Lorie O - Strong, Sleek and Sinful

“I’m sure if she can’t make it, she will call and let me know.” He was actually pretty positive she wouldn’t do that, since she didn’t know his cell phone number. And he didn’t know hers.

“She can’t because you never gave her your number, so she said to tell you. I’ve got to go. I guess don’t worry about coming over tomorrow night.”

“Wait a minute.” He smelled a rat. “Why aren’t you home?” He decided switching subjects would make her talk more. Sometimes gathering any information, trivial or otherwise, out of Dani was harder than pulling teeth. “I do believe your mother’s made it clear that you’re to be home at five every day.”

“I know, but I was busy working on homework with friends.” The standard answer that Dani used and believed firmly would keep her out of any trouble. “Have a good evening, Uncle Perry.”

“Is Kylie with you now?” He wasn’t going to let Dani go that easily. Something was up between her and Kylie. But even if he didn’t get answers on that one, his niece was supposed to be home and wouldn’t escape from him before he knew where she was.

“We just left her. Walking is good for you, you know.”

“Where are you, Dani?”

Apparently she decided it was in her best interest to start answering her uncle’s questions. The deep, tortured sigh on the other end of the phone defined her reluctant acceptance of that fact.

“Downtown, okay? I’m sorry it got so late. But I was with Kylie. Mom won’t mind.”

“Your uncle might, though. What were you doing with Kylie?”

“We were at the Java Cup. That’s when she said she can’t make it tomorrow night. I think she mentioned having a date, or something.”

A piercing sense of aggravation shot through him from his niece’s callous comment. More so, hearing Kylie possibly had a date, in spite of the fact that something told him Dani made it up, didn’t sit well with him at all. He wasn’t into casual sex. Fucking Kylie when he was pretty sure she’d tried meeting another man the night before might not have been the smartest move he’d made in his life. There was something about her, though, something that tripped emotions inside him he usually managed to keep at bay when around any other lady.

Figuring out what Dani was up to might take hours. He opted for the easier task of learning what Kylie was up to.

“Here is what you’re going to do,” he said slowly. “You’re going to turn around and go back to Kylie and you’re going to have her call me.”

“I can’t, Uncle Perry. She’s already left.”

“Do you have her cell phone number?”

There was silence for only a moment. “Yeah.” She sounded as if it bothered her to relinquish that information.

Perry didn’t care. “Give it to me.” He stood, headed into his den, and then wrote the number down when Dani gave it to him. “I’m calling your mother. You’ll be home in ten minutes, or else.”

“Fine,” she said, again sighing so heavily it was as though he tortured her. “Talk to you later,” she added, and then hung up.

Before he could dial his sister, his cell rang again. Megan was calling him. “Hello,” he said.

“Perry, have you heard from Dani?” Megan sounded worried.

“Just hung up the phone with her. She’ll be home in ten minutes. Everything okay?”

“Oh, good. And everything’s fine,” she said, her tone implying just the opposite. “What time will you and Kylie be here tomorrow night?”

“Since you already told me to have her over there by six thirty, why don’t we discuss what has you upset?”

It amazed him when she sighed how much it sounded like Dani’s sigh.

“I know younger brothers are supposed to be annoying,” she began, her usual chipper tone returning. “But annoying and protective make for a bad mix sometimes, you know?”

“I’m sure. What’s up?” He hated how hard Megan worked when she had to come home and jump into raising and dealing with teenagers. Megan was the most impressive woman he’d ever known in his life, but he hated how she fought him when he tried shouldering some of the concerns and worries that went along with bringing up her daughters.

“I don’t know if anything is up, Perry. And I won’t know until Dani gets home. You’re not going to start yelling at her until I have the facts straight, and then I get to yell first.”

He knew something was up when Dani told him Kylie wouldn’t be coming to dinner tomorrow night. Call it a gut instinct, but Kylie wouldn’t have canceled. Not only did she want to know the girls better, for whatever reason he still needed to find out, but beyond that, there was a level of interest there. He might not be an expert on relationships, but he recognized the attraction between them. No matter if she tried meeting another guy. Kylie was interested in him.

Perry heaved out a loud sigh. Not only did he have absolutely no interest in a serious relationship, but he couldn’t flatter himself into thinking that after knowing him barely a week Kylie would want to set up housekeeping. At the same time, though, it would surprise him if she came up with a lame excuse to get out of going to dinner. If it weren’t because of him, she wanted to spend time with his nieces. She had a paper to write, and he had all the research she could ask for in his nieces.

“Is something wrong?” Megan asked.

“Nothing. What do you know?” he asked, keeping his tone neutral. He got a lot further with Megan when he kept his cool.

“Hearsay,” she snapped. Denise said something in the background and Megan snapped at her, too, telling her to go unload the dishwasher and quit eavesdropping.

Denise announced in the background that if it weren’t for her eavesdropping they wouldn’t know right now that Dani was about ready to go do something stupid enough to get herself killed.

“What did Denise tell you?”

“Apparently she overheard Dani on her phone talking to one of her girlfriends about meeting a boy she’s been talking to on the Internet.”

“What?” Perry turned around quickly in his living room, the sudden urge to destroy something, pick something up and hurl it, or better yet send his fist crashing through anything hit him hard enough that it made him dizzy. “How long have you known this?”

“Since I got home. And I’m dealing with it,” she said, using her “I’m the mother” voice on him. “I will not have you reaming her out before I know completely what is going on.”

“I can tell you what’s going on!” he yelled, his voice bouncing off the walls. “Girls her age are disappearing! I helped peel a teenage girl off the asphalt the other day, beaten damn near beyond recognition, and dead, because of some online stalker.”

“Which is why you are not going to talk to Dani about this,” Megan yelled right back at him. “You’re jaded, Perry. There’s no way you can’t be with what you do for a living. Dani isn’t stupid. I will take care of this.”

“She’s more than stupid if she’s considering meeting someone off the Internet.”

“I said I’ll take care of this.”

“What are you going to do?”

Megan didn’t say anything for a minute, proof enough that she didn’t know what to do about it. He needed to talk to Dani; the sooner the better.

“I’m going to find out the truth of the matter first.” Her tone turned cold. “And then I’ll handle it. In fact, she just came home. I’ll see you and your lady friend tomorrow night.”

Megan hung up on him. She never hung up on him. Perry turned, fisting his hands with enough pressure that he felt the pain in his palms from his fingertips. It didn’t help his anger subside. Megan had the power to push him out of his nieces’ lives. They were her daughters. But damn it to hell and back, he wouldn’t stand around and watch if Dani were about to do something so idiotic it could risk her life.