Page 44 of Second Dance
I only nodded, too sad and upset to speak.
She patted my shoulder. “It is only her age. My daughter was the same way. You must not feel bad. It will pass.”
I gestured toward the open laptop. “She wants to meet him. Her real father.”
Sonya took one look at the mugshot and grabbed the cross that hung around her neck. “Oh, no, we must not let that happen.”
“How are we supposed to stop her?”
“She must give you all her electronics. We’ll keep her home until she comes to her senses.”
Why hadn’t I thought of that? If she didn’t have technology she couldn’t search for a way to contact him.
“Yes, you’re right. I’ll go tell her right now.”
But when I got to her room, she was not there. Instead, her window was open, with nothing but a flapping curtain to greet me.
I drove straight to the beach, every mile a drumbeat of denial. She had to be here. An act of rebellion. I told myself she’d gone ahead, met her friends anyway. I’d find her laughing with them, the whole morning nothing but another clash between us. But when I spotted the cluster of girls with towels spread out on the sand, Bella wasn’t with them.
My hands trembled as I strode over, chest tight, sweat beading on my forehead despite the ocean breeze. Around me, families laughed, children shrieked with delight in the surf, seagulls called overhead. But I barely noticed. All I could think about was my daughter. “Where’s Bella?”
The girls exchanged startled looks. One of them pushed her sunglasses up, squinting at me. “She texted earlier. Said she couldn’t make it.”
My stomach hollowed, the sound of the waves suddenly too loud, too normal. “She didn’t tell you where she was going instead?”
They shook their heads, nervous now. “Sorry, Mr. Garcia.”
I turned away, panicked. My mind spiraled. What if she was hurt, what if someone had taken her, what if I was already too late? When my gaze caught on the uniformed officer standing near the lifeguard station, eyes on the crowd, I broke into a run, sand sucking at my shoes.
“Sir?” The cop straightened as I rushed him. His name badge read “Waller.”
“My daughter’s gone. She’s fourteen. She ran away this morning, and I’ve no idea where she went.” My words tangled, breath ragged, thoughts racing faster than I could speak.
The officer raised both hands, calm and steady. “Slow down, sir. Take a breath. How long has she been gone?”
“Since just this morning. I grounded her. When I went upstairs … to take her phone from her … she was gone. Her window was open. She clearly snuck out.”
Waller shook his head, looking less than sympathetic. “We can’t file a missing person’s report until she’s been gone at least twenty-four hours.”
Twenty-four hours? That might be too late. My vision blurred at the edges. Where could she have gone? Please, God, don’t let it be in search of him. Why had I shown her what I’d found?
Waller pursed his lips, clearly impatient with me. “But if she has a phone, you can probably track it. Most parents can. That’s your best first step. See where she is before assuming the worst.”
Right. Her phone. How had that not occurred to me? With shaking hands, I pulled mine from my pocket, but the screen swam before my eyes, panic making it impossible to focus.
A familiar voice cut through the roar in my ears.
“Alex?”
I turned, and there was Gillian, wearing running shoes and workout clothes, her eyes widened with obvious alarm. She hurried toward me, placing her hand on my arm when she arrived.
“Alex, is something wrong?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing coherent came out. My throat locked. All I could manage was a strangled “Bella. She ran away.” I handed her my phone, my hands shaking so badly I nearly dropped it. “I can’t even see what it says, I’m so freaked out. What does the phone tracker say?”
She stared at the screen for a second. “She’s headed north. Looks like she’s almost to Cliffside Bay.”
My blood turned cold, dread settling deep in my chest. She was going to try and find him.
