The Alphas Wonder Land Phoenix Mountain Book 9

“Answer me.” The man growls. “What the hell are you doing in my daughter’s room.”

I quickly snap out of it. “Sorry. My apologies. I’m Agent Dawn. Out of the Arizona office.” I walk to him and produce an FBI badge.

“FBI? Seems a little excessive for a closed case.” He looks at my badge and hands it back.

I walk into the room. “Yes. We know your daughter was returned, but we at the FBI don’t like loose ends and this case is full of them.” I turn on my heels and look at him.

He turns on the light and steps into the room. Both of us look at the mirror then look at each other.

“Ok. Agent Dawn. I’m Patrick Fox. Damica’s father. I’m sure that everything is in her police file, why come here?” He sticks his chin out in almost a challenging way.

I look down then back up. “Just trying to see the scene for myself.” I turn to the bed. “You said she was in bed when she went missing?” I turn an eye to him.

He nods. “Yes. Asleep. I checked in on her just after 11 pm. She was right there. Then when my wife went to do one last check before bed, she was gone.”

I bite my lip and nod. “So what? 30 or 40 minutes?”

He sits on the bed. “About that.” He sighs.

I sit beside him. “There was nothing out of the ordinary? No weird noises or people in the neighborhood who didn’t belong?”

He rubs his forehead. “No nothing. She was just…gone.”

“What happened after?” I ask.

He sat up then leaned on he thighs. “I called the police. They looked around the room for evidence. When they didn’t find any, I was arrested. They said that the only way she could be missing is if I did something to her. She’s my baby! How the hell could they think…”

I lean on my thighs. “Unfortunately, the fathers are always prime suspects, but they ruled you out.”

“Thanks to my wife. I was with her the whole time. They still interrogated me for days. The court of public opinion had a field day. I lost my job. We almost had to sell the house, but then I was cleared and the police chief made a public apology. I’m still fighting the affects, but it’s getting better.”

“I’m sorry.” I lower my head. “How was your wife?”

He pressed his lips together. “Beside herself. She slept in here the whole time. Said if Damica did come back she wanted to be here when she did. Then the grief took her as time went on. She stopped eating. Starting getting sick. She loved that little girl so much.” He glanced at me. “We can’t have kids. When Damica came on the adoption roster, we fell in love instantly. We had to have her. We went through all their hoops. Paid thousands. Then this happens? I still beat the shit out of myself. I promised to keep her safe. I was going to give her the best life. I couldn’t even keep her safe in her own room.” He lowered his head into his hand.

“This isn’t your fault. You did what you needed to do.” I say to him. I’m not one to compare, but as fathers go, he sounds pretty decent. Better than my father ever was.

“It wasn’t just the kidnapping. I failed her after too.” He mumbled.

“How?” I turn to him.

He sucks in a breath. “My wife got sick. So sick she was starting become unresponsive. I tried to get her to eat or drink something, but she refused. I took her to the hospital. I walked in at around 2 am…” He paused and I could scent the salt in his eyes. “I thought I snapped. Cracked up. I heard her. Crying. Screaming for Cindy. I ran up those stairs as fast as I could. I open the door and there she’s was. She was dirty and scared out of her damn mind. She saw me and screamed. I ran to her and grabbed her. She was only five, but she held me like a linebacker. She was so scared she was going to be ripped from my arms. I held her just as tight. I remember how badly she was shaking. I asked her where she was and she could barely talk. I called the police. Again the investigation opened. They asked her all kinds of questions. They questioned me again. All she could say was she was in the mirror land. We had know idea what she was talking about. She said the wolf giant had her and that the monsters tried to eat her. Her mind was completely messed up.” He wiped his nose and stood up. He paced the room and rubbed his forehead. He put his other hand on his hip.

“Did the police say anything?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No. They didn’t find anything at all. Just that she was here.”

“You said you failed after…” I state.

He wraps his arms around himself. “After, we just wanted to move on. We put Damica in school, but then the behavior changes started. She kept telling her teachers, friends and anyone who would listen that she was kidnapped by wolf men. We told her it wasn’t real. It was just a bad dream, but she was insistent. She talked about them, drew them. It got to a point where my wife lost her patience. Tried to force Damica to not make the drawings anymore. She grabbed her crayons and Damica hit her across the face. Screamed that it was real. Then the violence began. It got so bad that my wife was terrified of her. Imagine being terrified of your own six year old. We knew we had to do something when she…jammed a fork in my wife’s hand.” He looked down on the floor. His breath became shaky.

“Jesus.” I cringe. “That’s when you sent her to the institution.”

He nods and scrubs his face. “The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I couldn’t handle it anymore. My family was destroyed by this. My daughter was losing her mind. I needed help. So after, I picked Damica up from school and drove her to the institution. The doctor said he could fix her. I signed her over and drove away.” He sat on the bed again and held his head. “I incarcerated my child. What kind of father does that?”

I leaned to him. “Sounds like a loving one. Damica needed help. You did what you needed to do.”

He sat up and wipes his nose. “Yeah, well. Cindy left me next day. Saying we could’ve found another way. Damica hasn’t spoken to me in years. I keep this house because I want a reminder of how much I fucked up our lives.”

This can’t be what he thinks. I can’t see Damica just writing off her dad like that. Then again, I still don’t really know her.

“What happened to Damica at 15?” I asked.

He sat up and rubbed his palms on his thighs. “She wasn’t getting better. She wasn’t letting go of this delusion she had. She wasn’t listening to anyone. I got a call from a specialist out of Augusta.”

“Augusta?” I arch a brow. The human council?

“Yes. They sent a doctor and she took Damica to their facility. Put her through ,what they called, extensive therapy. After a year, they told me she was cured. She was a normal 17 year old girl. She disappeared after that. I didn’t even know she was alive until she was announced as the curator for the Smithsonian. I’m so damn proud of her. I just wish I could see her to say it.”

“I can tell you. Damica is a wonderful woman. You should be proud.” I give a little smile.

“That’s good to hear.”

“This specialist. You got a name?” I ask.

“Yes…um…Dr. Williams. Miranda Williams.” He answers.

I try to hide my scowl. “Thanks. I’ll check up on it.”

Why am I not surprised this has Miranda’s evil fingers all over it?

I was about to say something when something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I slightly turn to the mirror and lower my brows. I’m not sure if I saw my reflection distort or not or maybe it’s this crazy story. Just in case.

“Don’t worry. I’m a really good friend of Damica’s and she asked me to close this case for her. I’ll help her and tell her that you still love her.” I’m talking to her dad, but I’m also making my position clear to my reflection. Making it known that Sawyer Dawn is on the scene if anyone or thing is even thinking of messing with Damica.

I’m not saying I totally believe Damica, but I think I have to keep an open mind here. Being supernatural myself, I can’t really dismiss another supernatural. Especially since the biggest threat to the planet right now is a Cosmic dick.

“Thank you. Really.” He produces a card. “If you need in here again, call me.” He smiles.

I take the card. “I will. Sorry for breaking in. I’ll see myself out.”

As I get in my car, I hit my speed dial and start the engine.

“Zander. Patch me through to Mica. Right now.” I growl as I drive away.

I put my phone on hands free as I drive through Washington traffic.

“Sawyer?”

“Mica. How’s it going?” I say passive aggressively.

“Good. How can I help you?”

“You can start by telling me what the human council wanted with a 15 year old mental patient back in 2007.” I snarl at the radio.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Damica Fox, Mica. 15, resident at the Washington Institute for the mentally insane. What did you guys do to her. Augusta doesn’t have a mental institution.” I’m wringing the steering wheel.

“You’re going to have to give me more than that.” Mica says.

“Miranda Williams. She took the girl somewhere and I don’t know, brainwashed or lobotomized her brain or something. I don’t know. But I want to know what the fuck she did and why the council ordered it.” I thumped my finger off the steering wheel. I was getting frustrated with this whole conversation. I just want answers.

“Miranda had her secrets, Sawyer. She didn’t always come to us for approval. If she took the girl, I can guarantee the order didn’t come from us.” Mica informs.

“She knows, Mica.” I say.

“Knows what?”

“She knows about us. About shifters. She lives past the boundary and she knows. Which means there’s shifters in Washington.” I glance at the radio.

“Oh shit. This isn’t good.”

“I know. That’s why I need to know what I’m up against. I need to know what Miranda knew.” I say.

“I can try, but Miranda wasn’t one for leaving a paper trail.”

“Then join with Falcon and Phoenix. Miranda’s secrets are being exposed once and for all. You got three days.” I order. I hang up and weave through traffic.

This is becoming bigger and weirder. I just can’t see why someone like Miranda would be interested in someone like Damica. The only reason she would be is…

“She’s telling the truth.” My eyes widen as my brain puts some of the pieces together.