Chapter 26

26

I suspected Hayden's patience, like mine, was wearing thin.

Sophie's mother was a pain in the ass.

And I was done.

I stared at Hayden's cell sitting on the kitchen table between the two of us and wanted to reach through the phone and shake the woman.

"Listen to me," I belted out. "This isn't about you. This is about Sophie. We're not after a history lesson, a simple yes or no. Have you seen Sophie today?"

"No."

It was a long shot but fuck.

"Other than wanting to connect with Sophie has there been a reason you've come by her apartment?"

"Do I need a reason?—"

"Yes or no? "

"I don't believe that's your business," Lorelai challenged.

The woman was dead-ass wrong but I didn't have time to waste arguing with her. Brady had already gotten to work checking traffic cameras in the area after finding out the only place the apartment complex had cameras were outside and inside the club house, the gym, and the pool. Nothing in the breezeways, halls, or parking lot. A huge fucking oversight on the owner's part.

"Lorelai, the other day you were here you said it was imperative Sophie get in touch," Hayden tried, and I had to hand it to him; he kept his tone even whereas I was ready to strangle the woman. "We need to know what was so important you speak to her."

"Why? Is it so strange for a mother to want to speak to her daughter after she's ignored her for weeks?"

Coming from a nice, kind, loving mother, yes, that would be strange—her repeated visits would come from a place of worry. For a pushy, overbearing one, probably not—she'd find it imperative to speak to her daughter so she could get her way.

"Why are you calling me instead of my daughter? Where's Sophie?"

It was about time she asked after her daughter.

"That's what we're trying to find out," I told her.

Any other parent, I would've cushioned that. But this parent? I didn't have the time or desire.

"What does that mean?" she shrieked.

Now, that was the first response I'd heard from the woman that conveyed she actually gave one single shit about her daughter.

"It means her purse, phone, and car are at the apartment. But she's not. And we know the last call she made from her phone was to me before she walked into her apartment."

"I need to come over. I'll be there?—"

"You don't need to come here," Hayden piped in before I could.

"I need to give something to Valentine."

Me?

What the fuck could she want to give to me?

And suddenly everything about Lorelai changed.

"I haven't seen or talked to her since what happened. But I got a letter in the mail from an attorney about…her father ," she whispered the last part and there was more than a little pain when she said the word "father."

"What about her father?" I asked and opened my texts. "What's his name?"

"Milton," she continued to whisper.

"Huxley?"

"Yes."

I shot off a text to Brady asking him to run Milton Huxley.

"What's the letter say?" Hayden inquired.

There was a long stretch of silence.

Too long.

"Lorelai. "

"I'll bring it to you. It doesn't say much. Just that Milton's estate is looking for Sophie."

Why would an attorney send a letter to a thirty-seven-year-old woman's mother's house?

"Why wasn't it sent here?"

"Apartment's only in my name?" Hayden guessed. "Soph uses her mom's address for registration and insurance because the rate is way cheaper. So her license has that address, too."

Well, fucking hell .

My phone dinged with a text from Brady.

Two words that had my blood turning to ice.

Office. Now.

"Do me a favor, Lorelai. Take a picture of the letter and the envelope and text me the pictures. If I need the original, I'll come by your house."

"I'll—"

"We won't be here."

"If you're going out to search, I want to help."

And fuck me, I didn't want to believe it because believing it would mean I had to admit I'd been a total cocksucker to a mother who loved her daughter deeply and just didn't know how to show it. Sophie had started to come to these conclusions. I, however, was reserving judgement until her mother showed me proof Sophie's theory was correct. But there it was, proof in a mother's voice wobbling with fear, wanting to help search for her daughter.

"Lorelai." I softened my tone. "Let me get to where I'm going. Get briefed on the situation and I'll call you. I'll keep you updated as much as I can, but I hope you understand finding Sophie is my priority, reporting to you is secondary." I glanced at Hayden, lifting my brow in question. He got me and tipped his chin. "Hayden will also be in touch. If you need something, call him not me, just in case I'm busy."

The last part was throwing Hayden under the bus then backing over him for good measure. But there was only so much Lorelai I could take even if she was showing a side of her that stated plain she loved her daughter.

"Okay. I'll… okay…I'll just…"

"Text me what I asked for."

"Yes. I'll do that."

"One more thing. Milton, was he a dangerous man?"

She sniffed and cleared her throat. "I don't know, he left when Sophie was two and never looked back."

Yeah, Sophie and her mother had a lot to talk about, including her mother still loving a man who left her thirty-five years ago.