Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
“Just spoke to Mom,” Matthew declares, looking anxiously between Kane and me. His eyes then go to my twitching hand. “She told me what happened.”
“Fuck off,” I utter, too tired, too drained to deal with him.
Matthew raises his hands, a display of defense. “I don’t know if it’s helpful at all…”
“Oh my God,” I whisper, rubbing my temples.
He carries on. “Mee-maw used to visit the library a couple of times a month, something she never did before.”
“One,” I snap and check off a finger with another finger, “Why should I care? And two… how do you know that?”
“Poppy mentioned it once.” He wets his lips. “She worked there for a while when attending college. She said her manager helped Mee-maw set up an email account. She was asking me if Mee-maw had been in touch with me. I didn’t think anything of it but now it makes sense.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper and my hope returns. I look at Kane with wide eyes. “Is it still open?”
“I’d say so,” he replies and grabs my arm. “Just gotta convince Mr. Delaware to give us her details if he has them.”
I’ve never moved so fast in my entire life, but one detail has me doubling back. “You kept in touch with Poppy and you never once told her about what was happening to me?”
“I wasn’t in my right mind,” Matthew murmurs. “I thought I was doin’ the right thing.”
I don’t have time to fight with him about this.
“Fuck you for that.” I turn towards the front door and follow Kane straight to the car, calling Webber on the way. “She has an email account.”
“You’re joking?”
“Nope. Webber… I think this is it. I think we might have finally found her.” My tears return and I can’t stop them.
“Kane with you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I inhale and exhale and take the tissue that Kane offers.
“Babe, you gotta chill, don’t get your hopes up.”
Nodding, because he’s right, I try to relax but that’s always easier said than done.
“You might not need to come, Webber. It’s a small town, they will probably log in without much prompting.”
“I need to be there,” he replies, sounding emotional. “This could crack the case wide open and even if it doesn’t, I gotta be there to stop you from going after whoever is on the other side of those emails. You’ve got to remember that if your kid is in a happy and loving home, you showing up on her doorstep will only make her family hostile.”
“They kidnapped her! They shouldn’t get to keep her.”
“I know,” he soothes, “but we have got to do this the right way. We have to investigate this the proper way. You’ve trusted me for this long, keep the faith.”
Kane squeezes my thigh.
“I trust you, Webber, but if this takes too long and she’s at risk in any way, I’m not gonna stop.”
“Understood. I’m booking my flight right now. Wait for me.”
The line goes dead and for the first time in forever, I feel fully alive.
We head into the library, not just Kane and I but Felicia and West too. Matthew didn’t follow, lucky for him because I still want to kill him.
“Mr. Delaware,” I demand loudly across the deserted library.
“Yes?” He pokes his head around the open doorway behind the counter. “Oh, it’s you! I heard you was back in town. How are you?”
“Fine,” I respond automatically but I don’t bother asking for his welfare in return. “My grandmother used to come in here every so often right?”
“Of course, she was a proud and loving member of our community. Visited a lot of places that woman did.”
Kane places his hand on the mahogany wood countertop. “You helped her set up an email account.”
“Sure did.” He looks so proud of himself until he sees our serious expressions. “Why?” Mr. Delaware now looks wary, true to his name.
“Because we need access to it.”
“That’s some kinda data protection I think. Not sure I can legally give you that.”
I smile but it’s not friendly. “I don’t give a crap about data protection. That’s my mee-maw and what’s hers is mine. Now please… tell me her details.”
“Even if I do,” he goes on, picking up a large journal and flicking through it. He pushes his glasses up his nose and peers at one page before another. “She never used it to my knowledge. I doubt you’ll find anything.”
“So what’s the problem?” West snaps and Mr. Delaware, though a big guy himself, gulps and flicks through the journal faster.
“No problem, I’ll help y’all.”
I tap my fingers on the surface and look around the empty space. Nobody is in here but then it does close early on a Wednesday and it’s almost at that time.
“Let’s see here,” he says and walks around the desk. I watch as he boots up an ancient computer, uses his own log in and opens email. He types in her details at a snail’s pace and we all wait with bated breath to see if there’s anything there.