Page 52 of Her Forever SEAL

“A train,” Lydia said, half to herself. She was pulling something up on her screen. “And sea lions.”

“Sea lions are resident throughout the bay,” Rylie said. “But the heaviest concentrations in the south end are around the National City and Chula Vista waterfront. The marina areas.”

“That's what I'm looking at.” Lydia turned her laptop so they could see the map. The South Bay waterfront ran in a long strip—National City, then Chula Vista, the marina, the industrial corridor that ran parallel to the water. “The Five runs right through this stretch. You'd hear highway noise constantly.” She traced a line with her finger. “And the freight rail line runs right along the bay through National City. There are multiple trains daily.”

“That’s not close to Eastlake Vistas.” Sophia protested.

“I’m not surprised,” Lydia said. “Eastlake Vistas is just where some of the operators are staying. It’s not the right place to be holding Bree. They needed somewhere more isolated. They would have it near the waterfront.”

“The Warehouse district,” Rylie said, looking at the same section of map. “Industrial and commercial properties along the waterfront. Low foot traffic. Box trucks coming and going with nobody looking at them twice.”

“How many properties are we looking at?” Sophia asked.

“I can start narrowing it.” Lydia was already typing. “Commercial rentals in that corridor, cross-referenced with anything that came available in the last six months. If they've been running this since September they needed to be set up before that.”

Kayla wasn’t saying anything, she was just looking at the map. But she was keeping up with everything being said. She knew exactly when to stay out of the way and when to step in.

Sophia thought about Mason. She thought about where that quality came from.

Rylie's phone buzzed. She glanced at it and stood. “I need to step outside for two minutes.” She was already moving toward the back door. “My babysitter.”

Sophia nodded. She got up and filled the kettle and put it on. Her hands needed something to do.

“Angie's at Beth's,” she said to Lydia. “Dropping off Declan and Nora.”

Lydia looked up from her screen. “Beth has Lisa too?”

“Beth insisted. She's setting up a slumber party.” Sophia managed a small smile at that. Lydia’s sister ran a house that was basically organized chaos and unconditional love, and the moment Sophia had called her she'd heard the particular quality of her silence that meant she already understood and wasn't going to ask a single question. She'd just open the door.

“My baby sister is a smart woman,” Lydia said. Then she looked back at the screen.

Kayla was still studying the map.

“Mom,” she said.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Should we tell Lettie?”

The question landed in the kitchen and stayed there. Sophia looked at her daughter. Then she looked at Lydia.

Lydia set down her coffee. She was quiet for a moment, her eyes on the middle distance, and Sophia knew she was running it the way Lydia ran everything methodically, all the way to the end.

“Lettie doesn't know Bree found a way to reach out,” Sophia said slowly. “She's been sitting in that house for days believing her daughter is gone and she has no information.”

“She hasn't,” Lydia said. “That's true.”

“So we tell her.” Kayla looked between them. “She deserves to know Bree is okay.”

“She deserves to know,” Lydia agreed. “The question is what happens when she does.” She folded her hands on the island. “Lettie has been holding herself together under enormous pressure for days. If⁠—”

Rylie returned. “What are you talking about?”

“Kayla brought up a good point,” Lydia said. “She wants to know if we should tell Lettie that Bree texted.”

“No. We can’t do that.”

Sophia winced and Kayla looked shocked at Rylie’s strong words. When Rylie looked at Kayla, she went on to explain. “She has to continue to play the same part in front of Mary. She has to look just as devastated and scared. If she finds out that Bree contacted you, Kayla, she’d have hope. She needs to look hopeless.”