Chapter 80
Eighty
‘You ready, kiddo?’ Daniel asked, checking that Ava’s seat belt was secure before he started the car.
She nodded as she negotiated opening the pack of Haribo he’d just bought at the service station shop.
Such tasks weren’t easy with her prosthetic, but he fought the urge to do it for her.
He’d needed constant reminders from Ashley to let her be as independent as possible.
The parental instinct in him had wanted to do everything he could to make her life easier.
He still couldn’t believe she was sitting beside him. The day she’d been taken away counted as the second-worst day of his life, just days after losing her mother.
He blamed himself more than he blamed the Chances. They wouldn’t be in this mess now if he’d only acted on adopting her. He had wanted to from the day they got married, but neither he nor Ashley had felt there was any rush.
He remembered the day he’d met her. He’d been dating Ashley for almost a year before she’d allowed him anywhere near her child.
While he had no kids of his own, he did have two nephews, and even compared to them the two-year-old had been packing attitude.
He was honest enough to admit that his heart had instantly swelled at seeing her disability. That had soon been forgotten when she’d ordered him to sit in a different chair because that one was where she cuddled with Mummy.
From that moment, he had steadily grown to love her more and more. He’d watched her grow from a rambunctious toddler to a confident, polite but spirited young girl who refused to be held back by her physical challenges.
He remembered the day he had realised she was irrevocably his daughter.
She’d returned home from school with a small bruise on her arm. When Ashley asked how she got it, she said she’d had a row with a boy because she’d got no dad. His heart had been about to break until she told them her response.
‘I told him I have got a dad and he draws houses at work.’
Her reference to him as her dad had almost brought him to tears.
And then she’d watched him closely, waiting for his reply. Waiting to see if what she’d said was okay.
‘That’s right, sweetie,’ he’d said, gathering her into his arms. ‘You tell them what your daddy does at work.’
And she had never called him anything else since.
During those days without her, he had never felt so alone.
Trying to come to terms with the loss of his wife had been hard enough, but caring for Ava had, at least, given his brain a break.
The mundane tasks of making sure she ate and bathed and cleaned her teeth had offered him brief reprieves from descending into the darkness of his own grief.
He had expected something from the Chances. There was no depth they wouldn’t sink to in order to get Ava. He shuddered at the thought.
Right now, Ava was chewing on a Haribo while humming to herself and absently kicking her feet. She knew she was where she belonged.
There were no words for the gratitude he felt for the inspector.
He hadn’t yet paused for long enough to wonder at the cost of her actions. Once he was safely settled, he’d do his best to help her in any way he could.
He had been determined to follow her instructions to the letter, but it had taken a little longer than an hour to organise themselves.
When he’d packed a few days ago, it had been a panic move.
Today, he’d had to pack as though they might not be coming back.
That had required more consideration of what they needed, including things that had been important to Ashley.
Other than starting off late, he had followed the detective’s instructions.
He had spoken to no one, told no one where he was going and his phone had remained switched off.
Once on the motorway, he’d been tempted to get in the fast lane and speed his way out of the area, but he’d held his nerve and barely sent the needle above sixty.
Ava had predictably wanted to use the bathroom around eighty miles into the journey, but he’d managed to delay her until they were on the other side of the border.
For some reason, he had let out a long sigh of relief once he passed the ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign, as though that somehow made them unreachable.
He knew the authorities could find him in Scotland, but there was a feeling of safety as the miles mounted up.
‘Okay, sweetie, let’s get back on the road,’ he said, starting the car. ‘Next stop is Auntie Janine’s.’
‘Yay,’ she said, thrusting her fist into the air. ‘I love Aunt—’ Her words were cut off as a sudden force shunted the car forward.
‘What the…?’ he said, trying to work out what had happened. He looked behind. Headlights shone into the car, blinding him.
He turned to Ava. ‘You okay, sweetie?’ he asked, looking for any sign of injury.
‘I th… think so,’ she said, nodding.
‘Wait here,’ he said, unbuckling his seat belt. ‘Let me go and sort this out. I’ll be back in a minute.’