Lynette Eason - Hide and Seek

He lifted a brow. “Yes.”

“Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

“She doesn’t stay there.” He looked away. “I keep it for her, hoping one day she’ll show up and want to work things out.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Maybe not, but maybe I could have handled it differently. Instead of calling DSS, I could have just taken her out of there and...” He shrugged.

“And maybe not. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past three years, it’s that we can’t avoid making mistakes, and when we do, we should learn from them. Unfortunately, you can’t rewrite the past.”

“I know.” He offered her a sad smile.

“So what happened to your parents?”

“My dad was killed in a car accident about seven years ago. After I called the cops on her, my mom went back to jail for possession. When she got out, she went right back to drugs and died from an overdose.”

Erica gasped. “How awful, Max. I’m so sorry.” She couldn’t seem to find any other words. No child should have to live the way he and Lydia had, scrambling and scraping to survive.

He sighed. “I couldn’t help her, but I’m going to do my best to help Lydia.”

“I understand. That’s how I feel about Peter.” She paused. “I still want to see Lydia’s room. Do you mind?”

He shook his head. “She’s only stayed there a handful of times. Mostly when Bea caught her doing something wrong. Since I actually had custody, it wasn’t something her social worker worried about. And after she turned eighteen she was out of the system anyway.”

If Lydia had been in that room for even one minute, Erica wanted to see it. “Do you mind if I ride with you, or do you want to take me to my car?”

“I don’t mind driving. Come on.”

Erica’s mind clicked with renewed hope. Seeing Lydia’s room was a great start. Something the cops hadn’t had access to three years ago—simply because they hadn’t known about it. Praying the room would lead somewhere, she got into the car.

On the drive to his house, Erica checked in with her office. Rachel Armstrong, Erica’s cousin, answered the phone. “Hey, Rachel, anything I need to know about?”

“No, it’s kind of slow right now,” Rachel replied. “You’ve got two calls to return, though—the parent of a runaway and someone who wants a status update.”

“Okay.” Erica gave instructions for the update and then said, “Give the parent of the runaway to Jordan. I’m working on this lead we’ve got on Molly.”

“A lead on Molly? Really?”

“Yes.” The hope mingled with sadness in Rachel’s voice tugged at her. Rachel had loved Molly like her own. “I’ll be praying it pans out.”

Rachel, along with other family members, had given up hoping that Molly would ever be found. Erica didn’t hold it against any of them, but she refused to join ranks. She hoped, she believed, she prayed and she searched. And she’d never give up. Ever.

As a result of her obsession with finding Molly, she’d pushed a lot of her family away, including her own parents. With a start, she saw the parallels between her life and Denise’s. When Denise’s husband had left her, she’d also pushed away her family and friends and focused on her job. Denise allowed her work to consume her. Erica had allowed finding Molly to do the same.

Acting on impulse, Erica said, “What are you doing tomorrow night, Rachel? Want me to bring over some Chinese and we’ll play Scrabble until we can’t think straight?”

“Seriously?” The stunned tone in Rachel’s voice caused Erica to wince.

“We haven’t done that in forever. It’ll be like old times.”

“Oh, I’d love to, Erica. That sounds like a ton of fun, but I already have plans tomorrow. What about another time?”

“Sure, you let me know when,” Erica said. “But soon, okay? I need some girl time.”

“You bet.”

Erica hung up and chewed her bottom lip. Was she too late to reconnect with her cousin? She hoped not. She hoped Rachel was simply busy and not avoiding her. Vowing to do better at reaching out to the people in her life, she stared out the window.

Cutting into her thoughts, Max asked, “How many people do you have working for you?”

“We’re a crew of four right now.” Erica tucked the phone in her jacket pocket. “There’s me and Brandon, who was a detective on the police force but gave it up to help me put this business together. And then Brandon’s best friend Jordan joined us. He was with the FBI, but he quit.” She shot him a sidelong glance. “I still don’t know the whole story. Maybe one day he’ll feel like he can share it.”

“You’ve got a lot of skills and resources at your disposal. What about Rachel?”

“She’s my cousin. She’s also the administrator—she answers the phones and does whatever office work needs doing. She and I used to be much closer than we are now.” She sighed. “It’s time to do something about that.” The last sentence was more for her than for him.

“Sounds like quite a team.”

“I don’t mind bragging a little—it really is an amazing—”

Max slammed his foot on the brakes and Erica’s seat belt locked hard as she rocked forward, crushing it against her chest. Tires squealed, horns blared—and Erica screamed as a green car came straight at her.

Max turned the wheel a split second before the other vehicle hit, managing to avoid the worst of the collision. Like fingernails on a chalkboard, the green car scraped down the passenger side and Erica felt herself thrown against the seat belt once again.

Max brought his truck to a shuddering stop.

“What happened?” Erica gasped.

“That guy ran a red light,” he said. He reached out and grasped her arm. “Are you all right?”

“I think so.”

The green car quickly backed up and spun into a three-point turn. “He’s leaving,” Erica warned.

Max grabbed his phone. “I have a hit-and-run to report. License plate is NRV444.” He looked at her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Erica took a moment to gather her wits and make sure she was still in one piece. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Are you?”

He nodded. “It looks like the only real damage is to the car, thank goodness.”

A knock on her window made her jump. She tried to roll the window down but she couldn’t. Next she tugged on the door handle. “I can’t open the door, Max. It’s stuck.”

He opened his door and she crawled across the seat, letting him help her out onto the asphalt. Questions from the bystanders and witnesses started instantly. The police arrived, and Erica felt her head begin to pound.

There was something about that green car....

An officer approached her. “Hey, you look really pale. Do you need to sit down? Do you need an ambulance?”

She felt Max take her arm and lead her away from the cop to the curb, where he helped her sit. “Take a minute and get your breath.”

She looked up at him. “I think I know who hit us.”

“You saw the driver?” Max asked.

“No. But I saw the car.”

His eyes narrowed. “And you recognized it?”

“Maybe.”

“Who does it belong to?”

“Well, I didn’t get a good look, but I’m pretty sure it was my brother Peter’s.”

FIVE

Erica waited while Max shared all the information he could with the officers and they promised to get a BOLO—a Be On the Lookout—on the vehicle and find Peter for questioning. He looked at Erica, who had risen from the curb to pace. “Do you want me to take you home?”

“I think we need to find Peter.”

“The cops are going to be looking for him.”

“I know. Which is why I want to find him first.”

“Where do you think he is?”