“Dad, Can She Eat With Us?”—Then the Single Dad Did Something Nobody Expected
Chapter 2
Daniel stared at the photograph.
His first reaction was disbelief.
The second was fear.
The photograph showed a woman he recognized.
Sarah Carter.
Emily’s mother.
He had met her once.
Seven years earlier.
She had worked at the same manufacturing plant where Daniel had worked before becoming a mechanic.
But that wasn’t the shocking part.
The shocking part was the man standing beside her.
Daniel.
His younger self.
The image had been taken eleven years earlier.
On the back, Sarah had written:
If Emily ever needs help, find Daniel Reed. He’ll understand.
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Your mother knew me?”
Emily nodded.
“She said you were good.”
His throat tightened.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is she?”
“She left two nights ago.”
“With who?”
Emily shook her head.
“She told me to stay inside.”
Daniel looked toward the apartment door.
“Has anyone been here?”
Emily nodded.
“Three men.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“What did they want?”
“They asked for Mom.”
Daniel immediately took a step back.
“Did you tell them where she was?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The police arrived.
Emily was taken to a temporary shelter.
But Daniel couldn’t stop thinking about the photograph.
He contacted an old coworker.
“You remember Sarah Carter?”
The answer came after a pause.
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared years ago.”
Daniel frowned.
“No. She had Emily.”
The coworker went quiet.
“Daniel…”
“What?”
“You weren’t supposed to know.”
His pulse increased.
“Know what?”
“Sarah was investigating the plant.”
“Investigating what?”
“Missing safety funds.”
Daniel remembered.
There had been whispers.
Equipment purchases that never arrived.
Maintenance budgets disappearing.
Workers reporting dangerous machinery.
And one supervisor who seemed to know everything.
Martin Blake.
Daniel’s old boss.
The same man who had fired Daniel after he reported a safety violation.
Daniel hung up.
Noah was sitting beside him.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we helping Emily?”
Daniel looked at his son.
“Yes.”
“Until her mom comes back?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I don’t know how long.”
Noah nodded.
“Then we help until she does.”
That night, Emily slept in Noah’s spare room.
Daniel sat in the hallway.
He didn’t like the situation.
But he disliked the idea of sending an eight-year-old girl back to strangers even more.
At midnight, Emily woke screaming.
Daniel rushed in.
“Emily!”
She was shaking.
“He found us.”
“Who?”
“The man from the car.”
“What man?”
“He said Mom was a liar.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
A black sedan sat across the street.
Noah appeared behind him.
“Dad?”
Daniel moved both children away from the window.
“Stay down.”
The car remained parked for ten minutes.
Then it drove away.
Daniel called the police again.
But the officer told him there was nothing they could do without direct evidence.
Daniel understood something.
This wasn’t a missing-person case anymore.
Someone was actively searching for Emily.
And Sarah had specifically told her daughter to find him.
The next morning, Daniel made a decision.
He wasn’t sending Emily to a shelter.
Not yet.
He was going to find her mother.
And if someone was trying to hurt the little girl, they were going to have to get through him first.
