25. Lilah
25
LILAH
A week after I’d found the flyer for Rain Adakai, Nolan pulled up to a small run-down house not far from my mom’s place.
“This is it,” he said. “The yellow one.”
It might have been yellow once, but the color had faded so much it was almost white now. The paint peeled from the siding, the skinny iron railing leading to the porch a little askew, like it was coming loose from the concrete steps.
The grass was too long, the sidewalk leading to the house cracked and uneven. The sun was shining, a warm May breeze rustling the newly budded trees, but I suddenly felt sad.
And not just sad.
“I’m nervous,” I said, wiping my hands on my jeans.
Nolan looked over at me. His eyes were shielded by sunglasses, his dark hair a stark contrast to the pristine white T-shirt with sleeves that had to stretch to accommodate his biceps. “We don’t have to do this.”
“I want to,” I said. “It’s just… a weird situation.”
It had taken me a couple days to get up the nerve to call the number on the flyer. I wasn’t a cop or a detective. Really, I had no business at all asking Rain’s family or friends questions about her disappearance.
But the call had been answered by Rain’s mother, a woman named Hateya who had been tragically happy to hear that I wanted to ask questions about her daughter’s disappearance.
Nolan nodded. “I’ll be right there with you. We can leave anytime you want.”
Jude had wanted to come too, but I hadn’t wanted to overwhelm or intimidate Hateya Adakai. And Nolan had a way about him. Maybe it was his medic training, or maybe it was just his personality, but he had a way of asking questions that didn’t feel intrusive.
Jude was a listener, which was amazing, but I needed someone who could back me up with questions if I got nervous and lost my way.
And Rafe… well, forget about Rafe in a situation like this one. Even if he’d wanted to come — and he’d given no indication that he did — he’d be like a charging bull in a glass factory. He probably would have scared the shit out of Rain’s mom.
I opened the door of the Jeep, the most unassuming of the cars owned by the Bastards, and stepped onto the sidewalk. Nolan took my hand and squeezed it as we made our way toward the house.
There was no doorbell so I opened the screen to knock and winced when it let out a shriek. I knocked carefully on the front door, then let the screen close as I stepped back to wait.
I looked up at Nolan, who gave me an encouraging smile, and a moment later the door opened to reveal a small woman about my mom’s age with long brown hair and brown eyes that reminded me of her daughter (I’d spent a lot of time looking at the picture I’d taken of the flyer).
Her gaze went to Nolan first, a veil of suspicion falling over her face. Then she turned to me.
“Lilah?” she asked through the screen door.
“Yes. Hi, Mrs. Adakai. Thanks so much for agreeing to meet with me.” I looked at Nolan. “This is my friend Nolan.”
“I didn’t know you were going to bring anyone,” she said, clearly nervous.
“Oh… I’m sorry. I should have mentioned it.”
“I can wait in the car if you prefer,” Nolan said gently.
She hesitated, then shook her head and opened the screen door. “It’s okay. Come in.”