"Alright. Is his last name…" I pretended to think. "Taylor?"
She laughed. "No. That'smyname."
Crap.
But of course, I should've realized there was no guarantee that she and her dad would have the same last name. Still, my sense of unease was growing.
Working hard to keep calm, I said, "Alright, I give up. Why don't you just tell us?"
Willow was frowning again. "But you only guessed once."
When I looked to Cami, she said to Willow, "If you tell meyourdad's name, I'll tell youmydad's name. And it's a funny one, too."
Willow perked up. "Really?"
"Oh yeah," Cami said. "But you tell us first. What'syourdad's name?"
Willow replied, "Mason."
I froze.Oh, no.It couldn’t bethatMason.Could it?Cami and I exchanged another long, worried look. Finally, it was Cami who asked the question I'd been dreading. "And what's his last name?"
And that's when Willow said it. "Blastoviak."
Shit.
I felt the blood drain from my face – and not only because I knew that name all too well. It was because just then, a big black sedan screeched to stop on the street beside us.
I recognized that sedan, just like I recognized the driver, who'd already bolted from the car. He slammed the driver's side door behind him and moved toward us with long, angry strides.
From the look on his face, he was about to accuse us of stealing his kid, which posed an unsettling question.
Had we?
Chapter 58
Arden
In stunned silence, Cami and I watched from the sidewalk as Mason – with a surprising degree of gentleness – escorted Willow straight to his car and got her settled in the back seat.
And then, after shutting the car door behind her, he strode back to where we stood. With murder in his eye, he demanded in a low voice, "What the hell were you doing?"
I resisted the urge to cringe in the face of his quiet wrath. "We were walking her home." My chin lifted as I considered who was truly at fault here. "And as long as we're all asking, what the hell wereyoudoing?"
He glared down at me. "So you're gonna walk ten fucking miles? With a seven-year-old?That'swhat you want me to believe?"
I blinked. "Ten miles? Really?"
Well, that explained why we'd never found the house.
"Cut the crap," he said. "What do you want?"
Wasn't it obvious?"Iwantedto take her home."
"Oh yeah?" he said. "And where the hell is that?"
Oh, for God's sake."In case it wasn't clear," I said, "I meantherhome, not mine." This should've been obvious. I mean for one thing, I didn't evenhavea home.
But apparently, Mason was too angry to think straight. With a low scoff, he said, "Is that so?"
