Chapter 4
A week after my attempt to walk all the way to New York Mom and me are on a plane. Stephen was very nice and paid for our tickets. I was super excited… I'd never been on a plane before and I was finally going to meet my dad! Mom didn't seem too happy about it though. Something tells me she doesn't like Danny very much. But now we're going back to New York, and the plane's about to land.
We get off the plane and someone is waiting for us in the terminal. She has curly brown hair, she's very tall, and very nice looking. Mom recognizes her because I see her smiling.
"Hi Stella," she says when we reach this woman.
"Lindsay, it's been a while," Stella hugs her, and then looks at me. "Who's this?"
"I'm Madison…" I say. "Madison Diana Monroe."
"Nice to meet you Madison," Stella bends down to shake my hand. She treats me like I'm a grown-up! I like Stella already.
We walk out to Stella's car and we drive to what Mom calls the crime lab. I can come in, but I'm not allowed to touch anything or talk to anyone unless Mom says it's okay. There are things in there that are extremely fragile, she says,and not meant for little hands.
When we get inside, the lab is so big I get lost as soon as we pass the front doors.
"Mom?" I shout, wondering where she might have gone. I'm walking down the hallway when I suddenly bump into the waist of someone I don't know.
He bends down to look at me. He's wearing glasses, like me.
"What's your name?"
Mom says "Don't talk to strangers." So I say nothing. A few seconds after he asks me the question I hear Mom running down the hallway.
"Maddie?" she shouts, running toward me and scooping me up in her arms. She hugs me tight and says "Don't ever do that to me again, I thought you'd been stolen!" She looks over my shoulder at the stranger I'd met only a few seconds ago.
"Danny…" I can tell she's nodding.
Danny? My daddy Danny?
"Lindsay…" he nods back. "Who's this?" he's talking about me.
"This is Maddie," she nudges me, encouraging me to turn around.
"Hello." I say, using my most innocent voice.
I realize that I'm looking at my daddy, and I don't know what to say.