stood on end. I heard some muffled sounds on the other end of the line, but then Skyler popped back on, her voice sounding sadder than I’d ever heard it before.
“Daddy wants to talk to you,” Skyler said, and my heart dropped.
“Okay, sweetie. Put him on the line,” I said. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Mommy.”
She barely got the words out before Greg swiped the phone away from her. He simply said, “Dani.”
“Greg.”
“Skyler wanted to talk to you.”
“Well, thank you for letting her call me.”
“I know it must be hard for her to be away from her mom. She’ll have to get used it.” My heart jumped. He quickly added, “I will be seeking more time with my daughter, I hope you know.”
“We’ll see what the courts have to say.”
I was tense. It was beginning already. I could hear the way he spoke to her, the way he commanded her to do what he said instead of being patient with her. Maybe if it had been any other man, I would have given him the benefit of the doubt, but Greg thought of people in his life as possessions and had to control everything. He’d talked to me the same way, and once I started defying him, things got ugly.
“You won’t be hearing from us again, since it’s my time with her,” Greg said.
A knot formed in my throat. The idea of my daughter not being able to reach me when she needed me filled me with dread, but what could I do?
“Please let Skyler call me if—”
“It’s my time with her, dammit. There’s no court order stating she must be able to call you, Dani. The girl needs to learn to live without you.”
My insides felt empty and cold. “She will always have me.”
“Goodbye, Dani,” Greg said haughtily.
“We’ll see you on Sund—.”
He hung up before I could finish.
Mason must have sensed something was wrong, and he wrapped his strong arms around me, holding me close.
“We have to get custody of her,” I whimpered.
“We will, Danielle. I promise you, we will.”
Mason
After a romantic week in the mountains, it was hard to return to reality. Sunday approached, and even though we hadn’t heard anything from Greg or Skyler since the first day, we were at the ice cream shop in Liberty as previously discussed.
The ice cream shop seemed like the best, most neutral place to meet. It was in public, so no issues with Greg causing Danielle any trouble. And then we’d grab some of their favorite ice cream before going back home.
“Where are they?” Danielle muttered, snuggled up beside me.
“It’s just now one o’clock,” I said.
“Greg is never late, though.” She nibbled on her nail and began scrolling through her phone, checking the time every two seconds.
“The roads are pretty bad. It’s possible he’s just going slow,” I said.
A few more minutes went by, and she straightened up to look out the window of the shop at a passing car. “I thought that was him, but it’s not. I think I better call him.”
She pressed some buttons on her phone and held it to her ear. Her jaw fell and her hands began shaking. “No, that can’t be right.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It said his number has been disconnected, but it can’t be—” She tried it again, and I swear, her face turned as white as the snow outside. “It still says disconnected.”
I took the phone from her hand and double checked that she had called Greg’s number. His name was in her call log. Even though I believed her, I tried it again, just to be sure and to hear the message. It specifically said the number had been disconnected.
Danielle was already out of the booth and on her feet, pacing the ice cream parlor. “What am I going to do? Should I call the cops?’
“Yes, call the police,” I said. “Is there anyone else you can call? His brother, maybe?”
“Yes, his brother. Let me have my phone back.” Danielle called and waited for what felt like an eternity. “Hi, Tony? It’s Danielle. I’m trying to reach Greg, but his phone is disconnected. He was supposed to drop off Skyler today…” Danielle slipped into a chair nearby, her entire body shaking as her jaw nearly hit the table. “Are—are you sure?”
Her voice was pitched and panicked. It sent me into fight mode immediately.
“Where is that bastard?” I growled.
Danielle handed me the phone. “I can’t talk. I can’t think straight. Talk to him, please? We need to find out where