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Chapter Nine
Quinlan
That letter made me finally tell Jagger about how I was found. He told me that I shouldn’t be ashamed of what happened. That it wasn’t my fault. I explained to him that I’ve always felt less than because I was abandoned.
My parents will be here in two weeks. Jagger makes me look at life in a different way. Instead of wondering why my bio parents abandoned me, he tells me to think of it like this: I lost nothing when they left me. They lost everything. But I think there’s always going to be a part of me that feels abandoned.
“Hi Mom,” I say as I answer my phone.
“Hi, sweetheart. Your dad and I wanted to see if there’s anything you want us to bring.”
“Thank you, but no. I’m just really excited to see you and Dad.”
“We’re really excited to see you too. You let us know if you think of something you want.”
“Thank you, Mom. I will. Two weeks and I’ll get to hug you.”
“How are things going with Jagger?”
“It’s going great. I can’t wait for you to meet him and his family. You’re going to love them.”
“Your dad is so excited to meet Jagger’s dad,” Mom says as she laughs.
I can hear my dad in the background laughing too and it makes me start laughing too. They’re goofballs.
“They’re all really excited to meet all of you. I wish Devin, Scarlett, Henry and Lauren could come out here with you this time.”
“I know, baby. But we’re all planning on coming out for Christmas and New Year’s.”
“I’m looking forward to that too.”
I plan on apologizing to my parents when they get here. I’ve come to realize that I haven’t always treated them in the best way. As a teenager, I was angry. Angry that I was discarded and thrown away. I never really took the time to appreciate what my parents gave to me. They gave me a great life with love, security and a home. But my asshole teenage self couldn’t see it, so I ran away from them and came here to Chicago. All the years that I’ve been here, I never made them feel wanted in my life. I need to fix that. Because who knows where I would be if they hadn’t chosen me at the orphanage? And then when they adopted me, they gave me a real name. Quinlan Ann Mendonca. Before that? I was Marcy Smith. Not that growing up as Marcy would’ve been bad, it just didn’t come with a family.
“I hate to cut this short, Mom, but I have to get to class. I love you and Dad.”
“We love you too, honey. Study hard. And be safe.”
I smile as I hang up. Yeah, I definitely need to make things better with them. I feel a lot lighter after talking to my mom. Which is probably why I didn’t notice the woman that was following me until she was right next to me.
“Quinn?” I hear her say.
Jagger
Today I received another letter but this one had an amount and a deadline.
To: Jagger Peligue
We hope you?re ready to follow our instructions. Remember this one fact. We have information on your Quinn Mendonca and if you want to save her, you?ll do what we say.
You will give us five million dollars. If the bills are marked, we?ll know. So don?t try to be a hero and do something stupid. You have a week to get this money together. The next letter will tell you where and when the drop off will be.
These assholes must think I have money. Which I don?t. My parents have money, but me? I live off what I make playing our gigs and the commission we each make from the brewery. That pays my bills and allows me to live the way I do. My parents are always offering to help us, but none of us want to take their money. The only thing that they have helped us with is buying the home we live in. But my siblings and I pay the mortgage.
We live in a five-bedroom, six-bath home near Chicago that our parents bought for us to use. But we made the deal that we would pay the mortgage. None of us want our parents to be supporting us because of the career we’ve chosen.
I give Salvatore a call to let him know that I got another letter and to see if he’s found anything. It’s only been a week, but I’m hoping he’s found something.
Since Quinn is at school, I head to Sal’s precinct.
