Page 4 of Mending Fate
The young man at the station’s front desk looked barely old enough to be out of high school, much less wearing a police uniform. “Can I help you?”
“My ex-girlfriend took our daughter.”
His jaw dropped open a little, and his eyes went wide. “W-what?”
I clenched my teeth and told myself I’d been abrupt. “I need to file a missing child report. My ex-girlfriend kidnapped our daughter.”
“I…um…” He looked around, and I could see the panic in his eyes.
“Shite, man! Get a supervisor down here if you don’t ken what yer about!” I slammed my hand on the counter.
“Is there a problem, Officer Baker?” A middle-aged woman in a uniform came over.
I met her halfway. “I have a child to report missing. Are you able to do that, or do I need to speak to someone else?”
“I can help you, Mr…?”
“McCrae,” I snapped. “Alec McCrae.”
Judging by the way the female officer’s eyes widened, she recognized my name. For the first time in my life, I was prepared to use who I was to get something done.
“Come with me.” The woman gestured for me to follow her. “We can speak in my office.”
I followed her, tension vibrating through every cell in my body. I didn’t want to sit, but when she stepped around behind her desk, intuition told me that she would be less likely to misinterpret my anger at Keli as being agitation in general. If a wealthy man of my build and height accused a woman of something, turning the suspicion toward myself would be far too easy. I needed them to keep the focus in the correct place.
As much as it pained me, I sat and tried to pretend that I wasn’t teeming with impatience.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning and tell me what’s going on.”
The beginning.Shite.
“My ex-girlfriend, Keli Miller, and I have an eight-year-old daughter, Evanne. Up until recently, Keli had primary custody, and I had visitations. At the end of August, Keli dropped Evanne off at my house with papers signing over primary custody to me because she was moving to Italy with her then-boyfriend. After the shooting at Kurt Wright where Evanne is a student, Keli returned. Since then, we have been trying to decide what would be best for our daughter, including a possibility of a reconciliation between us.”
I stopped and waited while the officer finished jotting down some notes. When she was finished, she glanced up at me. “Go on.”
I took a deep breath. “Last night, I told Keli that we would discuss drawing up a new custody agreement but that she and I would not be resuming a romantic relationship. She agreed and stated that she would take Evanne to school this morning due to my having a meeting. Except when I went to the school to pick up my daughter, Evanne wasn’t there. Her teacher informed me that Keli had called Evanne in sick. While I was still speaking with Ms. Browne, I received a text from Keli.”
I took out my phone and opened the messages. I held it out and then fell silent while she read, my fingers tapping on my knee.
Her face was unreadable as she handed my phone back, but that was enough to tell me that she wouldn’t be saying what I wanted her to say.
“You referred to her as your ex-girlfriend. The two of you were never married?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Is your name on Evanne’s birth certificate as her father?”
“Yes.” I gritted my teeth. She needed to know these things. “When Keli first told me she was pregnant, I was advised by the McCrae family lawyer that, if I was unwilling to marry Keli, I needed to be sure my name was on Evanne’s birth certificate and I should keep track of all financial support I provided. I have done everything I had been advised to do.”
She considered my answer for a moment and then nodded. “Did you file the custody papers she gave you before she left?”
“I did.”
“But the change was voluntary, correct? She wasn’t found unfit by the courts?”
I shook my head. “But if I have primary custody, her taking Evanne without my permission is kidnapping, is it not?” I forced myself to keep my voice low. “I don’t want Keli in trouble, but I want my daughter back.”
“Did she have specific visitation listed in the custody agreement?”