She’d rather bunk with him. “All right. What time?”
“How about six?”
“Great.” She waited on the footpath while he climbed into the ute and drove off.
It was definitely time for her to consider her priorities and what she wanted next in life.
Because Darcy was definitely on the want list.
Darcy was changing the oil on the ute when the radio inside crackled. “Darce, are you there?”
He grunted as he shuffled out from under the car and reached in through the open window to answer. “Yeah, Ames. What’s up?”
“I’ve got Joan on the phone. She said Lara didn’t come home with Mischa.”
He jolted. Had she been injured? No, the school would have called. Had she been kidnapped? No, Retribution Bay was safe—except with Stonefish around. Fear froze his voice, as sweat sprang to his skin, but Amy continued. “Mischa told her Sofia had picked her up. Did you know about that?”
Relief made him slump against the doorframe, and he swore ripely. “No.” He gasped for air. Lara was all right. Then the enormity of what Sofia had done filled him with fury. “I’ll be right in.” How dare she take Lara! He’d told her Lara wasn’t available. He ran for the house, and Amy met him at the door with the phone. He snatched it from her. “Joan?”
“Darcy, I’m so sorry. What do you want me to do?”
His brain was stuck on the fact he didn’t know exactly where his daughter was. “Can I ask Mischa about the woman who picked Lara up?” Lara wouldn’t have gone with a stranger. He was almost certain of that.
“Sure.” He heard her telling Mischa to explain what happened.
“Hello?” The tremble in the girl’s voice made Darcy take a deep breath before speaking.
“Hey, Mischa. Your mum tells me Sofia picked Lara up from school. Can you describe her for me?”
“She was fancy,” Mischa answered. “Such pretty blonde hair and she wore a summer dress with yellow flowers on it and really big high heels.”
Sounded like Sofia. “And what did she say to Lara?”
“She said you agreed she could take Lara shopping for a new dress before the movies. She’s going to drop Lara off by five.”
Darcy bit down on his growl. “OK. Thanks, Misch. Can you put your mum back on?”
“You OK?” Joan asked.
“No. I’ll call Sofia now. I’ll call you back.” He hung up, his hand shaking.
Amy pressed him into a chair. “Take a second to calm the anger, Darcy. Sofia was wrong, but yelling at her isn’t going to help matters.”
It was a damned good thing Sofia wasn’t in front of him right now…
Amy placed a glass of water on the table. “Drink.”
His whole body vibrated with rage. That brief moment of thinking Stonefish could have taken his girl was etched in his brain. He sipped the water, trying to control the tremble. He closed his eyes.
“Do you want me to call her?”
He nodded. Nothing he said to Sofia would come out well. He watched while Amy dialled Sofia’s number. After a minute, she hung up. “No answer.”
The fear crept into his soul again. “Let me find her parents’ number.” He leapt to his feet to find his mother’s address book which lived by the phone.
The phone rang and Amy answered. “Hi, Faith. Yeah, he’s right here.”
He didn’t have time to speak to her, but Amy pressed the phone into his hand and took the address book from his other one. “Faith, can I call you back?” He winced at the harshness of his tone.
