Reaper's Stand(30)

No fool like an old one, I guess, but damned if I didn’t feel like I was eighteen all over again.

LONDON

“I’m her mother—she belongs with me,” Amber declared, her voice smug with triumph. I’d called her knowing Reese had to be wrong. Jessica would never go to Amber, even if she was furious with me. She knew better … But apparently she didn’t.

Nothing made sense anymore.

“I thought you didn’t want your boyfriend to know you’re old enough to have a grown daughter?”

“He knows I got pregnant young.”

“You got pregnant at twenty-two, not twelve.”

She sniffed.

“Did she at least take her health insurance card with her? You have to keep a close eye on her—things can go south so fast. I really think you should send her—”

“Shove it up your ass, Loni,” she said, just like we were in middle school again. I could almost see her rolling her eyes. “I’m sick of your lectures and bullshit. Go back to your boring life cleaning up other people’s shit. I have a maid now, you know. My boyfriend hired her for me. Guess you were wrong about how I’d turn out, hmmm?”

“Can I at least talk to her?”

Instead of replying, Amber hung up. I sighed, studying my phone with mixed emotions. Jess was safe. Somehow she’d gotten a flight down to San Diego, something I would’ve said was impossible. The last time we’d spoken, my cousin made it clear she had no interest in seeing her daughter. None.

It didn’t add up.

I decided to call Nate again, because the more I thought about it, the more suspicious I got. I knew he was working, so I figured I’d have to leave a voice mail. When he answered, it took me off guard.

“Hey Loni—what’s up?”

“I found Jessica,” I told him.

“Well, that’s good news,” he said “Where is she?”

“Down in San Diego with her mother. I didn’t actually talk to her myself. She still isn’t answering her phone.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

I sighed, rubbing my temple. Nate just didn’t seem to feel any urgency about the situation, and it frustrated me.


“Not much of a relief,” I told him. “It doesn’t make sense. Amber is living with some rich boyfriend and she doesn’t want him knowing she has a daughter Jessica’s age. I tried to take Jess to visit her last summer and she wouldn’t let us come. I think Amber is up to something.”

“Hon …” he said, and his voice was patient, loving, and condescending as hell. “You sound crazy.”

“I’m not crazy,” I snapped.

“I know you’re not,” he replied soothingly. “And that’s why this sounds so crazy, because it’s not like you. I know you’ve given everything for Jessica, but kids pull shit like this all the time. She’s with a family member. At least you know she’s safe, so maybe you should just enjoy the fact that she’s finally out of your hair.”

“She’s not a normal eighteen-year-old,” I insisted, walking toward the kitchen. I found the wine I’d picked up at the store earlier and grabbed my corkscrew. “Her brain doesn’t work right, you know that. And she has health issues. She doesn’t even have a doctor down there.”

“Nobody who’s eighteen years old has a brain that works right,” he said. “You know that—we all know that. Kids are wonderful but they do stupid shit. Sooner or later she’ll call you, ready to apologize. Until then fighting with her is pointless.”

I took a deep swig straight from the bottle, because a glass just seemed like extra work at this point.

“Is there anything you can do to check on her?” I asked, frustrated by his lack of sympathy.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, don’t cops have ways of finding people? Like, calling in favors from old friends or something? I don’t know.”

“I think you’ve been watching too much TV,” he said firmly, his voice going from condescending to annoyed. “We could call in a welfare check, but that’s a waste of time and resources because you already know she’s fine. You have to let this go and I have to get back to work. We’ve started something good here, babe, but I’m not interested in drama. Time to get over this shit.”

He was probably right, but he didn’t need to be a jerk about it.

“Okay,” I said, frowning. “I’m sorry I bothered you at work.”

He didn’t answer for a moment.

“It’s all right. But don’t do it again, okay? Not unless it’s a real emergency. It sucks that things aren’t going like you hoped, but this doesn’t qualify and I’ve got shit going on. I’m hanging up now.”

“Do you still want to try to get together sometime this week?” I asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know—are we going to pick up where we left off on Friday?”

The question startled me.

“Probably …”

He sighed.

“Loni, I like you a lot and I’ve been a good guy, but I’m tired of this. You’re so caught up in Jessica that you don’t have the energy for me. I’m exhausted, I’m grumpy, and I’m not in the mood. Let’s talk later, okay?”