She watched them for a while longer, barely breathing. Lynn walked beside him, scanning the ground nervously, even checking under the parked cars. And Jasper… He was calm. Smiling. Saying something to her.
From the outside, they looked close. Like a father and daughter. Like a normal family. As if he loved her. As if he took care of her. As if he were truly a good father.
But Lynn didn’t know who he really was. She couldn’t even imagine what he was capable of.
Nina’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel as her palms went cold. Her heart pounded so hard she almost missed the moment when Lynn and Jasper finally moved past the car.
He seemed caring. Perfectly normal. But it was a lie, and Nina knew that better than anyone.
She stayed motionless, hardly daring to breathe, until they finally went back into the house and she could breathe again.
A few minutes later, the garage door opened and a black SUV pulled out. They drove away.
Nina grabbed her phone and texted Leonard:
“I need everything you can find on Lynn’s father. Everything. Affairs, illegal deals, anything. And check whether he’s ever had trouble with the law.”
She locked the phone and just sat there, staring blankly ahead, trying to process what was happening.
Then she looked again at the passenger seat. The kitten was still sleeping, curled into a tiny fluffy ball. Her gaze softened. It was strange. This tiny, helpless creature was the only fragile link between her and her daughter.
She brushed her fingers over his soft fur. He purred in his sleep. She couldn’t just leave him. She had to return him to where he belonged.
Nina stepped out of the car, carefully cradling Mike against her chest. She didn’t know what the right way to do this was. Just knock and hope someone answered? Not likely. Leaving him on the porch was insanity too.
She walked up to the house, thinking about trying to slip him under the garage gate. She set Mike down and whispered softly,
“Come on, little guy. Crawl under. That’s your home.”
The kitten blinked warily, sniffed her fingers, but didn’t move.
“Come on…” she nudged him.
And at that very moment the door to the side of the house swung open. Nina lifted her head and met Lynn’seyes. Hadn’t she left with Jasper? Nina had thought they were both gone.
Lynn stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her gaze hostile and guarded.
“So your conscience finally kicked in and you decided to bring the cat back?” Lynn said.“Isn’t it low to steal someone’s pet?”
It took Nina several seconds just to understand what Lynn was saying.
God.
This was their first real meeting. Not in her imagination, not in nightmares, not in the painful fantasies of what her daughter might be like. She was here. Right in front of her. Real. Alive. And… she disliked her.
Nothing about this was how Nina had imagined it.
Her head spun.
Nina didn’t manage to say anything at first. Then she forced herself to stand, took a few steps toward the door, and held out the kitten. Lynn took him without hesitation, pressed him tightly to her chest, and stroked his soft fur.
Mike immediately began to purr, nosing into her neck.
“I’m sorry,” Nina finally said. Her voice broke, turned hoarse, but she forced herself to go on.“I found him right in the middle of the road. I thought someone had dumped him.”
Lynn still looked at her suspiciously.
Nina hurried on, afraid of the silence.“Then I saw you through the window… with…” The words stuck in her throat, but she forced herself to finish.“With that man looking for something. And I realized he was yours. I didn’t know if anyone was home, so I decided this was the only way to bring him back.”
