“You’re looking much brighter today.”
“Yeah. I got the nurse to put a line of coke into my drip.” I stare at her, dumbfounded, then watch as her face creases with delight. “Ha. Got you.”
“You did. It’s just the cut-priced coffee, then?”
“Home brand for the win again.”
We go through our usual rotation of subjects, the questions and answers feeling as safe and scripted as the call and replies in church. “I’ve moved into a new place,” I say cautiously as the effort of my visit shows. “My routine might be a bit off for a while, but I promise I’ll get here just as often.”
“Maybe more often,” Trent calls from the doorway, ignoring every one of my explicit instructions as easily as he now ignores the upset expression on my face. “Hey. I’m sure Rosa hasn’t mentioned me at all, but I’m Trent.”
“Is this the billionaire?” she whispers to me as he approaches. “He smells rich.”
“Not quite that level but my dad’s working on it.”
“And what are your intentions towards my daughter?”
He takes a visitor’s chair from under the window and drags it next to the bed, trapping me where I lie beside her. “Only good, I promise you. Did she mention we had a bit of trouble today?”
My mum tilts her head, squinting her eyes though I doubt she can see him even sitting this closely. “At work?”
“Yeah. Some friends of mine are looking into it but anything you can tell us about Rosa’s uncle would be helpful.” My eyes are shooting death rays at him, but Trent just smiles lazily and bats them aside. “We’re trying to track him down.”
“Shouldn’t you be out keeping your car safe?”
“Finley’s taking it on a spin around the block,” he says with a shrug. “I can’t think of anything safer than that.”
“Says someone who obviously hasn’t seen her driving.”
I take my mum’s hand and she squeezes it, then clamps her other around my upper arm. “He’s not been in contact, has he?”
“No,” I state firmly at the same time Trent says, “Yes.”
“He hasn’t,” I insist. “There were some cards that made me concerned, but the police confirmed he didn’t send them.”
“Is this why you wanted to know who told me he was out?”
“Yes,” Trent says before I can jump in with a softer answer. “I’m anxious for your daughter’s safety and although she keeps insisting she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself, I don’t think this is a situation she should handle alone.”
“No. He… what do you need to know?”
“Whatever details you can give us.”
“They’ll be a decade out of date,” I snap at him, blood boiling with fury. Who the fuck does he think he is, coming in here, asking a dying woman questions? “She knows absolutely nothing since he was locked away, just like me.”
“We’ve got some leads,” Trent says, meeting my mother’s eyes. “But anything we can add to the larger picture helps. Habits, things he enjoys doing, enjoys eating even. It could all help pinpoint a location.”
My mother’s lips tremble and a new bolt of rage shoots through me. “Can’t you ask the police?”
“It’s gone beyond that.” Trent reaches for the same hand that my mother’s holding, his palm so large it easily encompasses both of ours. “Their rules mean unless we have evidence directly implicating him, they can’t do anything.”
“Implicating him in what?”
My mother’s voice is sharp.
“It’s nothing,” I tell her.
“A man tried to kill both of us earlier today,” Trent explains, ignoring every signal I’m sending his way. “We took care of him, but we need to track him down.”
