Page 143 of One Good Puck
“She’s seven years old with long blonde hair. Same color as mine. Her hair’s in a ponytail. She’s small for her age, about forty pounds.” My voice shakes as I try to stop crying. “She’s wearing a Ryker St. George Bashers jersey. The number seven is covered in pink and red rhinestones.”
The security guy relays what I’ve said over his radio.
“Can you pull up a picture of her on your phone and show it to him?” Dakota says gently.
Guilt rattles me for not thinking to do this sooner, but my panic-riddled brain isn’t thinking straight. The only thought that processes in my mind is that I need to find my daughter.
I show him a picture of her on my phone. He asks me to text it to him so he can send it to all the security guards and officers on duty in the arena.
When I look up, Dakota is on her phone. “Hey, Ingrid. We have an emergency. Emma is missing. Abby’s ex showed up and took her when she wasn’t looking. If I send you a photo of Emma, can you send it to the guys who operate the Jumbotron so they can put her image on the screen to alert everyone in the stadium to be on the lookout for her?”
I squeeze Dakota’s hand, grateful she thought of this.
“I’ll text it to you right now. Thanks, Ingrid.”
Dakota hangs up and texts the photo to Ingrid. That’swhen I realize how hard I’m shaking, how fast I’m breathing.
I look around the crowded stadium, at all the people walking by, hoping with every fiber of my being that I see Emma. But she’s not here.
My head starts to feel heavy. I hear another security guard say something about the arena being on lockdown. Maya and Bella run up to me. I register the worried look on their faces, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. Dakota starts talking, and they turn their attention to her.
I want to scream and cry and run and punch a hole through the wall. I want to go back in time ten minutes ago and not let Emma out of my sight.
I want this nightmare to end. I want my daughter back.
But I have no idea how to make that happen.
Chapter 56
Gavin
“Let’s go, Williams,” I holler to Xander as he skates after a Wolves player in possession of the puck.
We’re nearing the end of the first period, and neither team has scored yet.
I glance over at where Abby and Emma are sitting behind the Bashers net. They’ve been gone for a while. I notice that Maya, Dakota, and Bella, who were sitting with them, are gone too. I wonder where they went off to.
One of the Nashville players hooks Xander, so the referee blows the whistle, stopping play.
Hank, the head of arena security, walks up to the bench.
“Sorry to interrupt you, Coach, but we’ve got an emergency. A kid just went missing a few minutes ago at the concession stand on the north end of the arena,” he says. “The entire place is on lockdown. No one’s going in or out until we find her.”
The players all turn to Hank.
“They’re going to show a picture of the kid on the JumboTron soon, but here’s a photo.”
Hank holds up his phone. When I see Emma’s smiling face, my stomach plummets to my feet.
“Emma is missing?” I choke out.
Hank frowns. “You know her?”
“That’s my girlfriend’s kid.” I step over to Hank. “What happened?”
“Her mom said that her estranged dad snatched her up when she wasn’t looking.”
Rage fires through me. I clench my fists. That piece of shit. He kidnapped his own daughter.
