Dark Secret - Avelyn Paige Page 0,20
daughter from me until she vanished under your lack of parental control, but this? Her? I can’t.” I pivot on my heels and start for the door, stopping just short of ripping it off its hinges.
“Where are you going?” Shelby cries out.
“To find my daughter.”
I walk out the door without bothering to look back. There’s nothing left for me in that room now.
Shelby
“I see he hasn’t changed much,” Kasey huffs, plopping down into the nearest seat, crossing her feet atop the mahogany conference table. “Honestly, though,” she continues. “Why would you go to him instead of me?”
I can’t take it anymore. “Damnit, Kasey! Did you not hear what I said?” Reaching out, I shove her feet off the table, feeling only slightly better when they hit the floor with a thunk that makes Kasey wince. “Hayden is missing. Gone. Kidnapped. Very likely being trafficked as we speak. Why the hell does it matter who I went to? Just do what you can to help me find my baby girl, okay?”
Kasey’s brown eyes are grave as she leans forward and takes my hand. “I’m sorry, Shel. Of course, you’re right. You mentioned a game. What game, and what do you need?”
Relief washes over me as she pulls out a pad of paper and a pen. The feud between Wyatt and Kasey had always been hard on me, and for them to continue that now while my daughter’s in danger isn’t going to fly. Everyone has a reason to be angry in this scenario, but this is simply not the time to let that play out.
I take a seat beside her, and for the next few minutes, I tell her everything that Wyatt had found. I tell her about Blox World, and give her Hayden’s username. It takes her all of three minutes to do an internet search on the game developers to link it to a company she can subpoena for the activity records.
“You leave this with me, Shel. I know a judge who will take care of this for me right away. He owes me a favor.”
“I’m so fucking scared, Kasey.” A fat, hot tear escapes the corner of my eye and slides slowly down my cheek. “What if she’s hurt? Or what if we don’t find her? What if—”
“Shh, we’ll find her,” she assures me. “Hayden’s a smart kid. And as much as I hate to admit it, Wyatt’s a smart guy. He won’t let that happen. Whoever has her doesn’t know what they’re in for.”
Sniffing, I manage a small smile and push out of my chair. “I’d better go. We need that information, Kasey, and we need it fast.”
Wrapping her arms around my shoulders, she holds me tight. “I’m on it, Shel. You know I love that not-so-little girl. We’ll get her back.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, giving a small wave as I slip out the door and down the long, formal corridor.
Knowing that Kasey is on the job brings me a small sense of relief, but that feeling is far outweighed by the anger I feel at Wyatt right now. And the worst part is, I don’t know if I even have the right to be angry with him.
He, however, has a right to be angry with me, seeing as how I kept his daughter a secret from him all this time. But he promised me we would deal with that later. He promised that finding Hayden would be our main priority.
So why did he have such a fit over Kasey? Why would he let his anger and pride get in the way of help to bring Hayden home? To me, that had been a truly selfish act, proving I’d been right about his ability to parent all along. A parent can’t let pride dictate how they raise their child. A parent needs to swallow down those feelings and do whatever it takes to be the best they can be for their kids.
I push my way out the front door of the office, and there, leaning against my car, is the object of my anger. Wyatt’s arms are folded across his chest as he scowls at me.
“I thought you left,” I bite out through clenched teeth.
“Well, I can’t exactly walk home from here now, can I?”
I unlock just the driver’s side door and open it. “I don’t give a fuck what you do, Wyatt. You can fly home with a broomstick up your ass for all I care.”
He opens his mouth to speak, but I don’t give him