72 Hours by Shannon Stacey

Author:Shannon Stacey [Stacey, Shannon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Suspense, Suspense Fiction; American, Legal Stories; American
ISBN: 9781599980409
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Published: 2005-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Alex was relieved to see Grace and Danny join them in the big rec room, but confused when she veered off toward him and Danny walked alone to a couch at the far end and sat. He’d figured the kid would still be refusing to let go of her. In fact, he’d been counting on it—his last hope for changing her mind.

“He wants to talk to you,” she said quietly, and he noted the pinched look her face always took on when she was trying not to be emotional.

“Did you tell him who I am?”

She nodded. “I thought it was best. You were staring at him a lot and he was beginning to think you were a creepy child molester.”

“Good instincts,” he said, and then his brain caught up with his mouth. “I mean, not that I’m a pedophile, but it’s good he was aware I couldn’t stop watching him.”

She laughed at him, some of the color returning to her cheeks. “So stop watching him and go talk to him.”

Alex had seen and done things in his life that would have been too unbelievable and outrageous even for Hollywood. But nothing had ever scared him the way his son watching his approach did. Every footstep across the rec room seemed to echo in his ears, and he almost turned and bolted before giving himself a mental slap. This was his son.

He sat next to Danny and assumed the same position—leaned forward, elbows on knees, hands together. “Hi, Danny.”

“Hi.”

“So…your mom told you who I am?”

He nodded, his big eyes so serious Alex thought his heart would break. This was his kid—sad and scared—and he didn’t know what to say to him.

“Mom said you didn’t know ‘bout me. That she didn’t tell you I’m your kid.”

Alex felt as if he was in a vice, being slowly squeezed by the pressure. He didn’t know how to be a dad. He hadn’t read any of the books, or watched parenting videos. What if he said the wrong thing and scarred the kid for life?

The only thing he did know was that this moment was going to set the emotional stage for a lifetime.

“No, buddy, she didn’t tell me about you. But we lost touch before you were born, and then…part of my job is a big secret, and that makes me hard to find.”

Danny nodded, and Alex prayed the boy had made some sense of his words. More sense than he’d made of them. He cleared his throat. “The important thing is I didn’t come because I didn’t know about you. Don’t ever think I didn’t want you.”

The way Danny smiled but looked away told him the little boy had spent his short life thinking exactly that, and the urge to walk across the room and knock Grace on her ass was almost too much for him. But he could imagine too clearly the look on their son’s face if he did.

“Once the bad guys are gone will you come see me?” Danny asked, picking at his thumbnail.

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