Ava stared at her dad, who sat in the front passenger seat. He was a White Patriot now. The first thing he’d said once they were out of earshot of the cop was that his being a White Patriot was her fault. If he hadn’t gone to jail, he wouldn’t have had to join the white supremacists for protection in jail.
She’d argued it was his own damn fault he’d gone to jail, and he’d slapped her.
Her dear old dad was back.
And Uncle Josh was under the bridge.
She held her breath to keep back the tears and focused on the driver. She’d recognized him from photos Uncle Josh had showed her when he warned her about people to watch out for after they were doxed. It was Troy Kocher. The White Patriot who’d creeped Maddie out so much, she’d called Uncle Josh.
How had Troy Kocher gotten mixed up with her dad? And why were they driving into to the parking garage of the Nielsen building where Uncle Josh worked? The place where Maddie had been abducted.
Another deep breath couldn’t stop the tears, even though she knew she’d get smacked again if her dad saw them.
Uncle Josh.
She’d had no memory of ever meeting her uncle when he started writing to her a month after her mom killed herself. When the letters started arriving, her dad said awful things about him, hinting that he’d run Josh off because he’d been in love with her mom.
Ava hadn’t known what to believe, but part of her had begun to fantasize that the mysterious uncle was really her biological father, and she’d created a new email account so Uncle Josh could email her without her dad knowing.
When he’d moved to Portland to take care of her, and he seemed to genuinely care about her, it was every childish fantasy come true. Until she’d read the letter he’d written to Trina, which made her wonder if he really had been in love with her mom too. If he really had been a stalker like her dad had said.
Was that what her uncle did? Fall in love with women he couldn’t have?
And then he met Maddie, and a new fear emerged. If he fell in love with a woman he could actually be with, would he still have room for Ava?
The last months with Uncle Josh had been a mix of hopeful confusion. She had an adult who cared about her, who wasn’t cruel like her dad, or depressed like her mom. He didn’t try to end her friendship with Marcus. In fact, he actively encouraged it.
He didn’t freak out about her anxiety issues. Instead, he found her a psychotherapist and made her keep regular appointments so she could get the help she needed, and he didn’t shame her for needing medication.
He didn’t even turn his back on her when she deliberately broke his heart. She’d been unspeakably awful, and he’d never wavered in his care for her.
A sob escaped. She couldn’t stop it.
She pulled her knees to her chest in the backseat and held her breath to stop the crying.
After her dad had slapped her—right there on a public street!—she’d told him she knew what he’d done, that she’d seen him leave his coat under the bridge, and she would see to it that he would go to prison—not jail—this time, for domestic terrorism.
Her dad had pulled her to his chest as if he was hugging her and said right next to her ear, “Watch your mouth, little girl.”
She’d screamed and struggled against his chest, but between the sirens and people running to and from the collapsed bridge, no one had paid attention. They were a block away and around the corner from the cop who was stopping all foot traffic to the park, and all the other officers in the area were dealing with the bridge collapse.
“Don’t cry, baby,” her dad had shouted as he strangled her with a hug. “Everything is gonna be just fine.”
Then Kocher had appeared, and her dad loosened his grip. She’d thought maybe someone was going to help her after all. But then her dad said, “We need to take her with us. She’s a witness.”
“I’m not a kidnapper,” Kocher had replied.
“She’s my daughter. It’s all legal.”
“No, it’s not!” She pushed out of her dad’s arms and got a look at the guy’s face, and that was when she’d recognized him. Her stomach had plummeted. Troy Kocher would never help her.
What have I done?
She was still asking herself that question as the car circled the lowest level of the parking garage, searching for a space. She’d tried to escape the car right after her dad shoved her inside, but the child locks were engaged and the power windows locked. She was trapped.
The garage was awfully full for a Sunday, but maybe they’d allowed White Patriots to park here for the rally. It was a long walk, but parking was limited by the river, and news vans had taken most of the street spots.
Uncle Josh said he wasn’t certain what side Cliff Nielsen the fourth was on, but given his family’s connection to the Kochers, and the fact that the neo-Nazi driver had some kind of pass that got him into the garage, it didn’t look good.
Did that matter now that Uncle Josh could be dead?
But he wasn’t dead. He can’t be.
She had to believe that. She wouldn’t lose another person. Uncle Josh had promised her.
She gripped her purse. The tracker was still there, inside the lining where Uncle Josh had hidden it. But Chase was probably helping first responders at the bridge. He had first aid training. He told her he’d been an EMT before he’d gone to the police academy and then was hired by Raptor. He was needed there. Maybe he could save Uncle Josh and the others who’d been under the bridge.
Chase wouldn’t be able to come after her, and the police were busy at the bridge too.
Only Maddie would realize she was missing, but she had to be worried about Uncle Josh. Maddie was probably helping dig through the rubble, as Ava had wanted to do.
Ava swiped at a tear. She should have stayed with Maddie instead of running off. Why didn’t she stay with Maddie?
She didn’t even know why. It had just been…impossible to stay in that hotel room one second longer.
Uncle Josh. The dad she’d always wanted.
Now she was stuck with the dad she’d grown to hate. The dad who hated her.
Why had she opened her stupid mouth and told her dad what she’d seen?
She’d been in public. She’d never dreamed her dad would be so brazen as to abduct her on a crowded sidewalk. But he had, and no one was coming to save her. She was on her own. She straightened her spine and leaned forward. “Why are we here?”
“None of your business, little girl,” her dad said.
“Uh, I’m pretty sure it is my business, since you’re kidnapping me.”
“I’m your father. You’re a minor. Your mama’s dead. No such thing as kidnapping.”
“You signed over your parental rights.” She crossed her arms. “You have no legal rights over me. Kidnapping.”
Troy Kocher slammed on the brakes, and the car jerked to a halt. “Wait. What? I told you I don’t kidnap minors.”
Well, that little qualifier sent her creep-o-meter into the stratosphere.
She’d known Uncle Josh had been named her guardian, but that was a temporary arrangement while her dad was in jail. Uncle Josh had never told her that her dad had signed over his rights, but she’d found the papers when she’d been snooping.
Score one point for being nosey, but lose a thousand points for allowing herself to be grabbed by her dad in the first place.
“Don’t listen to her. She’s lying.”
“I don’t like this, Warner. This wasn’t part of the plan. We were supposed to grab Foster, not the girl.”
“Shut up and find a parking spot,” her dad said, “or we’re going to be late.”
The car started rolling again.
“How did you get out of jail?” she asked. “You didn’t even serve half your sentence.”
Her dad turned in his seat so she could see his nasty smile. “Your uncle’s girlfriend wanted you out of the picture, so she asked her brother to spring me.”
Ava thought her heart would explode as a rush of horror and pain erupted from the center of her chest. She was dizzy. Shook.
But fresh on the wave of pain, she thought about tea and cakes and Wonder Woman. She remembered a long car ride to the Painted Hills and frank talk of sex and relationships, the kind she’d spent the last two years wishing she could’ve had with her mom. With a flash of certainty as strong as the pain of a moment before, she settled on the truth.
Her dad always had known how to hurt her. It wasn’t surprising he’d guess her relationship with Maddie was a weak point. Her asshole father was lying. Again.
But the thing about Maddie’s brother getting him out of jail, that had a ring of truth. The guy was a congressman, Senate candidate, and former attorney. He probably could pull strings. And he’d been the featured speaker at the hate rally, so whatever was going on, it was probably Congressman Tisdale’s agenda her dad was serving.
But why would Tisdale release her dad?
Her first guess was to derail Uncle Josh from working the rallies. But then she remembered the explosion, and a new theory formed. Her dad had worked in demolition. He knew explosives.
Did he know Uncle Josh had been under the bridge when it collapsed? She wasn’t about to tell him. She figured Uncle Josh was the only person her dad truly feared. That he’d feared him all along—after all, he was better, stronger, smarter. He’d been a Navy SEAL and worked for and had the respect of powerful people, including a sitting senator and former US attorney general.
“You’re just a politician’s tool, aren’t you, Dad?”
Her dad stiffened. “Shut your mouth, little girl.”
“Why? Truth hurts?” She didn’t care if he hit her again. Reaching between the seats would make the blow awkward anyway. She reached for her purse and dug inside for her nail file. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. She would fight her father with everything she had.
Unfortunately, Kocher found a parking space right then, and they came to a halt.
New fear settled in. Not fear of her father, but of what was next. She took a slow breath, but air wasn’t really filling her lungs. Was this what hyperventilating was like?
Her father opened his door and slipped out of his seat, then yanked open her door. “C’mon, little girl. It’s time for you to meet Daddy’s new boss.”