Chapter 19 #3
Angel nods. “Let’s go.” Then she starts jogging towards the exit, towing me along with her.
“Where are you searching?” Alec calls after us. “So I don’t send anyone else there.”
“The route back to your house?” I ask Angel. “Do you think she’d walk back there?”
She doesn’t answer for a second. Her forehead pinches in thought. “Maybe. But let’s cut through the park. It’s better lit that way. And sometimes—” Her voice breaks. “Sometimes she gets scared of the dark.”
Once Angel and I get outside, it’s strangely quiet. Maybe it’s the fresh snow from earlier today. Or maybe it’s because half the town seems to be at the school already. The only sounds I hear are our rapid breaths and the crunch of our feet in the snow.
Worry niggles at me as I glance over at Angel.
She’s still recovering from being shot and the emotional trauma that came with it.
Racing through the snow with a still-healing bullet wound, terrified out of her mind…
I don’t like it. At all. But there’s nothing I can do about it, because I know there’s no way Angel would stay back and let us search without her.
As we run, I use my Maglite to search in the shadows. Angel and I take turns calling out Haley’s name. I scan the ground, looking for small footprints that might match a nine-year-old’s. But minutes go by with nothing.
“What if someone made her leave?” Angel whispers. “Just because Alec didn’t see… Someone could have threatened her.”
“We’ll find her,” I reply. The reassurance is just as much for me as for her.
The park comes up ahead of us, well-lit in comparison to the darkened streets surrounding it. Normally, a lot of the stores and restaurants would still be open at six-thirty. But with it being Christmas Eve, they’ve been closed for hours.
Angel puts on a burst of speed as we approach. “Maybe she came through this way. Maybe…” Her voice is thick with tears. Then she glances over at me. “What if she didn’t? She could be anywhere. And I keep thinking about Justin. What if he threatened her? Threatened me? If he told her he’d hurt me…”
“Wait.” About fifteen feet to our right, I spot a trail of footprints cutting across the snow. It’s a long shot that they’re Haley’s. But it’s possible. “Look.”
Angel rushes to the prints. “I can’t tell. They’re small, but… I don’t look at the tread on her boots. I didn’t think I needed to. I didn’t think…” Tears shine on her cheeks. “I should have stayed with her. Done something.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Clasping her hand, I lead Angel along with me as I follow the footprints. They lead into the park, through a little grove of decorated trees, and then beyond them, trailing off towards the gazebo at the center of it.
And there.
All in brown.
In the gazebo.
Angel starts running at the same time I do.
As we near the gazebo, I can pick out the details of Haley’s costume—the fluffy tail, the perky ears, and the furry snout that’s dangling from her neck.
Angel spent hours working on it one-handed, much to my chagrin.
I offered to have one specially made, to save Angel the effort. But she insisted on making it herself.
“Haley!” Angel almost trips in her desperation to reach Haley. “Haley!”
Haley turns just as we hit the stairs. “Mom?”
“Haley.” Her voice shakes. “Oh, Haley.” Closing the distance between them, Angel pulls Haley into her arms. “What happened, sweetie? Why did you leave? Did someone scare you?”
I quickly shoot off a text to Enzo letting him know to call the search off. Then I hover beside Angel and Haley, wanting to hug them both, but not sure if it’s my place.
Haley hugs her mom for a few seconds before taking a step back. Then she looks at me. “Ronan?”
My heart aches to see the tear streaks marking her makeup. “Yeah, Speedy.”
Her little chin wobbles. “You came, too?”
“Of course.” I pat her head. “I was worried about you.”
“Are you hurt?” Angel asks. “Did someone make you leave? Threaten you?”
Haley shakes her head. “No. I’m not hurt. No one made me leave.”
“Then… I don’t understand. What happened?”
Haley looks between us. She hesitates. “Am I in trouble?”
“No,” I answer immediately. I know I shouldn’t say it. But shit. She’s okay. She’s safe. I don’t give a shit about anything else.
“Haley, sweetie.” Angel crouches so her head is level with Haley’s. “You’re not in trouble. You scared us, because we didn’t know where you were. Can you just tell us what happened?”
Haley’s gaze dips. “I saw him. My real dad. When I was peeking at the audience.”
Angel sucks in a sharp breath. “Your real dad?”
“I saw him at the hospital. When you got hurt. Just for a second, but then I heard people saying who he was.”
“Oh, Hale.” Angel looks miserable. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d seen him, or I would have explained. But you don’t have anything—”
“I don’t want him to be my dad,” Haley blurts. “And I don’t want to go live with him.” Then she bursts into tears.
My heart breaks.
“You’re not,” Angel says. “Oh, sweetie, you’re not. You’re staying right here. With me. Things with him… are complicated. But you’re not leaving. I promise.”
“But.” Haley’s tearful gaze comes to mine. “I don’t want that man to be my dad. I want Ronan as my real dad.”
My eyes burn.
I want it, too.
“Hale.” Angel sniffs back her tears. “Oh, Hale.” Then she looks over Haley’s shoulder and gestures for me to join them.
I rush to them, gathering one in each arm. It’s all I can do not to burst into tears myself.
I want to say I’ll be Haley’s dad. But I can’t. It’s not my choice.
“Sweetie.” Angel touches Haley’s cheek. “I promise. You aren’t going anywhere.”
“But.” Haley’s lower lip juts out. “What about Ronan?”
Angel glances at me. Through her tears, I can see the love in her eyes. “Ronan isn’t going anywhere either. Not if it’s up to me.”
Hugging the two of them closer, I press a soft kiss to Haley’s fuzzy head. Then a longer one to Angel’s silky hair. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”