Page 72 of Comeback
“I’ll let you play with my pretty stone!”
Her eyes lit up and she popped the lock free.
Thank God.
I swung the door open and placed the stone in her palm. “Now come here, sweetie,” I said as I whisked her out of the car. I hurried back to my car and put her in the child seat, next to Reavo.
“Remember my hockey friends, Mack?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said shyly.
“Hi!” Reavo said, waving at her.
“You know what they love?” I asked.
“Um … hockey,” she said.
I chuckled. “Well, yeah, theylovehockey. But they love something else, too—something besides hockey. Somethingyoulove, too.”
A curious smile slowly crept across her lips. “What is it?”
“Fishing.”
She beamed in that adorable way kids do when they’re excited—jaw dropped, eyes huge. She turned to Reavo and informed him, “I love fishing, too!”
“No way,” Reavo said. “Really? You do?”
“Yeah!”
“Tell Reavo about all the fish we caught today, Mack.”
While little Mackenzie began recounting the tale of her first day of fishing to one of the NHL’s toughest fighters, I shut the door and snuck around to the passenger side. Dane opened his door, but I caught it and kept him from getting out.
“You stay,” I said. “I’m going in there.”
“What? No way. You might need my help.”
“I can handle it.”
“That guy was huge, Jack. I never would’ve let my captain fight back in the day—and I’m not gonna let you fight alone now, either.”
“You’re the captain now, remember?” I pounded my palm on his chest. “I need you to stay. I need Reavo to stay with Mack, and when the police get here, I need you to talk to them and explain what’s going on. Okay?”
Dane stared at me, his lip curling with disgust. He hated it, but he knew I had to go alone. “Fine. But be careful, Hath.”
“I will.”
Chapter 29
Emma
“I’ll be back for you,” Trevor grumbled when he took Mackenzie out to his car.
He’d left me with Nicole and Jeff. Now I was tied to a kitchen chair, too—my hands bound behind my back, my deep sobs muffled by duct tape, tears streaming down my cheeks.
There was no hope for me now. No one was coming to rescue us. I’d failed to protect my daughter from her own father.
Trevor had won.
