Page 42 of Wounded Dance
“You can’t do this here,” I say shakily. “This is just where I dance. Nobody here even knows about her.”
“You know what he’s talking about?” Danika asks.
I want to melt into a puddle on the floor. Everyone is looking at me. Danika. Suze. Ted. Denham. Thankfully the parents can’t hear with the soundproofing.
“Denham, let’s just go,” I say. “The police are on their way and your record is already pretty bad.”
“I don’t care how much I inconvenience you,” Denham says. “This isn’t about you and me anymore. It’s about our child.”
“Our child is gone,” I say.
Danika’s head whips around. “You had a baby with this man? You’re barely nineteen!”
Even Ted’s expression flickers slightly as he continues to act as a shield between me and Denham.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” I tell him. “I’ve kept this secret for four years, and you’re destroying my life.”
“Your life is a lie,” Denham says. “And I aim to find my daughter.”
“Not on my property, you won’t,” Danika says. “The police are on their way, and I’ll be filing a restraining order against you immediately. Step foot in our parking lot, and I’ll have you arrested every single time.”
Denham finally tears his gaze from me to look at her. “I have no beef with you, lady,” he says. “But I’m going to find out where my baby girl is.” He pushes past Ted, who turns to keep himself between me and Denham. “And there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”
He stalks out of the door and down the steps.
“He’s leaving,” Danika says into the phone. “But I want to make sure he’s not just going to his truck to get a weapon or anything crazy.”
I know Denham won’t do anything like that. He’s just determined. And even though he is going about it the wrong way, I get what he wants. It’s what drove me to look for Gabriella myself, to set up that fake profile, to watch her grow up.
Once you have a child out there in the world, it’s hard to not think about them all the time. And Denham is going crazy with what he didn’t even know he’d lost.
Chapter 16
Danika stands by the windows and watches Denham start up his truck and drive down the street. “He’s gone,” she says into the phone. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t be back.”
She looks over her shoulder at me, her spiky blue hair lit by the sun streaming in. The creases around her eyes and mouth are more prominent while she’s under stress. She’s like the mother hen to all of us, the owner of the academy and the one who is willing to help any of us when we’re in trouble.
“All right. Thank you.” Danika hangs up the call. She turns around to me, Suze, and Ted, who are standing nearby, plus a couple parents who have ventured out of the studios.
“Should we send everyone home?” Suze asks.
Danika turns back to the windows. “Probably most of them will go on their own,” she says. “We’ll need to send an email out to every family who attended this session, assuring them we are handling the situation.” She glances at me. “Livia, when the officer gets here, we’ll need to talk to him.”
“I’ll let everyone know it’s safe to leave,” Suze says, hurrying back to the front desk.
Ted moves close to me. “I can stand watch here,” Ted says.
“That’s good,” Danika says.
Parents and children start streaming out of the hallway. Danika greets them, hugging the children, assuring everyone things are fine now, it was just some confused man.
A few older children remain in the rooms, their parents having run out to do errands during their class. Danika heads back to talk to the instructors, leaving me and Ted by the windows.
“I didn’t see that coming, but I should have,” I say to him.
“I see why Blitz wanted you protected,” he says.
“He wouldn’t hurt me,” I insist.
