Chapter 24 #2
Paige’s stomach turned at the idea, while Dewey’s eyes went wide. “Really? You mean, after Devon peeled his T-shirt off his rock-hard abs and wrapped tiny baby Paige in it?”
“Please stop bringing that up,” Paige said, sinking her head in her hands.
“Yes, after that. A cute little number that said ‘I’m a Badass Baby,’ though the ‘S’s were dollar signs,” Drucinda answered, with a grin. “I assume Devon told you he delivered you on the side of the road when your Mum went into labor a month early.”
Paige stared into space, pressing two fingers to each temple. “He told me.”
“Your poor Mum with Devon at the wheel.”
Paige slapped a hand against the leather arm. “Why weren’t you with her if you were such good friends?”
“I was. I took the bike and let Devon drive her. He’d have a much easier time carrying her into the hospital. Well, had they made it that far.”
Dewey leaned forward on the edge of his seat. “Go back. We need more details.”
Paige frowned. “No, we don’t.”
“Yes, we do. You were there when she disappeared. Well, not in the exact location at the moment she disappeared, but you were there before it. What happened?”
Tears welled in Paige’s eyes and her nose burned as the thought of her mother’s murder welled inside of her.
“She called me right before she did an asset retrieval,” Drucinda said. “I should have known something was wrong then. She’d received a note accusing someone or a group of someones in the library network of theft.”
Dewey’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Did she find the thief?”
Drucinda shook her head, balancing one foot on the toes of the other as she rocked her legs. “No. We never did, and after her coma, she grew increasingly paranoid. She didn’t trust anyone. Not Higgins, not Ronnie, not even me.”
Paige curled her hands into fists and pounded them on the supple leather seat. “Because you killed her. She was right about you.”
She leapt from her seat as hot tears spilled from her eyes and raced from the room. Wiping at her cheeks, she pushed through the first door she came across, finding Thorn asleep in the large bed.
Her features pinched further, and she backed from the room before she pushed through the door on the opposite side. She found an empty bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her, flicking the thumb-turn to the locked position.
With a deep exhale, she plopped onto the closed lid of the toilet and sank her head into her hands as sobs wracked through her.
A soft knock sounded on the door moments later. She snapped up her gaze, sniffing as she unrolled a wad of toilet paper and pressed it to her nose.
“Paige?” Drucinda’s voice called.
“Go away!” Paige shouted in a trembling voice.
“While I’d love to, I won’t. We have to have this out.”
“There’s nothing to discuss. You killed my mom, and I spent a lifetime missing her while being raised by nuns.”
“I didn’t, darling. I know you don’t believe that, but I’d like to explain what happened.”
Silence fell between them before the door jimmied in the jamb.
“Open the door, Paige.”
Paige sniffled, pressing the toilet paper against her red eyes. Could she trust this woman? Her mother didn’t, or else she wouldn’t have dropped her at the convent. She shook her head, trying to find her voice again.
The thumb-latch slowly slid from locked to unlocked before the door popped open.
“Get out!” Paige shouted, an angry tinge in her voice.
“No,” Drucinda said as she clicked the door closed behind her and sauntered closer to Paige. She pulled a few tissues from a holder across the space and handed them to her. “This just won’t do, you see. You cannot fall to pieces all the time.”
“You’re such a–”
“Don’t say anything you may regret. I’m being serious. We are on a mission. And you are weeping at every turn. And for no reason.”
“My mom is dead. Even if you didn’t do it, someone did. I lost my entire life with her.”
“You lost a good portion, yes. But I don’t think anyone killed her.”
“So, what? She disappeared on her own and left her newborn daughter behind? I meant that little to her?”
“No. But I don’t think she’s dead. Had I not gone to prison for nearly thirty-five years, I would have been searching for her.”
Paige crinkled her eyebrows as she considered it. Could her mother still be alive?
Drucinda slouched against the wall. “You’re like her, you know?”
“Yeah, I saw the red hair in her librarian portrait.”
A sharp exhale escaped from Drucinda before she strutted to the mirror and smoothed her hair back toward the high ponytail. “Yes, there’s that, but you’re like her in other ways, too.”
Paige sniffled again, rubbing her nose with a tissue. Curiosity burned in her, but she wasn’t certain she trusted Drucinda. Or that she wanted to hear any stories about her mother from the woman.
Drucinda finished fiddling with her already-perfect ponytail and twisted to face her, leaning a hip against the pedestal sink. “You both have an innocence about you. A humanness.”
Paige dropped her gaze to her lap, tightening her fingers around the wadded tissue. “Yes, I know. I’m a noob. And a child.”
“That’s not what I meant. It’s endearing. Your Mum and I were quite good friends.”
Paige snapped her gaze toward Drucinda and poked a finger at her, her features twisting. “Then why weren’t you with her when she died?”
Drucinda puckered her full lips as she cast her eyes to the tiled floor below her.
“I would have preferred to have been. But she didn’t give me much choice.
She sneaked from the house while I was in the shower and disappeared.
I had only a vague idea of where she was going.
By the time I got there, it was too late. ”
“A likely story,” Paige answered before blowing her nose again.
“It’s easier for you to hate me. I know that. But it does little to bring any justice to what happened to your mother. Or better yet, find her.”
Paige leapt from her seat and paced the small area. “It’s not easier. It’s just…why should I trust you when she didn’t?”
“Reed was paranoid by the end. She didn’t know who to trust.”
“Why was she so paranoid? What happened to make her not trust you?”
“I’ll tell you the whole story. I’m not trying to hide anything from you. I’d really rather not, actually. I think if we work together, we can find Reed.”
Paige stared at her, unable to answer for a moment as emotion welled inside of her. “Find Reed?”
“Yes,” Drucinda said with a nod, “I think your mother is alive. And I know the first place we can search for her.”