Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            “Of course I did. I promised Abigail that I’d be here to help her pick her new glasses.” But also to help protect Mercy and the little girl, because their lives were in danger every time they left the safety of their house. “Besides, I need a new pair of frames.” She dug her glasses from her handbag and held them up. “These are . . .”

            “Ugly?” Abigail offered over her shoulder, an impish grin on her face.

            “Abigail!” Mercy scolded, but Liza laughed.

            “Very ugly,” she agreed. “Military issue. I can’t believe I waited this long to replace them.”

            “Because you can wear contact lenses,” Abigail groused. “I wish I could have contacts, too.”

            “When you’re older,” Mercy promised. “Which I hope doesn’t happen for a while.”

            Abigail shot her stepsister a look that was far too wise for a girl of seven. “Because you want me to be a normal kid.”

            Liza’s heart contracted painfully, but before she could say a word, Mercy was on her knees in front of Abigail, hands on the little girl’s shoulders. Amos had been a stepfather to Mercy and was Abigail’s father in fact. Liza didn’t think Mercy could have loved the child any more if they had been sisters by blood.

            “You are a normal kid,” Mercy assured her. “I want you to be a happy kid. And a safe kid.”

            “I am happy.” Abigail’s eyes brightened. “I’d be happier with contact lenses.”

            Mercy chuckled and pulled her close for a hug. “The doctor said to wait until you’re ten.”

            “But you have them. And so does Liza.”

            “We’re older than ten,” Liza said. “By quite a bit.”

            Abigail sighed heavily. “But ten . . . That’s forever.”

            “I hope so,” Mercy murmured. “You have a lot of fun to catch up on.” She rose to her feet. “But right now, we’re shopping for new glasses. I can’t believe you managed as well as you have without them all this time.”

            Abigail shrugged. “Nobody back home had glasses except for the really old people.”

            Back home. Eden.

            Liza could see the sudden tension in Mercy’s shoulders. And, apparently, so could Abigail, because the child flinched. “I mean back there, Mercy. Home is here. With Papa and you and Rafe and Miss Irina and Mr. Karl.” She lowered her eyes, studying the floor. “I’m sorry.”

            Mercy’s sigh was quiet as she tilted Abigail’s chin up, cupping the child’s cheek in her palm. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m just so very glad you’re here with me, and that your papa is here, too. I hate to think about the people you left behind, that’s all.”

            “But you’ll find them, right?” She glanced over at Liza. “Right?”

            “Agent Hunter will,” Liza said confidently. She’d given up hope on her own relationship with Tom, but when it came to his single-minded focus in finding Eden, she had no doubts. “Come on. Let’s pick out some kicka—um, kickbutt glasses. I need your fashion sense, Shrimpkin.”

            Abigail snickered. “You can say ‘kickass’ around me, Liza. I’m seven.”

            “I think I can’t.” Liza chuckled. “Miss Irina would send me to bed without dessert.”

            Abigail exaggerated a shudder. “That would be awful! We’ll get kickbutt glasses.” She returned to her study of the kids’ frames.

            Liza followed, looking over her shoulder to the optometrist’s glass door. The Fed who’d been assigned to protect Mercy was standing guard outside. Rodriguez was armed and experienced and took his duty very seriously.

            He’d chosen this optometrist because it wasn’t in the mall, which offered too many points of egress to cover adequately. This office had only two doors—the front door and one in the back, which was locked and alarmed. Liza wasn’t crazy about the wall of plate glass windows in the front, but it was covered by promotional displays, so that would have to be good enough.