“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she repeated.“Sorry. I was distracted.”
He frowned slightly but didn’t press. He stepped aside, giving her room to pull out.
Nina started the car, carefully reversed, and drove out of the parking lot. She merged onto the highway, the road blurring through her tears. She pressed the gas until the pressure inside her finally became unbearable.
She slammed on the brakes at the first gas station she saw.
The tires screeched against the asphalt, the car skidded slightly.
Nina sat there, breathing hard, staring straight ahead.
It was dark outside. Rare cars passed by, a neon sign flickered above the windshield. The gas station was almost empty. One lone truck stood by a pump, its driver lazily rolling his shoulders.
If everything had already gone to hell, she would finally do the thing she hadn’t dared to do for many years:retrieve the one piece she'd abandoned.
For too long, she had lived in fear that her secret would surface—fear of ruining her family’s name and her husband’s reputation. After all, he had once helped her so much, supported her, pieced her back together. She’d thought that was real love. No man would be that patient unless he truly loved her.
But love passed. Like everything in this world. And now Frank had a new passion. And she… had she ever been anything more than a means to an end? Had she ever really mattered to him at all?
Her fingers found a number in her contacts on their own. A number she hadn’t dialed in a very long time.
Leonard Vance. The private investigator she trusted.
The ringing dragged on painfully long.
“Nina? Long time no hear,” a low voice finally sounded in the receiver.
Nina tightened her grip on the phone.
“Hi, Leo. I need your help. Again.”
“I’m listening.”
“I need to know whether a girl named Lynn lives at the address I’m about to send you. Or rather… a young woman,” she corrected herself.“She was adopted.She’s the same girl you located for me all those years ago.”
Leonard fell silent for a moment. Nina heard the sound of keys tapping.
“That’s an interesting request,” he noted.
Her chest tightened as if someone had squeezed her heart in a fist.
“This is very important. Money isn’t an issue,” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.“Just check whether she lives there.”
If Leonard was surprised, he didn’t show it.
“All right. I’ll get back to you soon.”
“Thank you.”
Nina ended the call, tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, and closed her eyes.
Lynn…
The name struck something deep inside her.
God, how long it had been since she’d allowed herself to think about this. How fiercely she’d forbidden her thoughts to return to the past.
