17. Ember #3
Hudson turns around to take the lead into the conference room. I exchange a look with Warner before we enter, grateful for his arm squeeze, while Blaine follows behind us. His thumbs are already flying across his phone screen.
“Just say the word, Em,” Warner whispers to me. “You can leave the meeting.”
“I know. Thanks.”
“Deep breaths. You’ve got this.”
The conference room is relatively empty compared to recent large-scale team meetings. Hyland and Axel wait inside, both standing as silent sentries in each corner, stoically watching us enter.
Hudson’s blonde-haired brother, Kade, sits with a stack of paperwork opposite a couple. They’re huddled together with an untouched carafe of water between them, both quickly looking up at the sound of our arrival.
The fear-filled, blue gaze of a middle-aged man almost knocks me off my feet. He’s the spitting image of Gracie. In comparison, his wife’s bloodshot stare is flat and dull, though she does share the same dark hair as her daughter.
Warner pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit. There’s a decent distance between me and the Livingstone’s. I’m grateful for it. I slide into the chair, thankful for the two men who position themselves behind me, one on each shoulder.
“Mr and Mrs Livingstone.” Hudson takes the seat beside his brother. “Thank you for coming in today.”
“Mr Knight.” Gracie’s father’s voice shakes. “Please call me Geoff.”
“And Sabrina,” his wife croaks.
Kade wears his best, PR-perfect smile as he stacks his paperwork. “As discussed on the phone, we’ve had an update in Gracie’s missing person’s case. We’re now in a position to confirm that our search will be focusing on Europe at this time.”
“You think she’s that close to home?” Sabrina squeaks.
“Perhaps. We intend to find out.”
“Has there been further contact?” Geoff gulps.
“No.” Kade shakes his head. “Our forensic intelligence team has analysed the images we received, and we feel confident to focus our efforts based on their observations.”
Geoff deflates like he had hoped for more. I try not to focus on the wave of guilt his reaction creates. We’re trying our best. But like him, I know how it feels to be desperate.
“We intend to use the full force of international law enforcement to distribute the new images of Gracie across multiple countries,” Hudson adds, mirroring his brother’s calm professionalism.
“You’re going to share those photos?” Gracie’s mum whimpers.
“Only the non-explicit ones, Mrs Livingstone,” Kade clarifies. “I appreciate this is difficult, but being able to provide an updated likeness of your daughter will help us to confirm any recent sightings.”
Both parents appear numb, wearing matching dazed expressions. After all these years, this development must be a lot to process. Particularly given the graphic nature of the images.
“This will reignite significant media attention on her case.” Kade looks between them. “Especially given Ember’s recent return. You can expect the national press to take an interest.”
“We handled their intrusion before.” Geoff clenches his wife’s hand hard enough to turn his knuckles white. “If it brings our daughter home, we will endure any amount of harassment. Do what needs to be done.”
“Please…” Sabrina’s sorrowful eyes are like an ice pick to my heart when she briefly meets my gaze. “Bring her home.”
“We will try our best, ma’am.” Kade nods respectfully.
“Do you need anything else from us?” Geoff asks.
“Not at this time,” Kade replies. “Just your continued patience and cooperation. We will be in touch as soon as we have news.”
When the room falls into a hush, the eyes of all the men at the table slide over to me. Sabrina is openly crying, but it’s Geoff who stares at me so fiercely, I worry he’s seeing more than he should ever know about what we endured.
“You have questions for me,” I say simply.
“We do, Ember.” He attempts a crooked smile. “If that’s okay with you.”
“I’ll do my best to answer.”
“We’re so glad you were found safe. How have you settled back in?”
Rather than traumatise the poor man with an hour-long recap of seizures, deadly raids, exhausting training and a pile of medication larger than the leaning tower of Pisa, I settle on a neutral response.
“As well as can be expected.”
“We were surprised to hear you’d joined the investigation. Thank you for fighting for our daughter.” He wells up, brushing beneath his eyes. “It means a lot to us.”
I don’t trust myself to speak, so I merely shrug.
“Please.” At the sound of Sabrina’s voice, I shift my attention to her. “I just… I need to know how she was the last time you saw her. Tell me what happened to my little girl.”
“Mrs Livingstone, I begin.
“I miss her so much.” She buries her face in her hands.
A searing ball swirls in my oesophagus. “Gracie missed you too. Her sisters as well.”
Sabrina hiccups then breaks down into uncontrolled sobs. Her husband reaches over to wrap an arm around his wife’s shoulders, tugging her into his side so she can cry.
“Um… Gracie talked about her sisters.” I blink several times, trying to hold my own tears at bay. “Annie and Gabby.”
“That’s right.” Geoff drags in a breath.
“She missed her mum’s homemade baking. I remember her talking about cookies… Oatmeal ones, I think. Gracie just wanted to be home with her family again.”
His lip trembles. “She did?”
“She loved you so much.”
His features promptly crumble, joining his wife in crying for their lost little girl. I stare down at the table, too emotionally wrung out to feel much at all. Not after pouring my soul out for Doctor Richards.
“I promised her that she’d taste your cookies again and hug her sisters tight.” The table swims in front of me. “We held each other between our cages. Gracie kept me strong. She made me smile and laugh when I thought we were already dead.”
“That’s our girl,” Geoff cries.
“She’s amazing, sir.”
“She is. Our sweet baby girl.”
“Remember her like that. That’s all you need to know.”
“Thank y-you, Ember. I’m glad she wasn’t alone.”
Their raw grief is agonising to observe. What hurts more is the look on Hyland’s face as he watches them break apart in each other’s arms. His own loss is splattered across his expression, dripping pain too vast to ever overcome.
Geoff kisses the side of his wife’s head, cradling her close. There’s nothing else I can offer them now. Looking at the directors, I catch Kade’s sympathetic stare first.
“May I be excused?”
“Yes.” His hazel eyes crease at the edges. “You may go.”
With Richards’s warning still ringing in my ears, I stuff any doubts I have down and flee the room alone. This barely controlled calm won’t last long, and I have no desire for Gracie’s folks to witness its departure.
Never let your guard down, Carlos used to preach. He trained me not to think. Feel. Dream. Hope. He taught me how to put those pointless feelings in a box then shove them into the back of my brain.
Now I’m dragging it all back out and blowing off the cobwebs… Because Richards is right. Ember Lawson does want a life beyond this building. She wants to hope and dream. Just not yet.
I need 768 to win this.
Then she can finally rest.