Page 145 of One Good Puck
“Hey! Stop right there!” I holler.
They’re about twenty feet from me, but I don’t miss the panic in Emma’s eyes when she sees me.
“Gavin!”
Levi turns and glares at me, then crouches down, picks Emma up, then starts to run.
She screams. “Gavin! Help!”
Adrenaline rockets through me. I pump my legs as fast as I can.
Seconds later, I catch up to them. I clamp my hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Emma falls from his grip to the floor. She yelps.
Levi tries to pull out of my hold, but I use all my bodyweight to shove him against the wall. I brace my arm against his throat.
“Emma, are you okay?” I holler.
“Yeah.” She sniffles. She sounds so scared, and it’s breaking me.
Levi glares at me. “She’s my daughter. You have no right to take her from me.”
“You kidnapped your own daughter. You traumatized her. What kind of a father are you?”
“Fuck you.”
He shoves me, but I grab him by his jacket and slam him against the wall. He yells out in pain.
“Don’t ever go near her again,” I growl.
Just then, I hear heavy footsteps behind me.
I turn and see a half-dozen security guards and officers appear.
When I let go of Levi, he slumps against the wall. The security guards swarm him and restrain him. A minute later, he’s cuffed and escorted away.
I turn around and see Emma, watching it all with wide, teary eyes. Her lips quiver, and my heart breaks. This poor kid.
She runs over to me, and I crouch down to hug her. She wraps her little arms tightly around my neck.
“You’re okay, kiddo. I’ve got you,” I whisper.
She sniffles. “Can I see my mom now?”
“Absolutely.”
I lift her and carry her through the crowd that’s formed around us. A couple of security guards tell everyone to give us space. I don’t make it far before I see Abby up ahead.
When she sees Emma in my arms, she races toward us.
“Emma!” she sobs as she runs up to us.
“Mom!”
I set Emma down. Abby hugs her arms around her, crying.
Tears burn in my eyes as I watch the two of them reunited after all the chaos and terror of the last twenty minutes.
“Mom, that guy from the Christmas tree farm took me,” Emma says, sniffling. “I told him I didn’t want to gowith him, but he grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let me go. He said he was my dad.”
