Chapter 30 #2
Irene put her fingers to her daughter’s lips, hushing her protests. “I realized I couldn’t keep the truth from you any longer. Not with the situation getting worse and worse. It’s been eating at me.” Pain etched deep lines in Irene’s face. “Was that woman taken because I didn’t help her?”
Stunned all over again, Adeline dug way down deep and summoned her voice. If she sounded upset, her mother would only grow more agitated. “I’m certain none of this is your fault. You couldn’t have guessed what some madman was up to.”
“But if I’d told her the truth would this have happened?” Irene’s head rocked slowly, wearily, from side to side against the pillow. “I should have told you everything a long time ago. I was a coward.”
Adeline made a decision. There was no putting off certain aspects of this disturbing conversation.
Not if her mother had information that could help the investigation.
“You can help me now.” She had to be careful.
The last thing she wanted to do was overtax her mother.
The pivotal piece of this puzzle lay in the past—her past. The one she’d had before her parents had adopted her.
“You don’t have to explain or to go into any detail,” Adeline said.
“We’ll do that later, when you’re better.
Based on what you’ve told me, Prescott was digging into her past—our past. If that’s the case, all I need is a starting point. A name or place.”
“Father Floyd Grayson.” Irene’s lips quivered. “The last I heard he had retired to an assisted living facility in Waveland. Tell him you need to know about the Solomon family, Quentin Solomon, and . . . and the tragedy.”
Her mom’s eyes drifted shut.
“Mom.”
Irene’s eyes blinked open once more.
Adeline squeezed her mother’s hand and pressed a kiss to her cheek, then smiled with all the love bursting in her heart. “I will always be your little girl.”
Irene nodded, the slightest dip of her chin, then closed her eyes once more.
Confusion rammed Adeline hard. Wait. She should have asked if her mother had told anyone else about this. Whoever had taken Prescott and Arnold had to be aware of their true past. “Mom,” she whispered close to her mother’s ear, “who else knows about the adoption?”
Surely her uncle Cyrus knew. Bastard. Was he involved in this?
“Ms. Cooper?”
Adeline started. Took a breath and straightened away from the bed as the nurse entered the cubicle. “Is she okay?”
The nurse nodded. “It’s the sedative, ma’am. She needs to rest. I don’t think she’ll be coming around again for a while.”
Adeline nodded. “Thank you.”
She stood for a long time afterward, watching her mother sleep. Watching her breathe. She considered the glass wall that separated her mother’s space from those in charge of her care. Adeline had no reason to doubt the competence of any of them. Yet she was scared to death.
She had to go. Prescott and Arnold were out there. Maybe dead. Maybe alive. Those two women needed her to be strong. To find them. To stop this bastard . . . whoever the hell he was.
And now she actually had a direction to take.
Adeline kissed her mom’s forehead and walked out into the corridor. Wyatt was speaking to one of the nurses. Adeline headed in that direction.
A big body T-boned her.
“Sorry.” She looked up at the man who had backed into her.
Big guy. The uniform indicated he worked for the hospital.
The mop in his hand identified him as a janitor.
The yellow plastic sign sitting on the damp tile in the middle of the corridor reminded her that it was late, after normal visiting hours, when stuff like this got done.
Boy, if her reactions got any slower she would be a danger to herself and those around her.
“Sorry,” she repeated. “I didn’t see you. ”
“No problem.” He rubbed a hand over his shiny bald head and nodded toward the cubicle she’d exited. “Your mother?”
Adeline nodded. She fought another wave of emotion. “Yeah. She had a heart attack.” Which he likely knew already. This was the cardiac unit.
He glanced at the nurse’s desk. “Don’t worry. She couldn’t be in better hands.”
Adeline told herself he was right. She had to trust these people. “Thanks.” She took one last look at her mom sleeping so peacefully. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her.”
The janitor gave her a sympathetic smile, then went on about his mopping.
Adeline joined Wyatt at the station and left her cell number with the charge nurse. Grabbing her wavering composure with both hands, she met Wyatt’s expectant gaze. “We have to go to Waveland.”
She didn’t give him time to ask questions. Adeline walked as fast as possible to the stairwell exit. She didn’t have the patience for the elevator. She had to get out of here.
Wyatt didn’t try to slow her or to demand an explanation. He followed, taking the stairs two at a time just as she did.
When she hit the parking lot, she sent him a sideways glance. “Take me to the nearest convenience store.”
“Am I allowed to ask why?” He kept pace with her half run.
“I need a cigarette.”