“I’m looking for Dakota Kelly.”
“I…that’s me.” Dakota held the door handle with a punishing grip. She wished now that she’d never answered the door.
This was it. This was the interview Wendy Zhang had warned her was coming. So much time had passed, she’d begun to think Ellen had been bluffing and had never followed through on her threat. But, clearly, she had.
“What’s going on?” Cam said, coming up behind her. She gave him a worried glance.
“This is someone from Child Protective Services,” she explained with a quiver in her voice.
“Carol Bellamy-Jones. And you are?”
“Cameron Bowes. I’m Dakota’s boyfriend. This is my house. Do you want to come inside?”
“Thank you. That would be nice.”
Cam led them through the foyer to the living room.
“Would you like something to drink?” Dakota asked.
“Some water, please. Flat, not sparkling. Thank you.”
They sat on the couches, the social worker on one side of the coffee table, Dakota and Cam on the other. Cam sat, manspreading, his arms wide on the back of the couch. Dakota perched on the edge, her hands in fists in her lap. She’d picked up the note Cam had dropped on the kitchen floor and stuffed it in her pocket.
“I’m here about your niece, Zinnia Caruthers.”
“She’s not here,” Dakota blurted.
Cam laid a hand on her leg. “She’s at a friend’s house.”
“When will she be back? I need to ask her some questions.”
Dakota’s initial fear was slowly being replaced by anger. This woman was trying to take Zinny away from her.
“What kind of questions?”
The social worker smiled. “Questions about her life with you. Questions very much like the ones I’m going to ask you. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let me tell you why I’m here.” She pulled a file folder out of her bag and consulted it. “Allegations have been made that Zinnia is a victim of abuse and or neglect.”
“That’s total—” Dakota blurted, but she stopped when Cam squeezed her thigh in a warning gesture. Gathering herself, she said instead, “She’s not being abused or neglected. She’s a completely happy, well-rounded child.”
Bellamy-Jones nodded as she took out a pen, file folder and notebook. “I sincerely hope that is the case.” She consulted some papers and asked questions about Dakota’s drinking habits, about her job with Eye Candy Maids, why she was fired from the custodial job at Shiloh Elementary.
Even though Dakota wanted to snap at the woman and be uncooperative, she realized that would accomplish nothing but irritate her, so Dakota just told the truth. She told her that Gwen would be more than happy to talk to her about her job requirements and performance. She wasn’t as sure that Principal Vickers would be as positive, so she didn’t offer her phone number. It probably didn’t matter because it wasn’t as if the woman couldn’t look up the school’s number online.
Before the questions circled around to her relationship with Cam, he interrupted.
“I’m so sorry, but I have to go. The Dragons are playing tonight and I have to get to the arena. But please call me if you need to talk to me. Dakota will give you my number.”
Dakota excused herself and walked Cam to the door of the garage.
“You didn’t eat anything,” she said, suddenly worried. “You’re going to crash and burn.” There was a definite window during which he needed to consume protein and carbs so his muscles would be properly fueled for the coming game.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay. I’ll grab something at the arena. I just wish I could stay longer.”
“No, it’s fine.” She hugged him. “You were great. I’m glad you were here for as long as you were. I don’t feel as freaked out now. Now get out of here. You have a game to win.”
He smiled and then, palming the back of her neck, gave her a sweet but thorough kiss that both comforted and excited her. But then again, with Cam, it didn’t take much to excite her.
“So, to get back to it,” Bellamy-Jones said once Dakota rejoined her, “tell me about your current job.”
Dakota hesitated. “I’m currently unemployed.”
“I understood that you work for Mr. Bowes.”
“Not anymore. It started out that way. His friend hired me as an Eye Candy maid as a sort of joke because his place was such a mess and a film crew was coming to video the inside of his house, but Cam liked what I did so much, he hired me to come regularly. When I got fired from my job at Shiloh, he offered me a full-time job. But we’ve since developed feelings for each other.”
“I noticed.”
Dakota licked her lips. “Anyway, we both decided that it was…weird for him to keep paying me. There’s nothing wrong with what we’ve done, you know,” she couldn’t help adding. “People fall in love all the time. I actually think it’s a good thing. Zinny loves Cam as much as I do. He’s a great role model. He taught her to swim and he just took her to the Daddy-Daughter Dance. She’s so much better off now than when we were living with her grandmother. Are you going to interview him? If you do, you’ll find out. Cam is a great guy.”
Bellamy-Jones nodded and scribbled in her notebook. “Yes. I’ll need to interview him as well. Can you show me where Zinny sleeps?”
“Oh, sure.”
Dakota tried to remember how messy she’d left Zinny’s room and couldn’t. Her memory seemed to have been washed clean by the incredible sex she’d had with Cam. It seemed unfair to have that amazing experience only to follow it with this inquisition.
Bellamy-Jones walked around Zinny’s room, taking in all the details, like a human video camera. Dakota tried to see it as a stranger would and thought there was nothing untoward here. Sure, there were some random toys on the floor, a shoe, a book, but on the whole it wasn’t that bad. Nothing that could be construed as signs of neglect or abuse.
“So, who exactly lives up here?” the social worker asked having just looked into the closet.
Dakota straightened the bedcovers. “We both do. Zinny and me.”
“But I thought you and Mr. Bowes…”
“We are, I…it’s just Zinny isn’t aware yet. See, I haven’t really dated since I became her guardian. I was a single woman one day and the next, my sister and her husband were dead and I had to take care of my little three-year-old niece. It was a lot to take in. A lot to learn. I’m still learning.” She let out a nervous exhale. “Anyway, Cam and I just…it just sort of happened and I haven’t figured out a way to tell Zinny yet. It’s a strange thing to bring up, you know? You probably don’t know. Sorry. I’m rambling.”
Bellamy-Jones said nothing, just smiled that bland smile as she continued poking around. Dakota kept up a running monologue about the room.
“These are Zinny’s drawers. She’s responsible for picking out her clothes the night before for school. I make sure she brushes her teeth twice a day. You can see the pool from here. She’s not allowed to swim by herself even though, like I said, Cam taught her how to swim. These are some of the books she’s reading. Somehow she can read more than one at a time, whatever she’s in the mood for…”
This went on for a good ten minutes, until the social worker said she was through here. They were about halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang again.
“That’ll be Zinny, home from her playdate,” Dakota said.
They went downstairs and Bellamy-Jones made a detour to the restroom.
“So, tell me everything!” Natalie exclaimed. She and the kids stood on the doorstep.
“Natalie,” Dakota said, casting a glance behind her, “now’s not a good time.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s a long story and I promise I’ll tell you, but not now. Thank you so much for watching Zinny. We’ll talk later. Okay?”
“Okay. Sure. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“I will. Thanks. You’re a terrific friend.”
Natalie and Nico left and Zinny looked worried.
“What’s wrong, Koko?”
“There’s a lady here, Zin Bin,” Dakota said, taking Zinny’s backpack and giving her the once over. She had some food smudged on her cheek, but other than that she looked like a normal kid. “Her name is Ms. Bellamy-Jones and she wants to ask you some questions. Oh, here she is.”
“Hi, Zinnia.”
“She likes to be called Zinny.”
“Zinny, I’m Carol and I’ve been wanting to talk to you, just you and me,” she said, giving Dakota a meaningful glance.
“About what?”
“Oh, this and that. How about we go outside? Ms. Kelly, I’m sure you have things to do.”
“Sure. That’s fine. I’ll get dinner started.”
While Zinny sat on the patio with the social worker, Dakota called Wendy Zhang, but the office was closed, of course, so she left a voice mail.
After that, she called Natalie.
“Thank God you called,” Natalie said. “I’ve been out of my mind worrying.”
“I’m sorry. The social worker was here—still is here, actually—asking questions.”
“Well, don’t you worry,” Natalie said. “She’s not going to find a scrap of evidence and if you need a character witness, tell her to call me.”
“Thanks, Nat. I appreciate it. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
After hanging up with her new best friend, Dakota looked out the window and studied Zinny’s body language. She sat on the chair, swinging her legs back and forth. She seemed relaxed, unlike Dakota, who desperately wanted to pop open a beer but was terrified the social worker would hold that against her.
Her phone dinged. Cam texted her.
There are tickets for you and Zinny at will call for tonight’s game if you want to come and unwind.
It was Saturday night and she wanted to go, but was afraid to risk it, afraid she was being watched and any missteps she made would cause the authorities would swoop in and take Zinny away from her forever. Who knew what kind of questions the woman had asked Zinny and what Zinny had told her? Lord, the child sometimes said the craziest things. Months ago she’d come home from school with a story about how so and so had said the F-word in class and both Ellen and Dakota had been shocked that a first grader knew the F-word, but it came out later that Zinny was talking about the word fart.
What if she told something completely innocent like that to the social worker?
No. This was ridiculous. Damned if she was going to live like this, worrying about every little thing. She had nothing to hide. Zinny wasn’t being abused or neglected. Far from it. In fact, if she stepped back from the situation and looked at it as objectively as she could, she didn’t see any reason for Bellamy-Jones to report otherwise.
Cam ended up playing like shit that night. He tried to shove what was going on at home into a box so he could focus on his game, but it turned out to be impossible. Along with his inability to concentrate, he had shit for energy because he’d eaten too little too late and skipped his nap. Not the most responsible behavior for an NHL player.
The Dragons won, but Cam’s surly mood seemed to warn everyone off, so he got through his post-game routine quickly. No joshing around with the guys, nothing was done that wasn’t absolutely necessary.
Ever since he’d left the house, all he could think about was what was going on at home. Tonight, he hated his job for taking him away from Dakota’s side just when she needed him most.
Leaving his bag in the trunk, he strode into the house. The dogs greeted him warmly, taking away some of his stress. Sometimes he wished he could live in the moment like dogs did.
“Hey, boys, how are you doing?” He tossed them a couple of dog biscuits and headed to the bedroom.
Dakota was still awake. Wearing those purple pajamas, she sat in the enormous bed with her knees drawn up. She looked small and vulnerable.
He sighed as he pulled off his tie. “Tell me what happened. Are you all right?” He shrugged off his suit jacket and hung it and the tie on this contraption that Dakota had made him buy, called a valet. It was a cross between a hanger and a stand. He hung his pants up too and placed his shoes on the rack on the bottom. Everything in its place. It was a pain in the ass, but it made her happy and that’s all he wanted.
“I’ve been better,” she said, but he got into bed and she snuggled right up to him. He was suffused with equal parts pride and protectiveness.
“So what happened after I left?” Cam asked.
Dakota recounted the questions the social worker had asked and how Natalie had dropped Zinny off and she had her own interview.
“What did she ask Zinny?” Cam asked.
“Well, I haven’t pressed her too hard. She’d already endured one inquisition. I didn’t want to put her through another one. But Zinny said she asked questions about what her normal routine is. If we yelled a lot or spanked. Who came over to the house and how often. If she ever felt afraid or worried and why. They talked for about forty minutes.”
“Did she dig around in the trash or snoop in our bedroom?”
“No, but she looked at Zinny’s. I said my stuff was still up there because we hadn’t told her we were a couple yet.”
“We should do that tomorrow,” Cam said. “I don’t like the idea of keeping secrets from the kid, especially when there’s no reason to be keeping our relationship a secret.”
“I’m fine with that for the same reasons.”
He kissed the top of her head. “So, I’ll call the social worker tomorrow and let her ask me all the questions she wants and then we’ll be done with it.”
“Not really. That’s when the waiting starts,” she said dejectedly.
“Hey, listen to me. They’re not going to take her away from us,” he said, hugging her closer. “They could look for evidence of you prostituting yourself all day long and never find anything because there’s nothing to find. Right?”
“Right,” she agreed, still looking uncertain. “That doesn’t mean something else might not go wrong.”