Stealing Joy by Lulu M Sylvian

Author:Lulu M Sylvian [Sylvian, Lulu M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Griffyn Ink
Published: 2020-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

9

Mom stood up and faced Gage as he approached us. Mom wasn’t a tiny woman. She’s five foot seven, packing some middle-aged weight, and can be a domineering mama bear when it needs to happen. She rounded on him like a luchador heading in for the final round. Gage made her look tiny. I mean, I thought he had a presence in my hospital room, but that’s one not so big room. Here, he still dominated the space, and this time, the space was cavernous. Mom still didn’t back down, no matter how big Gage was in comparison.

“Sheriff Masterson, I think you need to tell me exactly what is going on here. Why has my daughter been taken from the hospital? Why wouldn’t that young man, Mark, let us leave?” Without letting him answer, she turned and finally noticed my friends. “Girls, what are you doing here?” She pulled Yuki out of her chair for a hug. Everyone hugged Yuki.

Gage cleared his throat. “The FBI will explain matters when they get here.”

“The FBI? Those men asked very personal questions, and I don’t think they really knew what they were doing,” Mom complained.

“Different FBI, Mom. The Smiths were the scouts checking out my story. They sent in the guys who are in charge of the case.” Holy flaming crap. I clued in that there was a case against Gordon.

“Mom, you didn’t check-in when you got here did you?” I asked.

“What do you mean check-in? No, they gave us a room. There was no check-in. Are they going to charge us now after insisting we stay here?”

“Not that kind of check-in, Mrs. Hastings. But internet check-in, you know like how you did at the hospital?” Jade asked.

“Now that you mentioned it, I don’t think I did.” Mom reached to pull her phone out of her pocket.

I think everyone in the room reached out for her and shouted “No!” at the same time.

She fumbled and dropped her phone. “What the hell was that all about?”

Gage scooped Mom’s phone up and handed it back to her. “Please don’t. We don’t want anyone knowing you’re here. More importantly, we don’t want Gordon to find out Bailey might be here.”

“How would he know that?”

“It’s how we knew Bailey was in trouble. You checked in at the Wet Waterfalls Hospital and Bailey hadn’t come back or called. So we came out to see her,” Yuki explained.

“And if they figured it out, there is a good chance Gordon, who lost Bailey a day’s hike from here, might also figure it out,” Gage said.

Mom stood there looking grim. She wasn’t shocked holding her mouth in a big O or covering her mouth with her fingertips in shock. She nodded.

“I should have thought. But at that point, I really hadn’t made those connections. Oh shit, Bailey. I’m so sorry. I’d never put you in danger on purpose.”

She sat at the end of the couch, careful not to touch my feet. She reached for them, and then pulled her hand away, knowing that touch would hurt.

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