Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
ARI
Sadie must be wrapped in the blanket because when I cuddle her close, all I feel is fabric between us.
Only, the harder I squeeze, the less there is of her, and it has me blinking awake.
When I see I’ve wrapped my entire body around the pillow beside me, I chuckle and toss it away.
I’m surprised she’s out of bed, but I guess I can’t expect her to stay on her back for much longer.
No matter how badly I’d like that to happen.
After I peek in the bathroom to make sure she’s not there, I make my way to the kitchen. The first thing I notice when I walk in is that she didn’t drink the coffee I pre-set for her.
“Sadie?” I call out, but there’s no response, and my sleepy perusal of the house is dissolving and now I’m on alert. “Sadie,” I call a little louder and begin to check all the rooms.
My office door is wide open, and my heart hammers against my chest when I go in. The file I pulled for her is strewn across the floor, and my office chair is tilted against the wall away from my desk. It’s like she was here and then in a rush to leave knocked everything over.
“Oh no,” I say to myself when I walk closer and see the page sitting on top of the pile. Jeffrey Collins’ photo is next to it, and my heart sinks. “Shit.”
When we first took on this case, Megan Delanito didn’t disclose much of anything, but the more we dug, the more awful shit we found.
Around twenty-five years ago, she and her boyfriend at the time were working as a team to commit petty crimes.
It wasn’t anything too extreme until the boyfriend decided they needed to raise the stakes.
He convinced Megan to be the getaway driver while he robbed a bank, and as far as we can tell, she went along without protest. They ended up hitting it just when the safe happened to be open, and they got away with a ton of cash.
The two of them were stupid enough to brag around town about what happened, and they got word that the police were closing in.
My brother found phone records from jail where Megan admitted that she asked her boyfriend to get her pregnant so the judge would go easy on her.
She told the judge she didn’t know what her boyfriend was doing, and she got off without so much as a slap on the wrist. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Collins got twenty-five years in a federal prison.
Immediately after the sentencing, Megan hooked up with Sadie’s dad, and they were married about a minute later.
I hurry out to the garage and see the door wide open and my car missing. “Fuck.” I rush back to my room and put on some clothes as I dial Sadie’s number. It goes straight to voicemail because it’s probably been dead for days.
When I’m dressed, I go back to the garage and grab the keys for the convertible. Once I’m in, I drive to the gates and wait as they automatically open. I’m cursing myself for not telling Sadie sooner, but I didn’t want to be the one to break her heart.
When I asked her how much she knew about her parents getting together, she didn’t give me any clue she knew that her dad wasn’t her biological father.
After that, I went back and forth about telling her the truth.
If anyone should have told her, it’s her dad because I know how much she loves him, and I truly believe it won’t matter.
Now that she’s found out on her own, maybe it will but I’ve got to find her first.
I hit the number for my younger brother Mack, and it rings three times before he finally picks up.
“What?” He sounds like he was asleep, but I don’t care.
“Listen, I’m not home, and I need you to find an address for me.”
“If this is about that taco truck, I told you, they change locations every week.”
“Damn it, Mack, just help me.”
Maybe he hears the panic in my voice, but when he talks again, it’s clearer and he’s on alert. “What do you need?”
“Fuck, I don’t know where to go first.” I’m driving toward the city, but I have no clue where Sadie would go after she saw. “Give me the address of Richard Delanito.”
I don’t think Sadie would go back to her university; at least that wouldn’t be the first place she would go. I’m taking a guess, but I think she would go straight to her dad to confront him or have him explain if it’s true or not.
“He’s not there,” Mack says. “Shit, I called him yesterday or the day before, I can’t remember.
I forgot to send him the transcripts from our last meeting, and I was going to have the hard copies couriered to her house.
He said he was out of town until…” Mack goes quiet for so long I’m worried he’s hung up.
“Sorry, he’ll be back today, but his flight doesn’t land for another couple of hours. ”
“Damn it.” I hit my hands on the steering wheel. “Okay then, give me Megan Delanito’s address.”
“Why the hell do you need to go there?”
“It’s the only place I can think of. Sadie saw the file and ran out on me. She knows about Jeffrey Collins.”
“Wait a second, back up. Why was Sadie with you?” Mack asks, and I want to roll my eyes.
“I’ll explain everything later. I don’t have time for this right now, so just give me the fucking address!” My voice is getting more frantic with every second that passes, and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold it together.
“I got you.” My phone buzzes and then the text comes across the screen in my car. I hit the location, and it gives me directions. “Do you want me to meet you there?”
“No,” I sigh because right now all I can do is hope Sadie is there so I can make sure she’s okay. As much as I’d love having my brother with me, I can do this on my own. ‘Will you do me a favor?”
“Anything you need, just ask.” Mack is quick to agree, and as much shit as we give our baby brother about slacking off, he’s always there for us when it counts.
“Can you try to get in touch with Richard Delanito and tell him what’s going on? I don’t know if he’ll be able to get it while he’s flying, but I’m sure he’ll want to get to Sadie as soon as he lands.”
“I’m on it,” Mack says, and I give him my thanks before I end the call.
Now all I have to do is hope I find Sadie before something happens between her and her mother that can’t be undone.