Chapter Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Eight
Justin
Until now .. . until this.
Her words hit me with the force of a meteor.
“I’m so sorry. I know I should’ve said something before,” she said, tears still streaming down her face, full of bitter remorse. “Especially to you, but—”
I held up a hand to stop her. Yes, she should’ve told me everything, and it stung that she’d held back after everything we’d shared, but I couldn’t hold that against her. Everyone had their right to hold their secrets until they felt ready to share them, but in this moment, Elizabeth’s safety and Olivia’s pain trumped everything. And it was my job to take care of them, regardless.
Plus, this was the puzzle piece that had been missing all along.
Everything clicked into place like a trail of dominoes falling in rapid succession. There was no abusive ex-boyfriend. That had all been a ruse to throw everyone off the scent. Sofia had hustled her way into Olivia’s life. It was clear she knew who she was and that Elizabeth was her half sister. What wasn’t as clear were her intentions. Had she and her father planned this all along, playing the long game, with a kidnapping as the ultimate goal? If so, we were already behind the eight ball. They could be long gone by now.
“Justin, please,” Olivia pleaded, her voice scratchy with unshed tears. “Say something. Did I cause this by keeping the truth from you?”
“No.” I sat next to her and pulled her close. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It feels like it,” she cried into my chest. “I didn’t protect my baby girl. How could I let him take her?”
I cupped the back of her head as a surge of fierce protectiveness roared through me like a freight train, hot and nearly enough to choke me. “You didn’t, honey. He took her. There’s a difference.”
The flash of police lights lit up behind her blinds as the cops arrived at the house. I pressed a kiss to her temple and left her long enough to let them in, not at all surprised to see Kade pulling up to the curb just behind them.
I stepped outside to speak to him, giving her a moment to talk to the police officers.
“Any news?” he asked.
“No.” Everything in my gut churned that I couldn’t do more, that the truth had been right under my nose the entire damn time. “I can’t believe I fucking missed it.”
He stared me down from behind his aviators. “Some people are born deceivers. You know that, Ashford. Plus, she’s just a college kid. I wouldn’t have put her top of the list either, and I for sure wouldn’t have suspected she might be the secret big sister. Jesus, man, that’s like out of a movie. Give yourself a break.”
I huffed out a big breath, not quite ready to let myself off the hook. “Still. I should’ve looked harder. She was always skittish around me. She was the only one who took the studio key for a weekend—”
“To teach, then gave it right back. Not the biggest of red flags.” He yanked off his glasses. “And looking back, sure, skittish because she had something to hide. In the moment, what did you think?”
“That she was a nervous kid.”
He shrugged as if to say there you go.
I couldn’t believe Kade the badass was not kicking my ass harder.
“You keeping Camden in the loop?” he asked.
“Yeah. She asked me to. And he’s keeping up with the rest of the family. She’s not up for having everyone over here making her more nervous, though I think she needs their support.”
He glanced back at the house. “I think she just needs yours.”
I turned to find her looking out the window at us, her eyes haunted and red, her face pale. It was like a mule kick to the center of my chest right then... I’d known for a while that I loved her, but today it felt like we were a real family. I no longer worked for her. I simply loved her and that little girl. They were mine and I was theirs, and that was the most humbling thing I’d ever felt in my life—because I now knew that God was not ignoring me when I’d pleaded and prayed with him all those years ago. He had answered me... by saying no. He had something so much better in store for me when I got to the other side of that pain and bitterness.
“You’re right,” I murmured. “Let me get back in there.”
I spun to go back inside and wrapped her back up in my arms, letting her borrow whatever strength she needed as she faced the rest of the detective’s questions while Kade made himself scarce in the dining area with my laptop. We’d worked together long enough that I knew he’d be stepping in to help me lock down security on all other fronts since we had no idea what else Sofia might be capable of at this point.
That left me free to focus on Olivia, who was barely holding it together, as she dug out a recent photo of Elizabeth for the police.
“Thank you,” a kind-eyed detective said. “We’ll use this to put together the Amber Alert bulletin, which should be going out within the hour.”
“Oh God.” Olivia turned to me, everything in her screaming silently in pain. “We’ll find her, won’t we?” she whispered.
I’d seen the looks on the cops’ faces. They all thought it was hopeless. I’d sworn to her I would always protect them... and I would give my life for either of them... but even I didn’t have a crystal ball.
And I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
So I told her a lie.
“Yes.”