Sitting on the park bench in the town square used to be such an innocent activity. All around me, tourists milled about on their idyllic vacations, popping in and out of the shops that Rett and I were ticking off our dirty little list, one by one.
We'd moved out from Main Street now, taking in the side streets that gridded the town. I'd never known there was so much commerce in this town.
I leaned forward on the sun-warmed bench. The heat seeped in through the thin fabric of my sundress, making me shiver. I wasn't wearing panties, of course, and I crossed and recrossed my legs. Anticipation of what we were about to do had me almost moaning out there in the sunlight surrounded by families on vacation.
I shook my head and turned away, standing back up again and briskly walking towards the edge of the park.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the kids from the daycare spilling out into the playground where they spent their last hour before pickup. Eager for the distraction, I searched for Grace's silky head. Then I spotted her, off in a corner, away from the rest of her peers, methodically poking the packed dirt with a stick.
I pressed my lips together. I hadn't been paying close enough attention at all to her. Maybe I ought to walk over, grab Autumn and talk with her about forcing more interaction with other kids. I stood there, searching for Autumn's fiery red hair, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a car pull up along the side street, slowing in a way that made a nervous flutter start in the pit of my stomach.
I stepped around a giant oak to get a closer look and saw a tall man, his shoulders slumped forward like he'd suffered many defeats in life, roll out of his driver's seat. He worked over his shoulder several times, then approached the building from the side.
Out of the eyesight of the teachers.
Alarmed, I searched more frantically for Autumn's red head, and finally spotted her, across to the other edge of the playground. She was gathered with the rest of the teachers, hunched over a kid who was lying screaming on the ground directly underneath the monkey bars. All their attention was on him, so that no one noticed this strange man walking right up to the fence and waving to Grace.
"No honey," I muttered under my breath, willing Grace to back away from the man who was beckoning her.
But Grace, sweet little Grace, looked up, and her face broke out into a wide smile. I couldn't be sure from this distance, but I swore her lips formed the shape of the word "Daddy."
And then it was clear. Of course this man was her father. Grace looked nothing like Adelina, but this man, this was the where the real familial resemblance lay. They both shared the same slanted eyes and the same shade of honey brown in their hair. I could already see how her limbs were lengthening, reaching towards her father's height.
Some of that adrenaline-packed alertness I was feeling sort of ebbed. I watched with a wary eye as he touched her head, then her cheek, but something wasn't sitting right.
Why hadn't he come through the main building?
Suddenly alert again, I moved the very edge of the street corner watching as he walked around the side and opened one of the side gates. Horrified, I watched as Grace skipped happily over to meet him.
"Grace! Hold it," I cried in my best teacher voice.
Grace froze, obedient child that she was, and I rushed across the street, causing a station wagon full of vacationers to swerve out-of-the-way, the horn blaring angrily. Adrenaline coursed through my body as I rushed up to the tall man, who stepped back and shot me a winning smile.
"Oh, it's no big deal," he said with a charming grin. "I'm her dad, picking her up."
The instinct to be nice, to back off, reared its ugly head, and I forced it back down again out of fear for Grace. "Grace, is this your daddy?"
Grace nodded and swiped her hair out of her eyes, that little nervous tick she always showed when agitated. I looked back at the man. "No. Stay right there Grace," I said, holding his gaze.
The man gave an angry growl. "I'm her motherfucking father. Let me take her with me!"
"Don't you go near her," I shouted. "Autumn!" I called across the playground, but the kid on the ground was still screaming.
The stranger's face flushed red, and a dangerous gleam flickered in his eyes. And all at once I was afraid of him.
And suddenly I knew that Adelina, she was afraid of him too. The wariness, the watchfulness, the warning about creepers lurking around. It all slammed into place and I looked up at this man, horrified at what he must have done to his family.
"I can pick up my own damn kids," he went on. I could see him battling with the violence inside of him. He gave me another charmingly winning smile that would have made me relent once upon a time. "Look," he said. "I'll show you the pictures I have her on my phone." His lip twitched up in a snarl. "Will that make you stop being such a bitch?"
Swallowing hard, I pulled out my own phone. "No," I said, keeping my voice steady as I dialed the police. "You stay right there. Don't you touch her."
He turned bright red and lunged for his daughter right as I yanked Grace behind me. "Stay back!" I shouted just as the police dispatcher picked up. "911?" I gasped. "I need to report an attempted kidnapping."