Chapter 3
I stared at Daniel as though I had never seen him before.
Emma was crying silently beside me.
“Start talking,” I said.
Daniel pulled out a chair.
He didn't sit.
Maybe he understood he hadn't earned that kind of comfort.
“Jason called me from a motel,” he said.
“Why you?”
“Because he didn't want to contact you directly.”
“That makes no sense.”
“He knew we'd started seeing each other.”
My head snapped up.
“How?”
Daniel looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“Were you talking to him?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“He said people told him.”
“What people?”
“He wouldn't say.”
Emma wiped her face.
“My dad said you hunted him down.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“He said you told him Mom had replaced him.”
“No.”
“He said you threatened him.”
Daniel's voice grew firmer.
“I did threaten him.”
Emma froze.
I stared at him.
“You what?”
“Not the way he means.”
“Then explain it.”
Daniel exhaled.
“When I got to the motel, Jason was in bad shape. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. He said he needed money.”
“And you gave him twenty-five thousand dollars?”
“Not immediately.”
“What did he say?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then looked at Emma.
“This part is ugly.”
She lifted her chin.
“I can handle it.”
“No twelve-year-old should have to handle it.”
“I'm already handling everyone lying to me.”
That silenced him.
I hated how right she was.
Daniel continued.
“Jason said he knew you were building a life without him. He said if you could move on, then he deserved something too.”
“Something?”
I almost laughed.
“He abandoned us.”
“I told him that.”
Daniel's jaw tightened at the memory.
“He got angry. He said Emma was his daughter and he could come back whenever he wanted.”
Emma whispered, “He could.”
I looked at her.
“Not after disappearing without a word.”
“But he's still my father.”
“Yes.”
I kept my voice gentle.
“But being your biological father doesn't mean he had the right to walk in and out of your life whenever it suited him.”
Daniel continued.
“He said he'd take you to court.”
“Why didn't he?” Emma asked.
“Because he didn't want custody.”
Daniel's answer came quickly.
Emma stared at him.
“You don't know that.”
“He told me.”
“You're lying.”
“He told me exactly what he wanted.”
“What?”
“Money.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“He said if I gave him thirty thousand dollars, he'd leave Nashville and stop contacting Rachel.”
I felt sick.
“You negotiated with him?”
Daniel looked at me.
“I told him no.”
“But the transfer says you eventually said yes.”
“He showed me something.”
“What?”
“A video.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“What video?”
Daniel's face tightened.
“Jason had recorded himself outside your apartment.”
I remembered that apartment.
A tiny two-bedroom place where Emma and I had lived after Jason vanished.
“He filmed your windows,” Daniel said.
“He filmed Emma walking into daycare.”
Emma's face changed.
I felt ice spread through my chest.
“He followed us?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted me to believe he could take her if he wanted.”
My knees weakened.
I grabbed the back of a chair.
Daniel stepped forward instinctively.
I held up a hand.
He stopped.
“You should have called the police.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know!”
My voice cracked through the room.
“You had nine years to tell me this!”
Emma was staring between us.
Her anger had changed into confusion.
Daniel said, “Jason told me if I involved the police, he'd disappear with Emma before anyone could stop him.”
“And you believed him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I'd seen him that first night.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I'd seen how unstable he was.”
Emma crossed her arms tightly.
“So you bought him off.”
Daniel's face twisted.
“I tried to protect you.”
“By paying my father to leave?”
“By getting him away from you until I could figure out what to do.”
Emma laughed once.
It was a broken sound.
“You never figured it out.”
“No.”
“Because you liked being my dad.”
Daniel looked as if she'd struck him.
“I loved being your dad.”
“Exactly!”
Emma rushed toward the stairs.
I caught her arm gently.
“Wait.”
“Let go!”
“Emma, please.”
She twisted away.
“You both lied to me!”
“Yes,” I said.
She stopped.
Daniel looked at me.
I forced myself not to look away from my daughter.
“Yes. Daniel kept things from us. And I told you things about your father that I believed were true, but clearly I didn't know everything.”
Emma's mouth trembled.
“At least Dad is honest with me.”
I looked at the phone.
“No, sweetheart.”
She stiffened.
“He showed you one bank transfer without explaining why it happened. That's not honesty.”
“You don't know his side.”
“You're right.”
I picked up my keys.
“So we're going to hear it.”
Daniel stared at me.
“Rachel.”
I looked at Emma.
“Call Jason.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“Call him.”
“You mean it?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stepped toward me.
“This is a bad idea.”
I turned sharply.
“You don't get to decide that anymore.”
He stopped.
The hurt in his face was real.
But so was my anger.
Emma unlocked her phone.
Her fingers trembled as she pressed Jason's contact.
He answered on the second ring.
“Hey, baby girl.”
I hadn't heard his voice in years.
My entire body went cold.
Emma looked at me.
I held out my hand.
She gave me the phone.
“Hello, Jason.”
Silence.
Then a small laugh.
“Well.”
His voice was deeper.
Rougher.
“Rachel.”
“Where are you?”
“Is Emma there?”
“Where are you?”
Another pause.
“Why?”
“You've spent two months telling my daughter that Daniel and I stole her from you.”
“I told her the truth.”
“Then say it to my face.”
Daniel shook his head.
I ignored him.
Jason chuckled.
“You still have that temper.”
“Where are you?”
A long silence followed.
Then he gave me the name of a coffee shop fifteen minutes away.
My pulse jumped.
“You're in Nashville?”
“I've been here for three weeks.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“You told Emma?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I knew you'd react exactly like this.”
“Like what? Like a mother whose twelve-year-old daughter has been secretly contacted by the man who abandoned her?”
“I didn't abandon her.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“We'll be there in twenty minutes.”
Daniel said, “Rachel, don't.”
Jason heard him.
His voice changed instantly.
“Is he there?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
There was satisfaction in his voice.
“Bring him.”
Then he hung up.
Emma grabbed her jacket.
Daniel didn't move.
I looked at him.
“You're coming.”
“I don't think that's smart.”
“I don't care.”
“Rachel, Jason wants a confrontation.”
“So do I.”
“This isn't you.”
“You don't know what I am right now.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Please listen to me.”
“No.”
“I made a terrible mistake by keeping this from you.”
“A terrible mistake?”
“Yes.”
“You paid my ex twenty-five thousand dollars and let me spend years believing he forgot his daughter.”
“I was trying to keep him away because I thought he was dangerous.”
“You should have trusted me enough to tell me.”
“I know.”
Emma opened the front door.
“Are we going or not?”
I looked at Daniel.
“You wanted to protect us?”
“Yes.”
“Then come tell Jason the truth in front of us.”
We drove in silence.
Emma sat in the back seat.
Daniel beside me.
No one touched.
No one spoke.
When we reached the coffee shop, Jason was waiting outside.
I recognized him immediately.
Older.
Thinner.
A beard covered most of his jaw.
But the same eyes.
Emma gasped.
Jason smiled.
He opened his arms.
“There's my girl.”
Emma jumped from the car.
Before I could stop her, she ran to him.
Jason wrapped his arms around her.
She started sobbing.
I stood frozen beside the car.
For one terrible second, I remembered loving him.
Then Jason looked over Emma's shoulder.
Straight at Daniel.
His smile disappeared.
“Well,” he said.
“The thief finally brought back what he stole.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Don't do this in front of her.”
Jason laughed.
“You've been doing it in front of her for nine years.”
Emma pulled away from him.
“Dad, tell them.”
Jason touched her hair.
“I will.”
We went inside.
The coffee shop was almost empty.
We sat around a table in the back.
Jason kept his hand on Emma's shoulder.
I hated it.
Not because he was touching her.
Because Emma leaned toward him like she'd been waiting her entire life for it.
Jason looked at me.
“Ask.”
I didn't hesitate.
“Did Daniel pay you twenty-five thousand dollars to stay away?”
“Yes.”
Emma looked at Daniel triumphantly.
Daniel said, “Tell her why.”
Jason smiled.
“You mean tell her your version?”
“The truth.”
Jason leaned back.
“Daniel came to me with money.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You called me.”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
Jason ignored him.
“He said Rachel had moved on. He said Emma was starting to see him as her father.”
“That wasn't true then.”
“Maybe not.”
Jason looked at me.
“But he wanted it to be.”
Emma whispered, “I knew it.”
I held up my hand.
“Keep going.”
Jason shrugged.
“He offered me money to leave town permanently.”
Daniel slammed his palm on the table.
“That is a lie.”
People across the room looked toward us.
I lowered my voice.
“Daniel.”
He sat back.
Jason smiled.
“He always gets angry when someone tells the truth.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You threatened to abduct Emma.”
Jason laughed.
“I said I had rights.”
“You showed me a video of her daycare.”
Emma's head snapped toward Jason.
“What?”
For the first time, Jason's confidence slipped.
Only for a second.
Then he smiled.
“I wanted Daniel to know I was serious about being your father.”
“You filmed my daycare?” Emma asked.
“You were three.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Jason looked at me.
“You see what he's doing?”
I didn't respond.
Emma pulled slightly away from him.
Jason noticed.
He reached into his jacket.
Daniel immediately stood.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Jason rolled his eyes.
“Relax.”
He pulled out an envelope.
Then slid it across the table.
Inside were photocopies.
A bank transfer.
Emails.
One handwritten note.
I read it.
My stomach turned.
Jason,
Take the money and leave them alone.
You made your choice.
Emma deserves a father who stays.
If you come back, I'll make sure Rachel knows exactly what you did.
Daniel
I looked at my husband.
“Did you write this?”
Daniel stared at the note.
His face drained of color.
“No.”
Jason laughed.
“Of course not.”
Daniel picked it up.
“I never wrote this.”
“It has your signature.”
“That's not my signature.”
“It looks exactly like it.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Rachel, I swear.”
Jason leaned toward Emma.
“This is what I've been trying to tell you.”
I studied the letter.
Something bothered me.
The paper looked old.
The ink had faded.
But one sentence didn't make sense.
Emma deserves a father who stays.
Daniel wasn't Emma's father then.
We had been dating for three months.
He had met Emma maybe six times.
I looked at Jason.
“Where did this come from?”
“He gave it to me.”
Daniel said, “No, I didn't.”
Jason smiled.
“Prove it.”
Then Emma's phone buzzed.
She looked down.
Her expression changed.
“What?” I asked.
She didn't answer.
“Emma?”
She turned the screen toward us.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
There was a photograph attached.
It showed Daniel outside our old apartment.
He was holding three-year-old Emma.
The date printed in the corner was six months after Jason disappeared.
Underneath was one sentence.
Ask Daniel why he told Jason that Emma had already started calling him Daddy.
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“You said you'd barely met me.”
Daniel stared at the image.
May you like
Then whispered something that made every hair on my arms stand up.
“That picture was taken the same day Jason threatened to take her.”
