Chapter Thirty-One
Thirty-One
Gage
“Hey,” I said softly as I sat in front of Julie and held her hands in mine. “Baby, you need to eat something.”
She shook her head and looked away, her eyes reflecting the sadness that filled all of our hearts.
“I know that you don’t want to. None of us want to do anything but find Daisy. But you have to take care of yourself. You have to stay strong for Daisy.”
“I can’t,” she said, sniffling as she sucked in a sob. Her face fell as fresh tears trailed down her cheeks. “I can’t live without her, Gage. I can’t. There’s no way I can survive living without my daughter. She’s all that I have left. She’s my baby.”
I leaned forward and pulled her into my arms, placing her on my lap as I wrapped her in a tight hug. Tears slid down my cheeks as I felt my heart break right alongside hers.
“I know, baby. I know. We’re going to find her,” I assured her, but even I didn’t believe the words I said. I wanted to with every fiber of my being, but I also couldn’t trust that Joel wouldn’t do something stupid, just to hurt Julie.
The living room was filled with the bags of stuff we had bought for Daisy after she went missing.
Once they saw the footage of Daisy leaving the store with Joel, the search inside the store was finished, and everyone went about their business.
Since we couldn’t leave until Julie was finished talking to the police, Patrick and I decided to pay for everything Daisy had picked out, including the baby doll.
It wouldn’t bring Daisy back, but it at least gave us some inkling of happiness to cling to, knowing that if she came back, she would be so excited to see all of the stuff we bought.
“We’re going to go for a walk,” Patrick said, standing in front of us. I could tell something was up with him from how he was acting, but I didn’t want to question it in front of Julie. She had more than enough to deal with right now.
His eyes lingered on how I was holding her, but I didn’t give a fuck. We had far bigger issues right now than me being in love with his sister.
“Can I take Duke with me?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Yeah. That’s a great idea. The blanket Daisy’s been using is on the couch. Have him sniff it and tell him search. He should be able to use the scent to help look for her.”
“Take one of her shirts,” Julie said, pulling away slightly to look at her brother. “The one she wore to bed last night is still in the bedroom. I didn’t get a chance to put her dirty clothes in the hamper this morning.”
“Will do.” Patrick leaned down and kissed the top of his sister’s head before giving me a nod. “We’ll be back in a bit.”
I nodded, trying to force a smile at her parents as they waited bundled up by the door while Patrick grabbed Daisy’s shirt. He tucked it into the pocket of his hoodie, so Julie didn’t have to see it. Once they left, I took a deep breath and looked at her.
“We need to eat,” I said again, knowing that I also needed to take care of myself. “There are leftovers in the fridge. Why don’t I heat some up?”
Julie nodded, climbing off my lap and wiping her eyes.
I went to the fridge and looked through the options when we heard a ding. I closed the fridge and looked at Julie, who stood at the island, staring at her phone.
Half a second passed before she grabbed it and swiped her fingers along the screen to unlock it. She gasped as her hand covered her mouth, and she stared at the picture.
Joel smiled proudly next to Daisy, who appeared to be sleeping. Her eyes were closed, so it was hard to tell whether she was okay or not. The text came in a few seconds later.
Unknown: Daddy and Daisy’s day of fun!
“You fucking psychopath!” she screamed, slamming the phone down onto the counter before she crumbled to the floor, crying harder as I bent down and held her.
“He has my daughter,” she cried, clutching my t-shirt in her fists.
“I know, baby. We’re going to get her back. I promise. Why don’t you call him and see if you can figure out where he is?”
“Should I do that without asking the police first?”
“I don’t think they’re really going to be able to help with this.
They’re already searching the town for her.
If we tell them that you got another text message from an unknown number, they probably won’t be able to track it right away.
If you call him, he might be so anxious to talk to you that he tells you where they’re at. ”
“Do you really think that will work?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”