“Never mind that.” Tash pushed up his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “What did she say about where he might have gone?”
Ash was busy checking something on his phone. “She believes—and I tend to agree with her—that Brandon went back to Pennsylvania to try and deal with the issue of Munson’s death on his own. She thinks he went home.”
“Shit.” Tash sat and rested his head on the back of the love seat, staring up at the ceiling. “So what do we do now?”
“First thing is to find out where the house is and pay her a visit.”
Tash bolted upright to a sitting position. “You? You’re going to go see Mrs. Munson, your foster mother?”
Lines of anguish etched deep into Ash’s face. Tash knew how hard this was on him. But Tash also knew Ash would do anything for Brandon.
“Yeah. And I’m going to call Luke. I’m sure he’ll want to come too. We can leave this afternoon and be there by early evening.”
Something niggled at the back of Tash’s mind, and he checked his calendar. He’d completely overlooked his afternoon court appearance with Connor Halstead. He’d be testifying in Johnny’s defense. There was no way he could miss that.
“I can’t go until later.” After explaining about his appointment, Ash, who was already placing the call to Luke, nodded.
“I’m sure that’s fine. Even if we leave around five tonight, we’ll still be there before its gets too late.”
Tash let out a sigh of relief. As Ash filled Luke in on the details, Tash ran over his last few meetings with Johnny in his head. The young man had made amazing progress and had blossomed in the care of the Ortega family in his home life and at the clinic and community center for work. Brandon, who’d been working with Johnny the evenings Tash spent at the clinic, had reported to him that Johnny was a bright kid who showed a real aptitude for computers. He was well on his way to getting his GED, and Brandon had no doubt Johnny would be going to college in the future.
He said good-bye to Ash and headed back to his office. The rest of the morning was spent going over Johnny’s file in preparation for the meeting with the judge. At one o’clock, as he was finishing up his lunch, Tash received a call from Valerie.
“Hi, what’s up?”
“I’m so sorry, Tash. Please say you’ll forgive me.” His sister’s naturally bubbly voice sounded subdued in his ear, and he had a suspicion she’d been crying.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s my fault Brandon left. I said all those things last night, and he heard me, didn’t he?” Her hiccupping sobs tore at Tash’s heart even though he knew it was the truth.
“Sweetie, you were being protective of me, and I understand. The truth is, I can’t allow you or anyone else to tell me how I should feel.” He listened to her sniffle for a few moments. “I love him, Val. Not knowing where he is, if he’s in trouble or needs me… It’s killing me. It’s like a piece of me is missing. Do you understand?”
He held his breath as she remained silent on the other end.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I do, and that’s why I’m so upset. I’m so sorry I butted in and hurt you and Brandon. Luke is furious with me.”
“He is?” Tash was surprised. Though he and Luke had made an uneasy peace, Tash sensed the man was still upset about Brandon’s involvement with him.
“He told me I had to leave you both alone to let you work through your relationship. If it was meant to last, it would all work out.”
Wise words. “So you know now how much I love him, don’t you?”
“Yes.” More sniffling. “You know I love you and only want the best for you. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing until we spoke afterward, and I saw it.”
“Saw what?”
“I saw you again. The man you were before you retreated into your shell. And I don’t ever want to see that other person. If Brandon is the one who brought you back to life, I promise I won’t stand in your way.”
“Thanks, honey. I have a court date this afternoon, but then Luke, Ash, and I are leaving for Pennsylvania.”
“I know. I had to rearrange Luke’s meetings.”
“Right. So I’ll keep you in the loop with what happens tonight, but I have to go now and prepare for this hearing.”
After he hung up, Tash showered, dressed for court in a suit and tie, and left to meet Connor Halstead at the offices of Manhattan Legal Aid in Tribeca. He took it as a good sign that the train didn’t take too long, and he arrived at the office with time to spare. He received his visitor’s pass but still needed to go through metal detectors. The elevators groaned their way up to the space occupied by Legal Aid.
When the doors slid open, he found Connor waiting for him.
