Her Only Hero

Chapter 7

I attempt to calm my out of control breathing as the phone connects to his, but focusing on it makes it worse. Pressure builds up below my ears from my tense jaw and my head begins to pound from a headache growing behind my eyes. The ring starts and I listen to that instead.

Brr, brr. Brr, brr. Brr, b-

A man's voice answers. "Hello?"

I unclench my jaw and clear my throat. "Hello, is—is this Nathan?" I ask, calmer than I would like.

"Yes," he replies, confusion lacing his scratchy voice. "Who is this?"

I straighten up and square my shoulders, despite him not being able to see me. My voice a deep rumble like rolling thunder, I reply, "I believe you have my sister."

A short intake of breath echoes through the speaker, and then silence. It stretches on for what seems like forever, until a beeping sound echoes through, and the call ends.

"Coward," I growl under my breath, pulling the phone away from my ear. I bash the button with my thumb and the ring screen pops back up. The phone slams against my ear and I hear the buzzing ring. He takes longer to answer, and for a moment I'm certain I'll go straight to his voicemail.

When the ringing stops, I speak before he can. "Where is she?

"She's safe," he tells me.

I hiss into the phone, "That wasn't the question." The rising anger warms me from head to toe, and beads of sweat drip from my hairline.

"She's with me." His refusal to answer the question tenses every muscle in my body.

"She shouldn't be with you," I growl. "Bring her back." I squeeze the phone in my hand until it shakes against my ear.

"She's safe with me."

"I don't care!" I shout down the speaker. "She doesn't belong to you." My voice shakes with rage.

"She does now."

Chills erupt over my entire body, fizzling down every nerve and vein, finishing at the end of my fingers and toes. My stomach flips and wraps itself into a knot. Nausea seeps into my gut and swirls around like a tornado.

Pain settles in my jaw from the tension I create. As I stare at the small oval table in front of me, my quivering muscles yearn to send it fly across the room, and I have to dig my heels into the ground to resist.

"No, she doesn't," I snarl. "Bring her back now, or I'm calling the cops."

"Her mother is not fit to take care of her."

How would he know? He's only known Misty existed for a couple of hours, and he's spent only one night with Mum in the past six years. He knows nothing!

Anger surges through me, igniting every nerve ending and twitching every muscle. "That's not your call to make." My feet move me, unable to stand still for any longer. I pace the room up and down, kicking everything that gets in my way.

"It is," he says. "She's told me everything she's not allowed to do and the way she's treated. No child should live like that." His rough voice gets under my skin.

I agree our mother is the worst mother in history. She doesn't care about her children or anyone who isn't herself, and she has never done anything a mother should do for her children, but that's no excuse for him to kidnap a child.

"It's none of your business," I say, sending a piece of shattered plate flying across the room with my shoe, causing it to smash into the wall beside the front door.

"I've made it my business," he says.

"Too bad," I snap. "Give her back."

"I can't do that," he tells me.

"Yes, you can," I say, "and you will!" My voice bounces around the room.

"Shut up," I hear my mother yell from inside her bedroom, but I ignore her.

"No," he says, raising his voice to keep up with my constant rising tone. "I'll take care of her and raise her the right way."

"That's not your responsibility!" I scream at him.

Retreating back to the comfort of his regular tone, he says, "It is."

"Says who?" I say through gritted teeth.

"I do," he replies.

I scoff at him. "And who do you think you are?"

The conversation comes to a standstill for just a moment, as if someone hit pause on a remote. I hear a sharp intake of breath through the speaker and stop pacing as I hear him take his time to release it . My patience grows thin waiting for his reply, and just as I'm about to scream at him to answer, he does.

"I'm her father."

***