Dove Sport

Chapter Four: Dance, Dance

It had been cool and overcast the day Dara Wake had arrived in Doveport. She had looked at the ominous clouds gathering overhead, at the buildings falling apart at the seams and the chipping paint, and she had wondered how her life had come to this. To a girl born and raised on the sands of the Florida keys and handed anything she ever asked for, the town was a far cry from anything she was used to.

Of course, she knew how she's gotten to this point. Everyone in the country did after her fathers case had gone from the tabloids to the evening news. That was the moment when her life had really begun crumbling around her. Because, before that, the case was a private family matter, but the minute the media became involved, the minute they had dared to threaten the family's reputation- everything exploded. Rumors about her father being involved in much shadier business than just embezzlement had surfaced which led to Dara's father being paid multiple visits by federal agents and, as her mother's socialite status had begun to flag and all their friends turned on them, Lucia Wake had vanished into the night.

Then the interviews had started. Interviews with the press, interviews with agents, and interviews with social workers. Everyone wanted to know how much she knew about her father and if she was in contact with her mother. The answers to those questions were nothing and no. Multiple different social workers and agents attempted to convince emancipation and entrance into witness protection as a precaution was in her best interests. Dara was not an emancipated minor and had no desire to be. In the event that her father was freed and her mother returned she wished to reenter their custody immediately. However, for the time being, she had been sent to live with her Granny Faye.

When she'd arrived in town Dara had braced herself for unwanted attention. Surely everyone in the town would be stirred up at the prospect of the daughter of a criminal and a missing woman entering their midst. However, she'd been pleasantly surprised to arrive and find that not only was there much less attention on her than she'd anticipated but that the town was already in the midst of weathering a summer scandal.

Now her biggest problem was money.

If anyone were to look into her accounts they would see no shortage of wealth however those accounts were locked and their funds unavailable to her until she turned 18 in three years. This problem persisted despite moving in with her grandmother because despite the wealth her daughter had married into, Granny Faye was no mansion baron. She lived in a small, comfortable cottage house about a mile out of town and although she could afford to take her granddaughter on as a charge, she couldn't afford much else.The logical solution for Dara would have been for her to get a job to earn some spending money. So she tried that. She tried it multiple times, actually.

When Dara had first found herself alone in the world she'd been confident she could take care of herself and continue her life as normal. Once she'd realized the accounts were locked she'd applied to jobs in the area as a waitress, a barista, and even a baby sitter in one instance. The replies to her applications had all been the same: we won't employ the daughter of a crook.

Then the messages had begun coming in. There were the usual ones about how the 'truth' about her family would be exposed in the end. Then there were the casual threats of violence against herself and her father's businesses. These were both normal for Dara though, her parents had been receiving messages like this for as long as she could remember and her father had always told her it was the price of success. What had caught her attention though, was one that was different from the rest. It had been addressed to her personally on thick, expensive feeling paper.

TO MISS DARA F. WAKE,

YOUR FATHER IS IMPRISONED. YOUR MOTHER IS GONE. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO END UP LIKE THEM YOU WILL DO AS IS ORDERED.