Page 73 of The Finding Series: Vol. 1

“Not if he walked away from you, he isn’t,” Gray responded. “Let me know if you ever want to take me up on my dinner invite,” the man said as he began to walk away.

“Gray, I’m not looking to start anything up,” he said awkwardly.

Gray studied him for a moment before saying, “I knew that the second I saw the way you looked at him.” Gray smiled sadly and said, “Life’s too fucking short, Dane. Grab onto the things that mean the most to you and don’t let go.”

With that, Gray left and Dane tried to focus on the book in his hand but gave up and put it back on the shelf. He’d been kidding himself to think he could get his life back to normal because the life he’d had before Jax hadn’t even been that. He’d been surviving and that was it. And it just wasn’t enough anymore.

Dane put the rest of the books he had tucked under his arm down and left the bookstore. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text letting Rhys know he was in the park and then tucked the phone back in his jacket. His eyes scanned the area around the small pond and a niggle of fear went through him when he saw that the bench Mrs. Greene had been sitting on was empty.

A loud scream pierced the air and he tracked the sound to the far edge of the park. He began running as his brain tried to process what he was seeing. Mrs. Greene lay on the ground at the bottom of a small hill that led up to the street. Had she fallen? He scanned the surrounding ground around her for Emma.

“Stop her!” Mrs. Greene screamed. When she saw him running towards her she pointed up towards the top of the hill and said, “She took her! She took Emma!”

Dane’s lungs burned as he flew past Mrs. Greene and dashed up the hill. He heard Emma crying before he saw her and finally located his daughter in the arms of a woman who was running down the sidewalk.

“Stop!” he screamed. He was within feet of the woman when she suddenly turned and pointed a gun at him.

“Belinda?” he said in shock as he recognized Isaac’s mother.

“Stay back!” she shouted as she waved the gun at him. She looked nothing like the regal, put-together socialite he remembered. Her usually coiffed hair lay limply around her gaunt face and her frantic eyes darted all around her as she clutched Emma to her. She began backing away from him and towards a car parked at the curb. He slowly moved forward every time she took her eyes off him long enough to search out the car.

“I told you to stay back!” she screamed when she realized he was closer to her now than he had been a few moments earlier.

“Belinda, what are you doing?” he asked as panic welled inside of him. She was waving the gun so much that he feared it would discharge and hit his daughter.

Suddenly Belinda’s eyes tracked over his shoulder and the gun was directed at something behind him.

“Put it down,” he heard that strong, familiar voice say and a combination of fear and relief went through him.

He watched as Belinda’s gun slowly moved off him and he realized Jax was drawing her fire away by moving off to the side. “Belinda, please, you’re scaring Emma,” he said softly.

A horrified expression crossed Belinda’s features and she glanced down at Emma and began trying to soothe her. He used the temporary distraction to glance at Jax who had his gun pointed right at Belinda’s head. Dane knew Jax had the shot he needed to end this but instead of pulling the trigger, he gave Dane a subtle nod.

“She likes that song you used to sing Isaac when he was little,” Dane said quietly and Belinda snapped her eyes up, her gaze darting between him and Jax. Thankfully, her gun remained pointed at the ground.

“Isaac tried to teach it to me but I could never remember the words.”

Dane saw a flash of pain go through Belinda at the mention of her son but then her eyes dropped back to Emma and she began to softly sing. He was glad when Emma quieted and he saw Belinda smile as she sang the final words. A glance over his shoulder showed that several people had collected on the other side of the park and were watching the scene unfold. Gray was at the base of the hill comforting Mrs. Greene and Rhys and Sheriff Granger, both armed, were at the far corner of the street.

“Isaac was afraid of the dark so I’d sing to him until he fell asleep every night,” Belinda whispered.

“He was lucky to have you.”

Belinda glanced up at him with watery eyes. “I miss him.”

“Me too,” Dane admitted. “But he wouldn’t want this, Belinda. You know that.”

She nodded and then reached down to kiss Emma on the forehead. “I didn’t mean for it to go this far,” she said.

“You hired those men to go after Dane, didn’t you?” he heard Jax ask.

“They weren’t supposed to hurt him,” she said desperately. “They were just supposed to find him and take Emma when he was distracted.”

“Lady, you can’t be that naïve,” Jax snapped.

“Belinda,” Dane said gently, needing to get the focus back on Emma. “None of that matters. What matters is that Emma needs you in her life.”

Tears began to fall down Belinda’s face. “I’m sorry, Dane. I’m sorry I blamed you for what happened. I spoiled Isaac terribly after his father died and sometimes he made bad choices.”

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