Page 128 of Dancing for the Minotaur

“Neither do I,” he snapped. “I’m at work.”

“The school says you picked them up,” Terra told him.

“Well, the school is fucking wrong.”

Terra’s stomach began to tighten.

“Are you telling me you didn’t go to their school and get them today?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. I haven’t seen Cody or Lisa in, what, two months?”

“Seven weeks,” Terra corrected automatically.

“Whatever.” It was the verbal equivalent of a shrug.

The casual dismissal made her furious, but the anger was beginning to drown beneath something colder.

“Jackson, this isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing,” he said dryly.

“Did you authorize anyone else to pick them up?” Terra asked.

“No.”

“Shannon?” she probed.

“She’s not even in town,” her ex said dismissively.

Terra’s fingers went numb, and she realized she was gripping the phone so hard it was hurting her.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“What the hell is going on?” Jackson asked, sounding slightly more alert.

“I don’t know,” Terra told him. Then she ended the call before he could ask anything else.

It spoke volumes about what kind of father he was that he didn’t even try to call back.

For several seconds, Terra stood motionless in the middle of Taurex’s office.

The school said Jackson picked them up…but Jackson said he didn’t.

Someone had lied. Someone had taken Cody and Lisa, and she had no idea who it was.

Fear closed around Terra’s heart like an icy fist.

“No,” she whispered. “Oh God, please…no, no, no, no, no…”

Her phone pinged and when she looked hopefully at it, Terra saw she had a text from an unknown number. Quickly, she opened it, and a photograph filled her screen.

Lisa and Cody were sitting in the back seat of a car Terra didn’t recognize. Cody had one arm around his little sister and was glaring toward the camera with tears streaking his face, while Lisa was openly sobbing. Both children looked terrified.

Terra stopped breathing.

For one terrible second, the whole world seemed to tilt, and she felt like she might faint. Then her fingers began moving.

WHO IS THIS? she typed. DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY KIDS!