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“Don’t think you’re off the hook. She says she thinks Alex and Avery should be allowed to go with her, too, since you’re no better than me.” He passed me the phone and let me read the message. “That’s a new low but I can’t even muster up the strength to be all that mad right now.”
“I can. Jesus. These kids act like we fucking killed Santa.” I tossed his phone onto the seat next to him. “Honestly, Joe, I’m so sick of all of this. Everything is coming up roses with the campaign and the businesses but I just can’t give a shit.”
“We still haven’t talked about how Julia Mayhew swears up and down that Ada wasn’t working with her to take us down.” He swallowed and looked out the window.
“What would it matter if we did, Joe?”
“What if we were wrong?”
“What if we were? It wouldn’t change a fucking thing, would it? She’d still be gone and we’d still be hated by everyone in our house. Her being innocent just means we’ll hate ourselves as much as everyone else does and I’m not sure I can handle that right now.”
“We could find her.” He met my hard look with one of his own and shrugged. “If we were wrong and if we wanted to.”
“Do you want to?” I hated how much I wanted him to say yes.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Ask me again after we face off with her parents.”
62
***Joe***
“Thereyouare!We were starting to wonder if everyone had been kidnapped!” Mandy greeted us with tight hugs and warmth that we didn’t deserve. “Where are the kids? Does Ada have them out somewhere? We would’ve looked around but all the security guards spooked me. After eating shrooms for nearly two weeks straight, you get a little paranoid around men who look like the cops.”
I frowned down at Ada’s mom and slowly shook my head. “What do you mean? Ada’s not here.”
Ken laughed. “Obviously. We might still be a little high but we would’ve noticed our daughter if she were here.”
“Ken! I’m not high! I drove here. You’re high, you fool.” Mandy rolled her eyes and focused on me. “Where is she?”
Jud chose that moment to walk by. He froze when he saw Ada’s parents and I saw his face lose all its color. “Mandy. Ken. What are you doing here? Is everything okay with Ada?”
Mandy’s eyes narrowed. “Okay. Now I’m starting to get a little worried. Where is our daughter?”
“She left. She’s not here.” Collin sat down on the couch closest to him and sighed. “Have you not talked to her?”
“Of course, we’ve talked to her. I talked to her yesterday and she didn’t mention being gone. When I asked her how the kids were, she told me they were great. If my daughter isn’t here, where the hell is she?”
Jud came farther into the room. “We don’t know. She left. She didn’t exactly tell us where she was going.”
“She told me everything was fine here. Why would she tell me everything is fine here if she wasn’t here to know how things were?” Mandy looked at Ken and smacked his arm. “Your only child is missing, Kenneth! Look alive.”
“I was with her when you called after you saw the news. She lied and pretended like everything was okay even though things had already hit the fan. She was out of the house by that point. We were in a hotel. She was protecting my brothers and keeping you from worrying, but I just assumed she would’ve told you the truth by now. It’s not like she has any reason to protect us anymore. I also assumed she’d gone to be with you.”
“What are you talking about? Someone had better start from the beginning and tell me where the hell my daughter is.”
“I didn’t react well when the story first broke. The campaign bombed and our stocks crashed. I thought Ada came here under false pretenses to help our competitor.” I glanced at Jud and felt a powerful sense of shame land square on my chest. “I kicked her out.”
“I’m sorry. I thought I heard you say you kicked my daughter out.” Mandy took a step closer to me. “That can’t be right, though, because that would mean you kicked my daughter out when she had no place else to go.”
I couldn’t hold her gaze. “Yes, ma’am. I thought-”
Mandy grabbed the front of my shirt and dragged me closer, proving that she was a lot stronger than her small frame suggested. “If one hair on her head is harmed, I’ll make sure you never pee standing up again. I am so disappointed in you and I’d love to tell you all the ways that you’ve failed, but I need to find my daughter. Myhomelessdaughter.”
“I’m sorry. I thought she’d-”
“Joe, let me explain something to you. That girl is my life. You kicked mybabyout. You have a daughter so you should understand what I’m feeling right now.” She let go of my shirt and slowly straightened it out. “Find my daughter. Now.”
“It wasn’t just Joe, ma’am. I agreed with him. I was there with him and I helped. It’s my fault, too. I’m sorry. We’ll find her.” Collin hung his head and I felt like I was looking at my kid brother when he was just a kid again.
