Page 65 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

I braced myself for the inevitable.

“Morning, Dad.”

I heard him sigh with relief. “My word, thank heavens. Dani, where are you? Are you all right?”

I resisted the urge to hang up. “I’m fine, Dad.”

“Okay. Then tell me where you are. I’m coming to get you.”

“I said I’m okay.”

“I get that. Now I’m coming to get you.”

“No, you’re not.”

He sighed. “Danika, don’t make me fight with you in front of your mother. She’s already worried sick enough as it is.”

I shrugged. “Then don’t fight me. I’m fine. I’m safe. That’s all that’s pertinent to this situ--”

“Where are you? You tell me right now. Or I’m having someone ping your phone.”

“Dad, if I tell you where I am, you’ll send the cops to come get me or something. I’m fine.”

“Now’s not the time for jokes.”

I snickered. “Who in the world said I was joking?”

A long pause settled over our conversation before I heard my father clear his throat.

“Then when are we going to talk about this?”

I shrugged. “Well, I’m kind of in the middle of something. So I guess we can talk about things once I can get my head above water.”

“Not funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be. I just woke up and haven’t had my coffee. Spare me the irony of my statements, please.”

“Drop the attitude and maybe we’ll talk.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll find room in my schedule to pencil you and Mom in so I can give you a play by play of my personal life.”

His voice grew stronger. “That’s it. I’ve had enough of this attitude of yours, Danika. I swear, you didn’t even give us this much trouble as a teenager!”

“Don’t make the joke that this is me making up for it now. Because it’s not.”

“Well, what else are we supposed to think?”

“That I’m finally coming into my own and proud of the person I’m becoming.”

“You can’t possibly be serious.”

I nodded. “As a heart attack.”

The phone call went silent again and I had an idea of what was going on. Dad was either muting his side of the phone and relaying information to Mom, or I was on speakerphone and he kept muting his side of things every time Mom kicked up. I pinched the bridge of my nose. As I sat there on the edge of the bed, I suddenly felt wide awake. Not the kind of wake-up call I wanted to make a regular thing in my life. But at least my focus was coming back.

Which would make this conversation with my father much more productive.

“Dad?”

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