Page 66 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

"No running, sweetheart," I yelled and turned the keys, starting the car.

Just as I'd feared, she tripped over on the porch. My Daddy instincts kicked in and I ran out of the car to catch her, leaving the engine running. Nick managed to catch her just in time. She looked up and smiled at me apologetically.

Before I knew what was happening, the car behind me exploded in a loud boom. The fire and pressure from the explosion sent me flying in the air towards the house.

"Daddy, no!" Jenna shrieked at the top of her voice.

By the time I landed on the ground from getting launched, the possibility of losing me was all too much for her to handle. Her knees buckled and she fainted in Nick's arms.

Chapter 28: Jenna

I slowly blinked my eyes open with a smile, waking up from the dream I had several times before, one where I was marrying my Daddies. I was so silly, practically obsessed with making them my husbands.

I felt Nico's light weight on my tummy. I had a binky in my mouth, Doggo and Bunno resting against my chest. What a nice way to wake up, but I noticed the couch I was on wasn't ours, slowly realizing I was at Daddy Nick's place. Suddenly it all came back to me and my smile faded, the memories of the new threat to my life and worse, Clark flying in the air in the explosion. The masked man must've planted a bomb in the car before calling me.

"Daddy Clark!" I yelled, tears returning in my eyes as I sat up on the couch.

My Daddies came running into the living room, both wearing big smiles.

"Oh, thank God you're awake." Clark sat on the floor and kissed my hand. "We were so worried."

"Me?" I gasped. "You were the one who almost died in the explosion. I was so stressed thinking you were dead in the explosion, I passed out. We should get you to a hospital, Daddy. Are you hurt anywhere? No need to be modest. Show me where it hurts."

"Your Daddy's perfectly fine," Nick said, kneeling over and kissing my hand.

"I thought I had lost you, Daddy." Throwing my arms around Clark, I lay soft kisses on his neck as tears rimmed my eyes. "Thought I'd never get to see you again. Wouldn't be able to live without either of you. Are you sure you're fine?"

For some reason, Nick seemed to be lost deep in thought. It was as if his mind wasn't really here. He looked very guilty, having a hard time looking me in the eyes. It didn't make any sense. What would he be guilty about? He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Yeah, thank God for the laws of nature." Clark brushed imaginary sweat off his forehead. "Would've been dead without the air pressure from the explosion launching me far away. Got away without even a scratch. Talked to the police too when you were out. You'll have to give a statement tomorrow. But how are you, sweetheart?"

I just couldn't believe it. He'd been through a life-and-death situation, barely escaping death. And yet he was worried about my safety. My Daddies gave and gave, expecting nothing in return.

I rubbed my fingertips on my forehead. "Ugh, my head aches from all the stress."

I told them everything, starting with how I had settled in with a plate of ice-cream sandwiches about to watch the filmScream, ending with hearing a car downstairs and wanting to sacrifice myself to spare their lives.

"Who could it have been?" Nick blurted, still looking sad and very worried. "What could he want from you?"

"Well, at first I thought he was just a prank caller who might have seen me on the news and found my phone number. But he knew my favorite film and tried to imitate the opening scene. No one else would have known it wasScream, not even someone in the cult. Someone must've gone through my search history when I ran away from home, probably wanting to get clues about where I might have gone. It's the only reasonable explanation, which means it has to be someone from the cult."

"Think hard, Jenna," Clark said. "Who could it have been? This is very important. We need a list of possible suspects if we want this to end before you're in more trouble. Best do it when your memory is still fresh"

I stared in the distance with a frown, trying to think if I knew any big men in the cult, but the list kept growing.

I finally sighed and shook my head. "It could've been anyone, Daddy. He was using some voice-changing software, so it must be someone I know. We weren't allowed to leave home because we were kids, but adults came and went freely every day, some very important members too. But it was such a big group and they were all very faithful to Otis. It could be anybody."

"But let me know if you suspect anyone, someone who knew you well enough to come after you."

"Oh, and there was this death threat email from a stranger weeks ago. Told me I'd have to pay for my crimes. I assumed it was someone who'd seen me on the TV and deleted it. In hindsight, it wasn't a prank after all."

"And you're telling me this now?" Clark scolded. "We could've done something had you shown us the email, been more careful and gone to the police. Was I not clear enough when I told you not to hide things concerning your safety?"

"Sorry, Daddy." I stuck my lower lip out as I got teary-eyed. "Don't be mad at me. You were so paranoid all the time. I know you keep waking up in the middle of the night sometimes, constantly checking if I'm where I'm supposed to be. It hurts to see you constantly worrying about my safety. I care for you and I didn't want you suffering in silence."

"Aw, it's alright, sweetheart." He gave me a warm hug and kissed the top of my head. "Daddy's not mad at you. It's just that, we wouldn't have left you alone if we knew you received a death threat, and you wouldn't have had to face a knife attack. Now that we know, we won't let you out of sight until we catch him."

Nick still seemed awfully quiet and distant. I wished he spoke his mind. Was this all too much for him? Clark had already gone through this, but was Nick having second thoughts now knowing my baggage?