Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“So he is your dad.” The accusation is vicious, and I probably should say something else to temper it, but I don’t want to. I want it to sting.
“No.” Her pink hair flips wildly as she shakes her head hard. “He is not my father, not my dad, not my anything. I don’t care what some piece of paper they signed says. I told the judge I didn’t want that, but they kept telling me it would be good for me. They were wrong, so wrong.”
She’s ranting like I have any idea what she’s talking about, but none of that matters. Not now, it doesn’t. “Okay, that was a long time ago. What happened that led to his busting through my door tonight?”
I’ve seen the video now. I watched as Austin stood on my porch, waiting for someone to answer the doorbell. It was Riley, but it just as easily could’ve been Grace.
It could’ve been Grace that he pushed the door against, Grace fighting to close the door to keep the intruder out, Grace losing that battle as he forced his way inside. It could’ve been my daughter facing down that threatening asshole.
Goddammit.
Bile rises up in my throat and my heart beats faster, pounding in my ears.
“He shows up sometimes. I think it’s a fucked-up game to him. Like hide and seek or something. He gets some sick joy out of my reaction when he pops up someplace unexpected and I freeze. He enjoys putting that seed of fear in my head, keeping me looking over my shoulder. I used to think he wanted me running because, in his mind, he thought I’d eventually run back to him. Now, I think it’s just a game to him. Like poking the bear with a stick. It’s fun for him… until the bear bites.”
I think in this scenario, Riley is supposed to be the bear. But she doesn’t seem very formidable right now. She seems… tired.
I grind my teeth, my eyes unstaring at the wall across the room. “He’s done this before?”
“Not this,” she corrects. “Mostly, he shows up wanting money and tries to manipulate me into giving it to him with sob stories about the foster kids in his care. But even if I gave him every penny I have, those kids would never see any of it. It’s not about the money, not really. It’s the power he wants… power over me, power to take all the things that bring me joy away from me so that I’m just as miserable as he is because he wants me to remember that I don’t matter to anyone.”
“Have you seen him lately?”
He’s been out there, stalking her for nearly ten years, and she didn’t say a word. But I want to know. Did she know this could happen? That he was here, this close to her? This close to Grace.
“I saw him at the grocery store the other day. It was nothing. He didn’t even ask for money. He was just letting me know that he’d found me. I figured that’d be it for a while, especially with how far away he lives. Obviously, I was wrong.” She shivers like a cold chill is going through her.
“You saw him and didn’t say anything? To me? To Cole?”
Because I haven’t forgotten that Cole knew all this too. It wasn’t just Riley hiding this from me.
She shakes her head. “I was figuring it out. I always have before, and Cole’s been checking on the kids for me since I got here. That was why I called him in the first place. I needed his help to make sure they were okay. I can handle Austin.” She sighs and then whispers, “I thought I could handle him.”
The truth in that statement is heavy. She tried to do this on her own, the way she apparently has always done. And it could’ve destroyed everything.
“This is what you were talking about when you pinky promised that you were safe and that Grace was safe with you, isn’t it? And the whole time, you knew this could happen.” My voice is hard, the words sharp.
Her breath stutters. “Cameron—”
“You. Knew!” I roar, standing up. I’m looming over her, and she shrinks into the couch, into the blanket, hiding behind her tea. But I can’t care.
I could’ve lost Grace. And it would’ve been Riley’s fault.
No. It would’ve been my fault for letting Riley in. I knew better. I shouldn’t distract my focus from Grace. She’s it. Singularly, the most important thing in my world, and yet, I brought in the biggest danger she’s ever known… not Austin. Riley.
“I never thought he would do something like this,” she shouts back. “Who would’ve thought…” She waves her hand toward the formal living room, or maybe the front door. “That?”
“What if you’d been out with Grace? What if she’d been at the grocery store with you? What if she’d been the one to answer the door today?”