Alone (Bone Secrets, #4)(51)

He was learning about her in bits and pieces. Watching her interact with other people was the most telling. Tonight had been an eye-opener.

Seeing her break down over the thought of her adoptive parents lying about her birth parents had told him two things. First, that Tori adored and had utterly trusted the wonderful people who’d brought her up. Second, that she had a stiff upper lip around her friends. When Michael Brody looked crushed at the sight of Tori in tears, Seth knew she’d never shown that side to anyone. Lacey had looked stricken, and Trinity had been moved to tears in sympathy.

The people around Tori cared deeply for her but never saw below her shell. A shell she kept up nonstop. Until tonight. Even now it was still down, a relaxed state about her that was no doubt created by two glasses of white wine.

He wished it didn’t take wine to tear it down.

“How long ago did your parents pass?” He’d never met her adoptive parents. He remembered her phone calls home from college; she’d seemed very close to her mother, calling at least once a week to check in and see what was up.

“I was twenty-five. Mama died and then Daddy three months later. I swear he died of a broken heart. He was never the same after she passed.”

“I didn’t know you’d been so young. I remember you’d told me your parents were older.”

“They were in their seventies when they passed.”

“That’s young. It may not have seemed so when you were twenty-five, but personally I find that to be young. No doubt the perspective of what is old changes as we age.”

“Definitely,” she agreed.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence.

“You’ll finish the inventory tomorrow?” he asked to fill the quiet.

“Yes, shouldn’t take me long. As long as there are no more interruptions.”

“Have you learned anything in general about the women? That was a different era.”

“I wish I could say I have. Lacey made a general observation that they had a lot of amalgam fillings. Something you’d expect to see from that era. She said some of the dentistry was quite poor. Poor enough to make her wonder if it wasn’t American. But she mentioned that dental techniques had come a long way in the past fifty years and perhaps that it was simply a dentist who wasn’t very skilled.”

“Have the police considered that the women weren’t from the US?” That was a fresh angle Seth hadn’t thought about. Were they looking at a bunch of trafficked women?

“I don’t know. I imagine so. I think they’re still struggling to come up with a working theory. Heaven knows there are enough rumors around.”

“Doesn’t foreign dentistry look different than American? I’ve heard the jokes about British dentistry. They probably weren’t from third world countries if they had fillings. I’d imagine they wouldn’t have the access to care and possibly their diets wouldn’t even bring on the amounts of decay caused by American meals of processed food.”

“That would be a question for Lacey.”

“I like her,” Seth added. “I liked the couple I met tonight, too. Jamie and Michael seem to be good together.”

Victoria gave a soft snort. “If she can put up with his mouth, then it’s a match made in heaven. Sarcasm is his second language.”

“You were never one for sarcasm,” Seth agreed. “I still remember you staring down some jerk from your anatomy class who thought he was the funniest guy on campus. You didn’t even blink when he tried to be funny.”

“I remember that. He wasn’t funny. He was an idiot.”

“Michael doesn’t seem like an idiot.”

“He’s not. He’s one of those super-smart people who are missing part of the filter between their brain and mouth sometimes.” She paused. “He means well.”

Seth figured that was the best compliment Michael Brody was going to get from Tori. Actually, he suspected it was a form of high praise.

“You’ll use his help to verify if your birth parents are dead?”

A long moment of silence filled the vehicle. “I will. If I don’t look into it, I’ll always wonder. But how had I gone so long without questioning anything they’d told me?”

Seth hated to hear her doubt herself. “I suspect that’s a testament to how great your adoptive parents were. No doubt you’ll find out everything happened as they said.”

She told him to turn at the next street, and he knew they were getting close to her home. Part of him wished the drive was longer. A different part of him wanted to follow her into her house and pick up where they’d left off long ago.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. It was wishful thinking on his part. He slowed down as the street turned into a residential neighborhood. The street was dark and quiet. Lights off in most of the homes. Unsurprising, considering it was nearly midnight.

Tori was quiet in her seat, and he wondered if she wanted the ride to be longer, too. Tonight had been good. They’d spent a few hours in each other’s company, and he wanted more. Yes, the evening had started with a crisis, and Tori had gone through a few rough moments at Lacey’s home, but overall he’d loved being with her. It didn’t matter what they did together, he was relaxed and at peace when she was beside him.

The road curved sharply, and Tori gasped, her hand grabbing at the door as she straightened in her seat. He hit the brakes. “What? What is it?” Seth scanned the empty road in the dark, looking for a person or cat.