Free Daddy's Girl: Cape High Book Five by R.J. Ross Page A

say it.  Not when he's looking at me like he is.  "Yeah," I get out.  "I uh... got taller."  Great line, Morgan.  Brilliant.  "I'm going to a special school now--one where they're teaching me how to be a super.  I've got friends, too."
    "I'm glad," he says.  "I wish... I wish I could be there for you, though.  I wish... I mean, we had a good thing going, didn't we?  We were making it out there in the real world, together.  I'm sorry," he whispers, leaning his forehead against the glass.  "It was an accident."
    "What?" I ask.
    "I didn't mean to--but this isn't the time to talk about that," he says, looking up at me again.  "Are you happy, Morgan?" he asks.  "All I want is for you to be happy.  If you're happy... maybe a part of me will be happy, too."
    I didn't see how he could be.  I'm having a flashback right now, and I know it, but I can't seem to stop it from happening.  All of a sudden I'm alone in this room, staring through the glass of my own cage, where this time it's Dad that's visiting me.  Tears are threatening, because I know I'll never escape.  I'll be stuck in here for the rest of my life--"Dad," I whisper, pressing my hand to the glass.  "I'm sorry.  I wish--I wish it wasn't like this.  I wish we were still like we used to be--"
    A gleam enters his eyes and he gives me a little bittersweet smile.  "I wish we could be, too," he says mournfully.  "I'd give anything--ANYTHING to go back and change what happened, Morgan.  I just... wish I could."
    "Yeah," I say, my hand sliding down the glass.  "Me, too."
    "I think that's enough," Mastermental says, placing a hand on my shoulder.  I glance up, having forgotten that he was even there.  "It's time to leave, Morgan.  Tell your father goodbye."
    I feel off balance, and my head bobs up and down instinctively.  "Dad..." I start out, looking back to him.  "I still... I mean... I love you," I get out.
    "I love you, too," he says.  "You're all I have in the world, Morgan.  Be happy."
    I nod and let myself be led out of the room.  Mastermental wraps an arm around my waist and I instinctively lean into him, seeking comfort.  Dad is just like I was.  That thought is stuck in my mind.  It's not true, of course.  I try to tell myself that, I know it logically.  Dad did bad things, I didn't do anything other than be born a cape.  But seeing him behind the glass wall...
    Well, things like that seem to fade a bit.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
    We pull to a stop in front of the canyon and I slide out of my car, heading silently for the entrance to the campus dorms.  Before I get there, though, a hand lands on my shoulder and I turn, looking up at Nico.  "Listen," he says seriously.  "I'm not going to say you should forget about him and go on with your life, that's pretty much impossible, but don't start thinking he's just misunderstood, either."
    I open my mouth, wanting to argue, but close it again as he goes on, "Every single person in the cells, they did something that warranted it."
    "Even you?" I ask.
    He hesitates and looks at the yellow tape that surrounds the massive Death Canyon.  "See that?" he asks, motioning to it.  "I caused that.  I was pretty sure there wasn't anything or anyone there at the time, but who can say for sure?" he asks.  "It didn't really occur to me at the time, honestly.  I wanted the extra space, so I made it.  The norms are still worried that they're being poisoned by radiation, or that whoever made the hole in the first place will come back and hit an inhabited area."
    "Plus, when you have a super villain capable of building a weapon of mass destruction that actually works this well, well, you sort of have to hide him away until the norms forget about him," Mastermental says, heading for us.  "Now, as payment for this favor," he goes on, looking at Nico.  "You owe several reporters a press release--IN uniform, if you would."
    Nico looks like he wants to protest, but his jaw only tightens a bit as he lets go of my