Daddy's Toy-Box (A Daddy's Best Friend Romance)

by Caitlin Daire

  Yes, I was in a relationship with an older man.

  Yes, we could sometimes be a bit kinky.

  Yes, I liked to call him daddy.

  So freaking what?

  There were real problems in the world, so to make a big deal out of our totally legal sex life was just ridiculous. I wasn’t even ashamed of the attention anymore. I was just angry at all the hypocrites out there. Everyone had sex. Everyone had their kinks and fetishes. Jacob and I were just exploring ours, that was all, and people were acting like we were the only ones.

  Bullshit.

  The parking lot outside Tommy’s school was already totally full by the time I got there, so I sighed and went around to the side street I usually parked in when this happened. The damn school really needed to expand the lot; there were never enough spots in it.

  I heard my back left-hand side door open and then close again, and I frowned. Usually I went and collected Tommy right from outside the gate, but apparently he’d crossed the road and found me himself.

  “Tommy, you know you aren’t allowed to cross the road alone! Why did you…”

  My voice trailed off as I turned around to look. It wasn’t Tommy in the backseat of my car.

  It was my father, and he was holding a gun. What. The. Fuck.

  “I was waiting for you to show up. Drive, sweetheart,” he said, his voice preternaturally calm.

  “D….Dad?” I stuttered as my mind whirled with confusion and terror.

  Surely this was a dream. It all felt so surreal. The only bad guy in my story right now was Greg, the prick who’d tried to screw Jacob and me over. My father wasn’t a bad guy anymore. He’d changed. He’d grown. He wasn’t the guy he used to be when I was young. He’d shown me that in recent times…hadn’t he?

  “I said drive, Vanessa,” he replied, his voice hardening. “Now.”

  I turned back to face the steering wheel, and I gripped it tightly as I pressed my foot down on the gas pedal and pulled out of the side street.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Where am I going?”

  “Make a right on Spring Terrace, then left on Delbert Street. I’ll tell you where to go from there,” was the only response I got.

  “Please tell me what this is about,” I said, glancing in my rear-view mirror. He looked sweaty and his eyes were slightly glazed. I recognized the look. I’d seen it enough times when I was a child. He was high again. So much for his rebirth as a clean and sober person.

  “You know what this is about,” he replied.

  “I really don’t. Why don’t we just go to a coffee shop somewhere, and we can have a quiet discussion about—”

  “No! I said drive!”

  “Okay. Okay.”

  I kept gripping the steering wheel, my hands shaking. Actually, my entire body was shaking like a leaf.

  “I know you know,” my father said. “That’s why I had to find you.”

  “What is it you think I know?”

  “I only got properly sober about two and a half years ago, you know. At least more sober than I’ve ever been in the past. And being sober makes you think more clearly. With that clarity comes more fear and anxiety once you start to remember what you’ve done. So I started to worry about how much you knew. I thought you must’ve figured it out. I thought maybe you were just biding your time, and that’s why you hadn’t said anything yet.”

  He really was high as hell. He sounded incredibly paranoid, and he seemed to think I knew something serious about him that I could’ve sworn I didn’t. What on earth was he talking about?

  “So I tried to find you. It took me so long,” he went on. “And at first, when I finally spoke to you, I couldn’t tell. I thought maybe you really didn’t know. I thought you could just go back to being my kid again. Like I wanted all those years ago. But then at my show the other week….I knew. You did know.”

  “Know what?” I asked. “What the hell is it that you think I know?”

  I racked my brains, trying to think back to his show. That event had been the last thing on my mind for days now, given all the other events that had been occurring—the stuff with the media scandal, and now all this crap with the reveal of Greg Sistero’s true colors.

  What was it that I’d said or done?

  And then it finally hit me.

  “I said I thought you killed Mom,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “I said we both knew it.”

  “Bingo, darling. My worst fear come true. You knew. I don’t know why you haven’t come forward yet, but you obviously wanted something out of me before you did. You won’t get it, though.”

  My heart began to beat double-time at his horrifying admission. “I meant that I thought you drove her to her suicide with all the abuse earlier on, and then by leaving later on. I didn’t mean I thought you actually killed her,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper now. “But you did, didn’t you? She didn’t really jump off The Gap by herself, did she? You were with her there. You must’ve pushed her. Is that right?”

  “I thought you knew the answer to that already,” dad said softly. “Seems I was wrong. Oh well.”

  Oh well? That was all he had to say to the fact that he’d apparently murdered my mother?

  “What happened?” I asked. “You may as well tell me. It’s not like I can tell anyone; I assume you tracked me down like this because you wanted to stop me from talking once and for all.”

  I wasn’t actually going to let him dispose of me. I was going to fight. I just needed to keep him talking to buy some time.

  All I could think of as I drove was Jacob. I was like this because of him. Before we met, I’d been a wilting little wallflower. I would’ve never been brave enough to say or do any of the things I was doing right now. He’d brought me out of my shell. He’d shown me that I deserved love. He’d shown me that I could be strong when I needed to be. I knew that because I knew he always had my back. No matter what, he’d always be there to catch me when I fell. With that knowledge safe in the back of my mind, I knew I could do anything. Make anything happen. Because my daddy would always be there to protect me. He’d always find me, and he’d always help me. I just knew it.

  Till then, I could protect myself.

  “I tried to go back to her a few years ago. And you. I wanted my family back,” my father said. “But she told me to fuck off. Didn’t believe that I’d really changed. I guess she was right. She saw through me. But she never used to be like that. She used to fall for me no matter what.”

  I nodded. I remembered that. She’d pined after him for so long despite everything he’d previously put her through. I’d never understood why.

  “But this time she didn’t. She said she’d never let me near her or you again. So…”

  “So you killed her,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “I knew she liked going to The Gap for the ocean view. She always loved it there. Loved watching the birds and the waves. So I followed her a few days later. Made sure no one else was around. No one questioned it. She was an alcoholic. She had issues. Everyone knew that, and everyone knows a lot of people kill themselves at that spot.”

  My hands were shaking even more now, and tears were slipping down my cheeks. The first time my mother had found the inner strength to say no to my father, it had gotten her killed. She didn’t deserve that. No one did. She might not have been the greatest parent to me, but she didn’t deserve to die, especially when she’d only died because she finally stood up for me and herself.

  “You’re a terrible person,” I said, my voice nearly cracking. “Part of me actually believed you’d changed, just for a while. But deep down I think I knew you’d never change. I knew it. All that crap you sell to people in your seminars is just that—crap. Total fucking crap. But I didn’t know what you did. I didn’t. If I knew, I would’ve turned you in years ago.”

  Before he could reply, I finally saw my opportunity to get out of this situation. I wasn’t going to let him kill me to keep my
mouth shut. I wasn’t going to let him have that sort of control and power over me.

  I was taking that power away. Right the fuck now.

  I slammed on my gas pedal and swerved off the road, aiming directly for a power pole that stood on the side. I wasn’t going fast, so if I braked at the right time, I’d definitely hit the pole, but not with enough force to injure me. My father was a different story, however. He was still sitting directly behind me, and he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. The inertia from even the smallest impact would force him to slam forward and hit his face on the back of my seat.

  I braked hard, and my car impacted with the pole. I felt the jarring pressure of the smash in every inch of my body as I tensed up and covered my face with my hands. Then I felt the airbag come out, and I heard my father slam forward and cry out as his face smashed into the seat as I’d predicted.

  It wasn’t entirely painless for me, obviously—what kind of crash would be?—but I gritted my teeth and fought through the ache in my limbs as I climbed through the right-hand-side front passenger door. My own door was too mangled to open properly, given that I’d hit mostly on the front left side. Once I’d completely exited the vehicle, I turned quickly to see my father lying back in his seat, moaning and clutching his face. There was blood everywhere.

  Good. He was definitely hurt. That would buy me enough time to run.

  And that’s exactly what I did.

  I fled across the street, my hair whipping wildly around my face as I jerked my head around, searching for another car or a pedestrian. The area my father had directed me to was always quiet, but surely there had to be someone. Anyone.

  Unfortunately, there wasn’t. I was alone.

  I finally spied a narrow alley and dashed down it, praying that it led to safety, or at least another street that I could escape down. I had no such luck, though. It was a dead end. Shit.

  I turned back around, and every vein seemed to fill with ice water. My father was at the other end of the alley, right where I’d entered just moments ago. He was still clutching his nose with one hand and spitting blood onto the ground, and even from here, I could see the fury in his eyes. His gun was in his other hand.

  “That was a nice little attempt to get away, darling,” he said. “But it wasn’t good enough. You’re her daughter, really. Just like her. A stupid little slut. You got nothing from me.”

  “I’m glad I didn’t,” I spat back at him. “I’d never want to be like you.”

  My eyes darted around as he approached, looking for another escape, but this time there wasn’t one. My father drew closer and closer, and before I knew it, I was backed up against the brick wall of the alley. He reached forward to grab my head, slamming it backwards, and I screamed and screamed.

  And then everything went dark.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Jacob

  “Gone? What do you mean she’s gone?” I barked down the phone.

  “I mean she’s literally gone, sir,” the officer replied. “We received a report of a crashed vehicle just off Delbert Street on the north side, and when we went to investigate, there was no one there. The driver—we assume Vanessa Ryan—left the scene on foot, it seems. And we know someone else was with her. There was fresh blood all over the back of the driver’s seat, and some in the back seat as well. Whoever was in the car with her was injured. It’s possible they both left the scene to try to find help, but we haven’t seen hide nor hair of them. Too bad there’s no damn CCTV in this part of town, and the nearest traffic light cameras are several streets away. We have no idea where they went as of yet.”

  My head was spinning as I tried to take all of this information in. After my brother and his wife’s death, another car accident involving my nearest and dearest was literally my worst nightmare come true, but it seemed that Vanessa had survived. Thank god. I had no idea what I’d do without her in my life; not a clue.

  But where was she?

  Who else was in the car with her?

  And why?

  The police seemed to have thought of the exact same questions, judging by the next few things Gomez asked, but I didn’t know how to answer. I had no clue who might’ve been in her car, or why she would’ve been over on the north side of town. That was nowhere near Tommy’s school.

  “It looks like the car was purposefully crashed,” Gomez continued. “Judging by a variety of factors, including the skid marks on the road. Mr. Baldwin, if there’s anything you know that could help us figure out where Vanessa is, that would be an enormous help. Right now, there’s not much to go off, and she might be seriously hurt from the crash. Obviously, our top priority is locating her and the other occupant of the vehicle.”

  Purposefully crashed. Why the hell would she do that? Unless….

  The other occupant of the vehicle was sitting behind her seat during her crash, and there was no decent, valid reason I could think of to explain why someone would be sitting there while she drove instead of up in the front with her. Honestly, all I could think of was that they must’ve sneaked into the car and forced her to drive. So was it a carjacking gone wrong? Or something even more sinister than that?

  “She has an iPhone,” I said, suddenly remembering the app I’d installed on her phone when she first moved in. “I can track her location via that.”

  I quickly grabbed my cell and checked, but I was disappointed when I saw the GPS coordinates it was pointing to.

  “Delbert Street,” I said. “Just near there. Nearest cross street is Blake Ave.”

  “That’s where the car crashed,” Officer Gomez replied. He paused for a few seconds to speak to someone else in the background before returning. “My colleagues just confirmed that they found the phone already. It’s definitely here at the scene.”

  So that was a dead end. I had no way of tracking Vanessa anymore; no way of ensuring her safety. Nothing had ever made me feel so fucking low. I didn’t deserve to be hers if I couldn’t even keep her safe from something like this.

  The rest of the conversation was a blur. The police also thought it was a carjacking gone wrong, but they had no idea where Vanessa or the carjacker was. I was told to report to a downtown precinct to make a statement and find out any new information if and when it came up, and before I knew it, the line had turned to the dial tone and I was sitting at my desk staring into space, feeling hollow and dead on the inside.

  My legs felt like jelly as I headed out of the office. Employees were congratulating me and smiling at me over the whole ‘catching Greg’ incident, but that all felt like it had occurred eons ago. It may have only been half an hour ago in reality, but with Vanessa in danger, I’d never felt further away from the company and all the drama that went with it.

  Screw it. The minute Vanessa was found, I was going to step down as CEO despite the fact that half the company’s image problems had already been solved with Greg’s arrest. I’d spent a long time building this place up, but that didn’t mean I had to stay forever, especially when it kept me so damn busy all the time. I’d already achieved everything I could with the company, and I wanted to spend more time with Vanessa and Tommy now. Time was precious. I just hoped I still had more time with Vanessa.

  Christ, I needed to find her.

  A glimmer of hope began to spark in the back of my mind as I got in my car and headed north on Spring Street, away from my office. All these thoughts of Vanessa’s car had just made me recall something. When I first bought it for her, it came with a bunch of free perks that the salesman threw in to sweeten the deal even more. One of those perks had been an Apple watch, which could be linked with an iPhone. It’d never occurred to me to ask Vanessa if she had done that, but for the love of god, I hoped she had.

  I pulled over on the edge of the road for a minute and went back to the tracking app on my phone. I clicked ‘All Devices’, and lo and behold, a second device name showed up; one I’d missed earlier in my desperation to locate her actual phone: Vanessa’s Watch.

  The address show
ing on the screen was different now; not Delbert St.

  Yes. This was her real current location.

  I swallowed hard and called Officer Gomez back to tell him the news. I heard him pass the information on to someone else, and then I heard the click-clack of a keyboard. “34 Starling Street is a townhouse not far from the crash site. Only three streets back, actually. Rented under the name Daryl Edgerton. Mean anything to you?”

  My blood ran cold. Vanessa had always used her mother’s last name, Ryan. But I knew enough about her father—had even met the guy at his life coaching seminar that one time—to know his name.

  Daryl Edgerton.

  “That’s her father,” I choked out as the realization dawned on me. I’d never really trusted that man or his intentions for coming back into Vanessa’s life, and it turned out that my gut instinct had been correct. He was dangerous, and now he had my little girl. I should’ve never allowed her to have any contact with him whatsoever. “He could be dangerous. You have to get over there now.”

  Before I even ended the call, I was speeding back down the road, heading toward Starling Street. I wasn’t all that far away from that area of town, and I’d probably arrive several minutes before the police could get there, knowing their average response time. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go charging in there like this before the cops arrived, but I was running on nothing but anger and adrenaline, and wild horses couldn’t have kept me away from Vanessa in these moments.

  I had to protect my girl.

  When I arrived, I sprinted up the steps to the townhouse’s front door. Daryl had the place locked, but I hefted my weight against the door, close to the lock until it broke. Then I slipped inside, trying be as quiet as possible. This wasn’t the time to dash in and bumble around like a bull in a china store. I had no idea what the situation was, and I didn’t want to risk putting Vanessa in harm’s way by setting Daryl off even more, whatever his current problem was.

  “You don’t have to do this. Please,” I heard Vanessa saying from a room down the hall. I stiffened as I listened. “If you really wanted to kill me, you’d have done it by now. But you’ve had me here for over an hour. I know you don’t really want to hurt me badly, dad. Please, just take me to the hospital. My head….”