“Before you say anything, I want you to know that whatever excuse or bullshit argument you are about to throw at me won’t matter.” I dropped my lips to her ear to ensure that only she would hear me. “Do you remember what I promised you?”
To my surprise, she nodded slowly though her eyes flashed with a bit of anger. Well, tough shit. I was angry, too.
The detective who had asked the majority of the questions chose that moment to interrupt. “Excuse me, but are you a relative?”
I ripped my eyes away from Sheldon’s long enough to answer the bushy-faced detective. “No.” Subtly, I gripped her neck tighter and demanded, “Why don’t you tell the nice detectives who I am.”
If looks could kill, I would have died multiple deaths in the short span of time it took her to answer. “He’s—” She stopped to take a deep, shuddery breath. “He’s her father.”
Atta girl.
Now that we got that out of the way, I could concentrate on making her pay for stealing my seed and keeping her from me.
“And were you present at the time of the incident?”
“When my daughter was taken from her mother? No.” I made sure to meet Sheldon’s stare before continuing with my answer. “I wasn’t aware that she existed at the time of the incident.”
How textbook could these people get?
“Ms. Chambers, once again, we will need a complete list of relatives and acquaintances. This is our first time hearing about a father. There could be a connection.”
Did this motherfucker just imply that I had something to do with it?
“That’s because he ran away before she was born.” Melissa’s voice managed to break the connection as we both seemed to jump apart.
“What’s the matter? Did you get a curl out of place?”
“That’s enough, you two,” Sheldon scolded. Her grimace of pain, as she clutched her head, was enough to make me stand down for now. The only thing I wanted causing her pain was me. First, I had to be the one to nurse her back to health.
“There has been a small development. One of the traffic cameras near the gas station your daughter was taken from captured a photo of a black van speeding through a red light.”
“And you think it was the people who took her?”
“Same time. Same place. The van didn’t have any plates for us to track so it could be a while before we have something concrete.”
“And while you’re here, who is out looking for her?”
“We have our best men as well as the state and local police force combing the city for her.”
“And what if they aren’t in the city?” I pressed, letting my aggravation show.
His gaze turned scrutinizing as we stared each other down. “We would search the nearest areas first to rule out a possible family abduction.”
“Such as?”
“A disgruntled parent who decided to take the law into their own hands and remove the child from her legal home because they were unhappy with their parental rights.”
“Oh, yeah?” I knew what he was implying. “And what if they simply wanted to punish the other parent? That’s why I would do it.”
Sheldon’s indrawn breath filled the room. I watched her from the corner of my eye while keeping the detectives under my hard gaze.
“Keenan?”
“Are you confessing?”
“Are you an idiot? I only found out about my daughter twenty minutes ago.”
“We have to cover all angles. It’s our job to be thorough.”
“Your job is to find my daughter.”
“Your daughter?” Sheldon snapped. “She’s not your daughter. You may have contributed to her biological makeup, but she doesn’t belong to you.”
The detectives left wearing smirks on their faces. I waited until the door was completely shut before following behind to lock the door.
“Would you like to repeat that?” I kept my tone even and spoke slowly, giving myself time to rethink my next move.
“You cannot just come back and lay claim to my daughter as if you have any rights.”
I finally turned away from the door, and with only one look, she began to back against the pillows as I stalked her. Self-consciously, she wrapped her hands around her middle, but I wouldn’t let her hide. Not this time. I swiftly wrapped my hand around her chin and lifted her face so I could look into her eyes. “So are you saying it wasn’t my cock that filled your * with come? It wasn’t my seed that grew inside you? It wasn’t me you saw each time you looked in her eyes?”
“No. I’m not saying that at all. What I am saying is that it wasn’t you who watched her grow inside me. It wasn’t you who watched her come into this world. It wasn’t you who helped teach her the first words she spoke. I’m her mother, but I’m also the only father she’s ever known. She doesn’t need you. We don’t need you.”