feelings.
    “Can I help?”
    “You want to help with my car?”
    “Uh-huh. Mommy says I’m a good helper.”
    Fletch stood up from under the hood of the car and looked at Annie carefully. She was wearing a pair of jeans that were just a tad bit too short for her. He could see white socks and a well-worn pair of sneakers on her feet. She was wearing a black T-shirt that hung