Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #4)(94)

“Time! I’ve been sitting here for an hour and I don’t feel the slightest bit tired yet.”

“You haven’t slept in days.”

Elizabeth grimaced. “Neither have you.”

That was true. Ever since she’d gotten word, Colette hadn’t been able to rest for more than an hour or two. She couldn’t release the tension—and the fear—that held her in its grip.

“Sit down,” Elizabeth said. “We should talk.”

Colette poured the milk, then sat at the wooden table, wondering what Elizabeth could possibly say that hadn’t already been said a hundred times.

“Christian and I spoke the night before he left,” the old woman began. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but I think now…now that it’s been nearly ten days without word…Well, I’ve decided you have a right to know.” She paused and Colette waited for her to go on, hardly daring to breathe.

“He came to me after I tried to play matchmaker.” She revealed a hint of a smile and motioned with her hands, as if to say that entire scheme had been a failure. “I’m no good at subterfuge.”

“It was sweet of you to try.”

Elizabeth’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s a compliment compared to what Christian had to say on the subject.”

“I can imagine.” As long as she’d worked for him, Christian had never refrained from expressing his feelings.

“He told me it was better for both of you if he stayed away.” Elizabeth scowled in disapproval. “I argued with him but it got me nowhere. Men! I never met one with a lick of sense. Even Charles…” Sighing, she lifted her shoulders in a resigned shrug. “Never mind, this is about Christian and not Charles, although they’re more alike than I realized.”

She sighed again. “Christian also said there were things he couldn’t discuss. Why he’d say that to me, I have no idea. I tried to get him to talk but he refused. He said it was safer if I didn’t know.” Elizabeth seemed perturbed at his reticence. “He did tell me something significant, though. Perhaps he had a premonition that he wouldn’t return, but…”

“Tell me!” Colette pleaded.

“It should come as no surprise. My nephew loves you.”

Colette brought her hand to her throat. “He actually told you that?”

Elizabeth snorted. “Do you think I’m making it up?”

“No, but…” Tears filled her eyes.

“He’s in some kind of trouble,” his great-aunt said thoughtfully. “He wouldn’t tell me, no matter how hard I pressed.”

Colette lowered her head. “I know what it is.”

Elizabeth stared at her, incredulous. “You know and you haven’t said anything to me?”

“It’s something you won’t want to hear.”

“You’d best tell me right this minute, young woman.”

And so Colette did, describing what she’d found on his computer and her own reaction to it. She told Elizabeth about everything, including the anonymous letter she’d written to the INS, her suspicions about where he was now and why.

The old woman didn’t ask a single question until Colette had finished. “You don’t seriously believe my nephew’s involved in human trafficking?” she said, incredulous.

“I…I’m not sure what to believe.”

“My dear girl. Christian would no more sink to that level than I would. If you had a single active brain cell, you’d know that.” Then, more sympathetically, she asked, “Have you been carrying this burden all these months?”

“I know what I saw,” she said defensively.

“Or what you thought you saw,” the old woman countered.

“He didn’t deny it.”

This gave Elizabeth pause, but only for a moment. “I refuse to believe it.”

The baby moved, reminding Colette how much she had at stake. “The only thing we can do is ask Christian himself—once he’s back,” she said, unwilling to accept that he wouldn’t return. Hope was all they had to live on, and for now it was enough to see her through another day.

They were silent for a long time after that.

“I have contacts in the government,” Elizabeth eventually said. “I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“But—”

“You should never have kept this information to yourself, Colette.”

“But…”

“Had I known, I could have acted sooner.”

“Who will you ask?”

She straightened. “Charles and I were good friends with the parents of our state senator.”

“A…senator?”

“He’ll get me the information I need. I wish you’d had the common sense to tell me all this before now,” she complained again.

“Me, too, but I didn’t want to distress you.”

“Never mind.” Elizabeth patted her hand. “At least you’ve told me. I’ll deal with it, and we’ll find out the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it is.”

“Thank you,” Colette said. “And you might’ve said something about what Christian told you.”

Elizabeth had the grace to smile. “Yes, my dear, I suppose I should have.” She gazed at Colette with somber eyes. “Let me tell you this. You hold his heart in the palm of your hand.”