Page 44 of Her Guarded Hero

The next words felt stuck in his throat, but he forced himself to push them out.

“I was gone for hours.”

He could picture it so clearly. It had looked like their apartment had been hit by a hurricane. Lacey and Reagan were gone. He’d found a half-filled suitcase underneath the dining room table, and then more clothes strewn in the kitchen. When he’d lifted a tiny pink sundress of Reagan’s that had been left on the kitchen counter, he’d found an empty wine bottle.

Where there was one, Dalton had known there would be more. He yanked open the cabinet under the sink and found two more in the trash bin. He broke into a cold sweat and lunged for his cell phone. Lacey didn’t pick up. He’d raced to the parking spot where Lacey’s hatchback had been parked, the stall was empty.

He stopped talking, thinking about those awful moments when he had realized that his drunk wife had driven off with his child.

“I knew where she was going,” Dalton finally continued. “Her mother’s house. When I called Norma, she wasn’t picking up either.”

He was aware of Aurora pressed against him, but he didn’t feel any heat, he felt frozen.

It was the longest and shortest drive of his life. As soon as he saw the slow down on the highway he knew what had happened. It was a nightmare. He flew down the bicycle lane in his truck, honking the entire way. He had to get to the accident. He saw the flashing lights, so many emergency vehicles. Then he saw the silver that matched Lacey’s hatchback. He heard a sound pummel through his truck, it took a moment for him to realize it was a moan coming from his throat.

The car that he had just washed yesterday was upside down, he couldn’t even make out a roof let alone windows. Where were the windows? The doors? How could it have collapsed like a pancake? Dalton swerved, missing a highway patrolman by less than a foot.

“I thought I would rip through my seatbelt as I got out of my car. The guy tried to stop me from getting to Reagan. He didn’t stand a chance. I mowed over him and three others and got there in time to see them zipping up my baby girl into a body bag. I don’t remember what happened next. I went crazy.”

Aurora’s cheek was now pressed against his, and he didn’t know if it was her tears or his that he tasted.

He didn’t know if he could finish it. How could he? It wasn’t finished. It never would be. Aurora wheezed, that was when he realized he was squeezing Aurora so tightly that it was amazing she hadn’t popped.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped.

“I’m not.”

He could barely understand her. She was shaking. So was he. Eventually he remembered holding his daughter’s tiny body in his arms. Reagan’s face had looked like she was asleep, but when his hand combed through her curls they came away wet with blood and…

For a moment, there on that California Highway he thought he was back in Afghanistan, amidst the blood and gore of war. But then he saw his daughters’ dark eyelashes, then he howled. Dalton literally howled her name as if he could call her soul back down from heaven.

Lost, his baby was lost. Gone forever.

Aurora was on top of him, her hair a tangled jungle blocking out anything but her tear-filled eyes.

“She’s not lost. Not with you as her father, she can never be lost. Do you hear me? Are you listening to me Dalton?”

She wasn’t making sense, but her tears were. The anguish on her face made perfect sense.

“She’s gone forever.”

“Sweetheart, she’s in your mind. Every time you think about her, she’s here with you. She’s in your heart. You need to talk about her. You need to share her.”

He couldn’t. It was like a serrated blade ripping through his gullet every time. He didn’t realize he was shaking his head until Aurora gently grasped his skull and held it straight. “Tell me what she looked like. I bet she had the sweetest smile. Did she giggle?”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can, Dalton. Talk to me. Tell me about your baby,” Aurora’s words flowed over him. It took him back in time.

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” Reagan’s voice would shout out as she’d practically tumble across the grass of the little grass patch of yard to get to him when he got home. He swung her up into a huge hug, amazed how such a little package could hold his whole heart hostage.

“High. I wanna go high,” she shouted. Her little purple dress flowed in the breeze when he zoomed her up in the air, her shrieks of laughter were heard all around the apartment complex.

“Again, Daddy!” Her smile dazzled him as she looked down upon him. Dalton imagined that every single person who lived there couldn’t help but be touched by his little girl’s happiness.

“You’re right Aurora,” Dalton said. “Reagan had the best giggle in the world.”

“What a beautiful name.”