Behind me, a tiny voice yelled down, “Charlotte! Look!”
I twisted back to face the funhouse as my mom smiled and waved up at Avery and her friend, who were both looking down at her from the bridge.
“I see you!” my mom shouted back.
I grinned up at Avery, whose smile widened when she saw me standing there, then she and her friend were off again.
“She was, but she may have gotten caught up talking to someone. I’m going to go look for her. Text me if she finds you?”
“I’ll keep you updated if she does.”
“Thank you for watching Avery. We really appreciate it.”
My mom looked at me. “I’m happy to give you guys the alone time you need. Plus, Avery is like a breath of fresh air compared to you and your siblings.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “I’m sure she is.”
Heading further into the section with the rides, I kept an eye out for Sage. I wouldn’t miss her with her plaid dress on, but the more I looked, the more the worry set in. The fair wasn’t massive, so she couldn’t be far.
So where was she?
Picking up my pace, I hurried past groups of people. Before I knew it, I was circling back toward the food trucks with no Sage in sight.
My inability to find her in a crowd full of people shouldn’t concern me this much, but with her ex still out there somewhere, the worst crept in, enveloping my mind.
I shouldn’t have let her walk away alone. I should have gone with her, no matter that she felt safe here.
Protected by the crowd or not, I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
She was safe.
She was just caught up somewhere and I hadn’t found her yet.
But as much as my thoughts tried to soothe me, the worst kept creeping in.
What if she wasn’t?
What if he found her?
I just had to hope I got to her first.
39
Sage
“What the fuck, Jason?”
He grabbed the cash in a flash, shoving it deep into his pocket with his other hand still on my arm in a bruising grip. “Where’s the money, Sage?”
I tried to keep the tremble out of my voice, but failed. “I’m not giving you any money.”
He shook me once, hard, as the man who brought me over here stood at the edge of the alley like some kind of guard dog. “Then where’s my daughter?”
I reached up to remove his hand, but he caught it before I could grab his wrist. His squeeze was punishing, and I was surprised none of my fingers snapped in his grip. I tugged, tears springing to my eyes. “Let me go,” I gritted out.
He clicked his tongue, holding me like it was nothing. He was always good at that. Treating me like I was nothing more than a bird's feather on the wind, inconveniencing him.
“It’s either money or the girl.”
“The girl?” I exclaimed, exasperated. “She’s my life, Jason. You don’t even love her!”
In a flash, he dropped my hand and pain bloomed in my cheek as he slapped me, my head snapping to the side. My cheek and jaw stung, more tears puddling in my eyes.
“I’ll get child support if I have her,” he said, as if that was at all appealing to hear.
“Not if you kidnap her,” I seethed, though it came out more as a whisper. Raising my voice with him never got me anywhere. It only made it worse. But he was bringing Avery into this, and my heart couldn’t handle that.
His grip on my upper arm somehow became harder, cutting off the circulation. “Then give me what I want.”
“How did you expect me to give you money if you made me lose my job?”
“You’d move back to Portland and get a job that paid more than that shitty coffee shop.” It wasn’t confirmed before that he was the one who made the call to Erica, but now I was certain.
“You really think I’d move back with you?” He’d lost his mind. Though, I wasn’t sure if he’d had it to begin with.
“You wouldn’t have a choice. I should drag your ass back there tonight. But I can’t do that without any money.”
“I don’t have money on me.” Did he expect me to hold thousands of dollars in my dress?
