He did not go unnoticed, but no one bothered him because it was clear he was with me. I motioned for him to take the seat next to me, with our backs against the wall.
“So,Scott,” I started. “Now would be a good time to tell me anything you know that might help me find my sister.”
“Well. The only thing I know is that there was some talk about finding out who torched the warehouse and getting even.”
“Okay. No surprise there. What else?”
“Not much. A couple of guys were running out to Baker to make a delivery for El Diablo tonight.”
“What kind of delivery?”
He shook his head. “They don’t tell me that kind of stuff.”
My mind started to tickle with an idea, but it wasn’t formed well enough to understand it yet. Before I got a chance to ask more, Hawk walked in and made a beeline for my table. “Ryder. I found out something that might help us find Lily.”
Thirty-Two
Paige
As soon as she said, “Oh no, not you,” my mom got up off the couch and ran into the bathroom and locked the door.
“What the hell?” I said, totally shocked. “What did she mean ‘Not you too?’”
He shook his head and said, “First, what happened to you? Did you see a doctor?”
“No, it didn’t get that far.” I then told my dad the whole story. “It was terrifying.”
He gave me a hug and said, “I know.”
I looked at the bathroom door and said, “What’s wrong with Mom?”
Dad just stood up and went to the bathroom door and knocked on it softly. “Rosemary? Honey?”
There was silence on the other side of the door as I sat there thinking this might be the weirdest night of my whole life. I half expected to wake up and discover that it had all been one really bizarre dream.
“Rosemary. I think it’s time you told Paige what happened.”
At first I didn’t get it, but then it dawned on me like a kick in the gut.“Oh no, not you too.”My mother had been attacked.
After what felt like an eternity, I heard the bathroom door unlock and the door opened. My mom came out and her eyes and nose were red from crying. I couldn’t ever remember seeing my mother cry—not even when her own mother died.
“I think I will have that glass of wine.”
I got up and poured her some of the wine into a plastic Starbucks cup. Her hands were shaking as she took it. “Thank you.”
“Let me just say that I never wanted to tell you this. I’m not even sure I should be doing it now. But with your sister missing and… what happened to you… I don’t know. It just seems like the right thing to do.”
I didn’t say a thing, but I waited.
“About seventeen years ago, your father was at the clinic and you were at school. The doorbell rang. I never answered the door, not even back then, but I could see a bouquet of flowers and I thought it might be from your dad. He and I…we were…well. I just thought he might be apologizing for something.”
The affair, probably.
“As soon as I opened the door, the man pushed his way in and, well.” She looked away.
“He raped you?” I asked, totally numb.
“We called the police and they got the guy based on DNA evidence,” my dad said.
