11
Tessa
My heart sinks, andit’s almost as if a sixty-pound rock is pushing down on my chest, as my worst fear is coming true, and I should have seen it coming. He has been so adamant about seeing her. Why didn’t I think about this? Of course, he would show up at her school. My daughter is out there somewhere with him, and that scares the living hell out of me. I don’t know anything about the man he has become, only the man I knew. And that man isn’t someone I want to have her.
Mrs. Drummond looks at me; my face is hot. “Are you okay, miss?”
“How could you let her leave with someone other than me? My daughter has been kidnapped!”
The teacher looks around, and bystanders are now looking my way. “She said it was her father, ma’am.”
“You just always take a child’s word for it?” I yell, practically running back to Damon’s car. “Take me to the police station now.”
“What?” he says, putting the car in the drive. “Where's Emily?”
“He took her. Hurry!”
Skid marks are made, and he steps on it all the way to the police station. I try to take deep breaths, calm myself down, but how the hell can I do that? Sure, I know who she is with, but not where she is. They could be anywhere. Why would Emily leave with him?
Damon pulls up to the station, and I don’t even wait for him to put the car in park before I am out the door and running inside. “I need to talk to someone now.” My voice carries throughout the station.
“Ma’am. Calm down. What’s going on?”
“My daughter’s been kidnapped. I need to speak to someone now.”
“Where was she last seen?”
“At school. Her father showed up yesterday, haven’t seen him in years. Demanding to see her. He took her. I need her back, please,” I beg and plead. “I need my little girl back.”
The female officer sits me down. “Listen, I understand you’re upset, but we need some more information. Can you take a deep breath?”
“Yes, I’m sorry, I’m freaking out.”
“Okay, now can you give us a description of your daughter? You said the man was her father? Do you have a custody agreement in place?”
What the hell did a custody agreement matter? He hasn’t been in her life for years, and now all of a sudden, he shows up at her school without even mentioning it to me. “No, we don’t have a binding agreement through the courts yet.”
“Okay. Let me call and see if there is something we can do. Typically, in these situations, unless they are withholding the child from you, there’s not much we can do since he is the biological parent. How long has she been with him?”
“Since school was let out. Please go call someone, I need my little girl back.” I hand her a picture of Emily and wait for her to return. What am I going to do if he keeps her? Who cares if he’s the biological parent? She doesn’t know him. I don’t know him.
Damon’s arm drapes around my shoulders. “I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this. I wish there was something I could do.”
This is the type of a man I want in my life, and he just keeps proving he’s a better man than Chris could ever be. Why the hell did I ever even sleep with that jerk? Not that I would ever want Emily out of my life.
Damon pulls me into his chest and runs his fingers through my hair, trying to keep me as calm as he can. I can hear his heartbeat and even though he’s putting on a good front for me, it’s beating crazy fast.
The officer starts walking back over to us. “Okay, we can’t do anything until after twenty-four hours. Now, since she’s not technically missing, but with her father, we can’t do anything unless you can prove he’s intentionally keeping her from you and that would be handled in civil court.”
It’s boiling up inside me, and a scream erupts from my throat. “Are you freaking kidding me? I don’t fucking understand. My daughter is with a man that she hasn’t seen in three plus years, a man who abandoned us. You’re telling me, basically my choice is to sit around and wait to get her back?” This is unacceptable! She could be out there hurt, starving, or God knows what, and they want me to just wait until he calls me?
“Officer, let me explain something again. This man hasn’t seen his daughter in years. He abandoned us when she was a baby. And then he just showed up yesterday demanding to see her. Now that he has her, he could run off with her... Waiting that time frame, it’s just not acceptable. By the time it’s been that long, they could be anywhere. How are we supposed to find them?”
“I know it’s not ideal. I’m a mother too, but that’s how the law works in this particular situation. Once she’s back, I would get with a lawyer to see what precautions you can take in the future. Form a binding agreement within the courts so he can’t pull something like this again. If you have not made contact with him after twenty-four hours, then we can step in and charge him with parental abduction.”
Do they not realize how much can happen in twenty-four hours? What if he forgets to feed her or leaves her home alone? All these scenarios start flying through my mind, and my stomach is in knots. “I’ll be back in twenty-four hours then. Not a minute after, and then I expect you guys to find her and bring her back to me.”
Damon tugs on my shoulders, maneuvering me out to his car. “I know you want her back, but the police can only do so much right now, like she said. Tomorrow, we will come back and get Emily back home with us, okay?”