Losing Hope

both face her father now. I’m not concerned with the fact that he may recognize me. Other than the day Hope went missing, he never spoke to me. I’m just hoping to hell he doesn’t recognize her, but I know he will. A parent would recognize his own child, no matter how long it’s been.
    He’s making his way toward us, and the closer he gets, the more I see the recognition in his eyes. He knows her.
    Shit.
    He pauses when he’s several feet from us and tries to look her in the eyes, but she presses herself against me and looks down at the ground.
    “Princess?” he says.
    She begins to slide out of my arms and I look down at her. Her eyes have rolled back into her head and she’s falling. I keep a tight grip on her and ease her to the ground completely so that I can get a better grip on her. I need to get her out of here right now.
    I slide my hands under her arms and try to pull her up. Her father comes closer and grabs her hands to help me.
    “Don’t you fucking touch her!” I scream. He immediately backs away, looking at me in shock.
    I look back down at her and grab her head, trying to bring her back to consciousness.
    “Baby, open your eyes. Please.”
    Her eyelids flutter open and she looks up at me. “It’s okay,” I reassure her. “You just passed out. I need you to stand up. We need to leave.” I pull her to her feet and steady her against me. I give her a second to regain her strength. Her father is right in front of her now.
    “It is you,” he says staring at her. He looks at me, then back to Sky. “Hope? Do you remember me?” His eyes are full of tears.
    “Let’s go,” I say to her, attempting to pull her with me. She has to know how much I’m trying to refrain from attacking him right now. We. Need. To. Leave.
    She resists my pull as her father takes another step toward her, so I pull her a step away from him.
    “Do you?” he says again. “Hope, do you remember me?”
    Sky’s whole body grows tense. “How could I forget you?” she spits.
    He sucks in a breath. “It’s you,” he says, fidgeting his hand down at his side. “You’re alive. You’re okay.” He pulls out his radio, but I take a step forward and knock it out of his hand before he can report it.
    “I wouldn’t let anyone know she’s here if I were you,” I say. “I doubt you would want the fact that you’re a fucking pervert to be front-page news.”
    The blood drains from his face. “What?” He looks back at Sky and shakes his head. “Hope, whoever took you . . . they lied to you. They told you things about me that weren’t true.” He takes another step forward and I have to pull her back again. “Who took you, Hope? Who was it?”
    She begins to shake her head back and forth. “I remember everything you did to me,” she says, taking a confident step toward him. “And if you just give me what I’m here for, I swear I’ll walk away and you’ll never hear from me again.”
    He’s shaking his head, not wanting to believe that she remembers. He watches her for a minute. I know he’s just as caught off guard as we are.
    “What is it you want?” he asks her.
    “Answers,” Sky says. “And I want anything you have that belonged to my mother.”
    Sky reaches down to my hand, which is wrapped around her waist, and she squeezes it. She’s scared.
    Her father glances at me, then back to Sky. “We can talk inside,” he says quietly. He looks around the neighborhood nervously, making sure there aren’t any witnesses. The fact that he’s even looking for witnesses lights up a huge caution sign. There’s no telling what this man is capable of.
    “Leave your gun,” I demand.
    He pauses, then removes his gun from his holster. He lays it on the porch.
    “Both of them,” I say.
    He reaches down and removes the extra gun from his leg, laying it on the porch right before he walks into his house. I spin Sky around to face me before we walk through the door.
    “I’m staying right here with the door open. I don’t trust him. Don’t go any farther than the living room.”
    She nods and I give her a quick kiss, then watch her turn and step into the living room. She walks to the couch and takes a seat, eyeing him guardedly the entire time.
    He raises his eyes to hers. “Before you say anything,” he says. “You need to know that I loved you and I’ve regretted what I did every second of my life.”
    “I want to know why you did it,” she says.
    He leans back in his seat and rubs his