Chapter 2 - The Eruption of Daniel
Daniel Vance did not enter a room; he fractured it.
He tore through the heavy wooden doors, his six-foot-two frame moving with a jagged, reckless velocity that sent a silver vase crashing off a glass console table, shattering against the white marble floor with a high-pitched ring.
His beard was unkempt, three days of dark stubble framing a jawline set so hard the muscle twitched visibly beneath his skin. He wore a rumpled blue oxford shirt, its top two buttons undone, his grey silk tie loosened and hanging lopsided across his chest. His eyes—a dark, stormy hazel—were bloodshot, carrying the frantic, unhinged energy of a man who hadn't slept in ninety-six hours.
"Stay away from my daughter!" Daniel roared.
The scream echoed off the hard marble surfaces, bouncing between the walls like a physical blow.
Victoria did not jump. She simply straightened her spine, her posture re-adjusting in a fraction of a second into a stance of dignified, concerned surprise. Her blonde hair didn't shift an inch.
"Daniel, please," Victoria said smoothly, raising her open palms in a gesture of gentle moderation. "You're shouting. You'll frighten her."
"I said get your filthy hands off her!" Daniel bellowed, closing the twenty-foot gap in three violent strides.
He shoved his shoulder between Victoria and the wall, forcing the woman in the beige suit to step back two paces onto the marble. Daniel dropped to both knees on the freezing stone, his heavy hands grabbing Maya by her small shoulders, pulling her frame into his chest with an intensity that almost knocked the child over.
"Maya... Maya, baby, look at me," Daniel gasped, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gulps. He cupped her small face in his broad palms, his thumbs frantically wiping the hot tears from her cheeks. "Did she touch you? What did she say to you? Tell Daddy right now!"
Maya couldn't speak. Her vocal cords were locked in a violent, choking sob that shook her tiny shoulders. She buried her face into the curve of Daniel’s neck, her small hands digging into the blue cotton of his shirt like iron claws.
"She... she said..." Maya choked out, her voice muffled against his skin.
"Take a breath, sweetheart. Daddy’s here. I'm right here," Daniel whispered, his voice cracking with an agonizing mixture of rage and terror. He looked up at Victoria over his daughter’s shoulder, his hazel eyes burning with a dark, lethal promise. "If you so much as looked at her wrong, Victoria, I swear to God I'll—"
"Daniel, you are having another episode," Victoria interrupted, her voice dropping into a tone of soft, clinical pity. "Look at yourself. You haven't slept since Tuesday. You're terrorizing the child with your paranoia."
"I am not paranoid!" Daniel shrieked, his voice echoing down the empty white trench of the hall.
"You're screaming at your legal consultant in front of a five-year-old," Victoria stated coldly. "She was crying because she dropped her drawing, Daniel. I was simply bending down to help her pick it up."
Daniel’s hands froze on Maya’s back.
Slowly, he pulled his daughter back six inches, looking down at her wet face. "Maya? Is that true?"
Maya didn't look at Victoria. She didn't look at her father. She reached down into the small lavender pocket of her ruffled dress with trembling, clumsy fingers.
May you like
She pulled out a single scrap of water-warped, lined notepad paper. It was crumpled into a tight, damp ball, smudged with black ink and gray dirt.
"I... I wrote it down so I wouldn't..." Maya wept, her voice breaking into a high, pathetic squeak as she held the tiny paper out to her father. "So I wouldn't forget... like Mommy did..."
