Page 63 of Fateful Hearts

He nods. “I know, it’s all right. I’m going to call the police right now. Are you going to be okay if I let you go?”

Don’t ever let me go.

Nodding, I exhale. “I’m fine. Call the police.”

Blake gently lets me go, and he reaches into his pocket, pulling out his cell. He takes a couple of steps away from me and dials 911. Then, letting out a long exhale, my mind shifts to Kyle.

“Fuck,” I mumble to myself.

He has to know.

I can’t let him find out after the fact. He is her father. I have to tell him what’s going on. He deserves to be kept in the loop, especially on shit like this. So hesitantly, I pull out my cell and dial his number. He seems to take forever to answer, but when he does, he sounds like he’s been asleep.

“Zo, this better be important?” he asks in a hazy voice.

So fucking important.

With my bottom lip trembling out of fear from what’s happening to Hailee right now and terror about how Kyle will react, I just blurt it out. “I brought Hailee to the animal shelter. We were distracted for a moment, just a few minutes, and now we can’t find her—”

“What the fuck do you mean, you can’t find her?” he yells down the line at me.

I begin to shake as I continue, “A woman said she saw a man walking out of the shelter with a young blonde girl. I’m scared, Kyle—”

“The fuck? I’m coming down there right now. I swear to God, Zoey, if you and Brad were in a back room fucking or something and not watching he—”

“We weren’t. Blake was adopting a cat. Hailee was reading to them… I don’t know what happened.”

Kyle grunts under his breath. “I’ll be there soon.” He ends the call, and Blake steps up, raising his brow.

“Cops are on their way.”

Bracing for his scrutiny, I tell him the bad news. “So is Kyle.”

“How’d he take it?” Blake scrunches up his face.

“He’s angry. He’s going to be on the warpath when he gets here… maybe you should go?”

Blake scowls in clear disapproval. “I’m not going anywhere, not until we find Hailee.”

“Found her! She’s in the restricted zone,” someone calls out from somewhere in the facility.

Blake and I snap our heads around to see Clara pointing down the hall, and we take off running, my feet feeling like lead because I can’t get there quick enough. I’m panting as I run, and as we race around the corner to a cat cage, I let out a huge sigh of relief when I see Hailee curled up in a cage, sleeping with a cat. I don’t hesitate, running inside and picking Hailee up into my arms, cradling her to me. I smother her in kisses as she wakes up, yawning and giggling. “Mommy, what are you doing?”

Blake steps up beside us, squatting to meet our level as I run my hands all over Hailee’s face. “Don’t youever, and I meanEVERsneak off on me like that again.You understand me?”

Hailee furrows her brows. “But I didn’t sneak off, Mommy, I was reading with the kitty, and I fell asleep.”

“Don’t argue with me, Hailee. You had us so worried. Blake called the police. I called your father!”

Hailee widens her eyes, tears pooling in them. “I-I’m sorry. I was having so much fun. I didn’t mean to cause troub—”

“Well, you did. You need to think about these thin—”

“Zoey, take a breath,” Blake states, resting his hand on my thigh.

My eyes meet his, and I think it’s what I needed. I’m mad but not mad at Hailee. I’m taking it out on her when it’s my fault I prematurely rang Kyle, and now he will be a dick about all this.

I smooth some hair back from Hailee’s face and smile at her. “I’m sorry, Starshine. I was just so worried about you. It made Mommy a big ball of stress.”

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