Victoria
My head felt ready to explode, and my rug was going to sport holes from all of the pacing I was doing. For days, my anxiety and worry had been increasing, and now it was reaching a fever pitch.
My cell dug into my palm as I turned the corner for another circuit of my pacing. I had called all of Sage’s friends, all of my friends, everyone I could possibly think of. I had talked and asked questions and talked some more, enough to start losing my voice, but it didn’t matter. I hadn’t learned anything. Not even one lead.
Sage had disappeared without a trace, just upped and vanished.
My Sage. My beautiful daughter.
My beautiful adopted daughter. Half the time, I didn’t bother with that distinction, but when I had to file the missing person’s report, I had to mention that tidbit. Blood or not, she was my daughter, and she was all I had.
It had been five days—five long and trying days—since I last heard from her. She hadn’t been here when I came back from work. The nineteen-year-old was nowhere to be found.
Abruptly, I stopped my pacing and tried calling her best friend one more time, but Corinne didn’t answer. Yet again. She hadn’t answered any of my calls. At first, I hoped that meant she was with Sage, that the two of them had gone off somewhere together, that it wasn’t a big deal. A spur of the moment trip or girls’ getaway. But that hadn’t been the case. I became so desperate to get ahold of Corinne that I called up her mom. Turned out Corinne had gone on vacation with her boyfriend. Still, my hope refused to die. Maybe Sage had gone with them. Nope. Corinne’s mom said they’d left a week ago, but Sage had still been around then, so no dice.
Out of desperation, I dialed Sage for the hundredth, if not the thousandth, time. Like all the other times, it went straight to voicemail. She had a terrible habit of letting the battery run almost all the way down, and she had five or six chargers since she was always misplacing them, but if she didn’t have one, I’d never be able to get through to her unless she bought another one. Most likely, her phone was dead.
But was she dead, too? Of course, my mind went straight to the worst scenario. I loved Sage like she was my own child. Yeah, there were only eight years between us, but Sage had been mine ever since she turned fourteen. For five years, it had been the two of us. I tended to think of my life as before Sage and after. Before, my life had been nothing but quiet. With Sage, there was so much laughter and talking and even arguing, too. So much noise and music. Now, it was back to the quiet, and I never realized before just how unnerving it could be.
For years, my life had been devoted to my job. I gradually worked my way up the ladder and owned a restaurant. Sage’s mom used to work for me as a waitress until she ended up landing herself in jail. I knew she had been going down a dark path, and I’d hoped she would do the right thing for her daughter by keeping her employed despite her lack of work ethic, but that hadn’t been the case.
When she worked nights, she used to bring Sage into work. When I realized they were living out of their car, I had Quinn, my main chef, cook up meals for the girl to enjoy. It was the least I could do. I even helped her out with her homework a few times in between running the show. We got along better than she did with her mom. The two of them hardly ever spoke. I thought she embarrassed Sage, and honestly, I kind of was, too. If you saw the way she draped herself over guys to try to get tips…On more than one occasion I had to remind her she was serving customers who sat at a table, not dancing on top of the table, and if she didn’t stop, I would have to fire her because that was unacceptable. And then she would do better and behave for a little while until she wouldn’t.
Once her mom got arrested, things got really rocky for Sage, but it wasn’t until her mom wound up in jail serving her sentence that things really hit a low point. The idea of Sage being tossed to the wolves—I mean the state—tore me up. Starting about a month before the arrest, Sage came to the restaurant every day, even when her mom hadn’t been working. Her mom preferred her drugs too much to be much good at anything, whether being a waitress or being a mother. Just a few months prior to her sentencing, I had hired Sage as a dishwasher, and she proved to be a more devoted employee than her mom had been, though she did have a habit of talking too much instead of working. The two of us connected in a way she never had with her mom.
Adopting her had been a no-brainer. My own father had been a deadbeat, and my mom did everything she could for me until she died of a heart attack a few months after I turned eighteen, so I knew what it was like to be alone. I knew what it was like to have no one to look out for me except for myself. Life had dealt her a terrible hand, but that didn’t mean she should have limited options. Plus, I saw a lot of potential in her. I hadn’t let my trials prevent me from achieving my goals. I could be a business owner and a mom, too. I had the funds, the drive, and the determination.
I didn’t need a lot to make me happy, and I sure didn’t need a guy to make me happy. It was just Sage and me. We were more like sisters, considering our age difference. For five years now, I was her mom. I hadn’t even gone out on a lot of dates because guys didn’t want a woman with a kid. Okay, so maybe I used her as an excuse sometimes.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to date, but it always became the same old song and dance. Each one loved the idea of dating a businesswoman…at first. But when it meant time away from them and then being too tired for them after I spent all day long arguing with vendors or advertisers or dealing with customers or employees, they never asked for a long-term commitment, which was fine by me. I wasn’t ready to commit, not to any of them, at least. The number of guys calling me lately had diminished down to nothing, and it didn’t bother me any. It seriously didn’t.
Or maybe they couldn’t accept dating a woman with more ambition than they had ever possessed. Maybe I intimidated them. I could be a little, well, intense at times. “A little overbearing,” Sage called me a few times, and she might be right about that. I liked things to be done correctly, properly. Was that too much to ask? Have set goals and plans made things run smoother. It just did.
All of the guys who did have ambition were already taken. Of course. I had prioritized my career over having a family, but did that mean I had bypassed my chance at finding someone? If it had, oh well. I had a daughter. What more did I need?
But while I hadn’t dated anyone recently, Sage had. She was a gorgeous young lady, and she made guys’ heads turn. I tried to instill in her a sense of independence, to get her to see value in her own life so she didn’t need to rely on anyone else, especially a guy, but that was one area where she and I didn’t see eye to eye. Ever since middle school, she had had one boyfriend and hopped from him to another and another and so on, with one guy in particular being her “go-to.” Maybe her real mom hadn’t given her enough attention so she craved it elsewhere. But it bothered me. She shouldn’t define herself based on a relationship. She had the potential for so much more than just settling for being some guy’s girlfriend.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if her disappearance had something to do with a guy. Her current boyfriend was Trenton Young, a twenty-two-year-old who I hadn’t liked from the beginning, and he was the one she had dated longer than any of the others combined. He was a member of the motorcycle club Devil’s Horns.
He was also bad news.
Sage couldn’t see it, though. He wasn’t just a bad apple; he was a rotten one. But she was blinded by love. It wasn’t love. Maybe it was lust, but whatever it was, it wasn’t healthy. I liked to think that if she had picked a good guy, one with a promising future, I would have encouraged the relationship, but I couldn’t in good conscience sanction the one between her and Trenton. Between the way Trenton treated both Sage and me, and also the way she treated me when she was around him, it wasn’t good. She became moody and sullen and disrespectful, a completely new person.
Only once had Sage talked to me about her father, and it sounded like he had been just like mine, a deadbeat who never spent even one second caring for or loving his daughter. While my mom had grown up and matured from the need to have a guy when she had been left to raise me all alone, Sage’s mom had a string of bad relationships, one right after the other. It was no small wonder that Sage had followed at least partially in her mother’s footsteps, and Trenton was a bad relationship, that was for sure.
The only major issue I had with Sage—aside from her poor taste in guys—was her schooling. She had dropped out of high school and refused to go. Wouldn’t even bother to study and just get her GED. It had been a year after her mom went to jail that she dropped out. She told me she couldn’t stand the looks and the whispers about her mom, and I understood that. I really did. But when I suggested she go to a different school, she didn’t want to hear about it. That girl could argue with the best of them.
“They’ll find out about my mom soon enough, and it’ll start all over again,” she had said.
“You could take my last name,” I had suggested.
But she had shaken her head. “You’re young yet. You’ll have kids of your own. You’ll leave them the restaurant. As it should be. I appreciate you taking me in, but…”
She never did finish that statement.
Basically, she didn’t quite view me as her mom. And I guessed I was wearing a lot of hats considering I wasn’t just her mother but I was also her boss at the restaurant, even if she wasn’t a waitress and only did the dishes. She only ever called me mom when she wanted something—a dress, a purse, shoes, some money—which hurt, but I could understand it to some extent. Her mom had scarred her, and she didn’t want to let me in, afraid of letting me get too close in case I hurt her, too. Still, that in and of itself hurt me. She didn’t trust me. I gave her shelter and clothes and food, but that was basically all I was to her. In my mind, she was my daughter, but in her mind, there were times I was just a nag. For the most part, though, we got along.
It was only a month after she’d dropped out of high school that she got mixed up with a bad crowd, one that included Trenton Young. They had been on and off ever since, and even though I inwardly cheered each time they went off, they always ended up getting back together again. I guessed Trenton might’ve had someone else in between their stints, and I knew for certain Sage did. What she saw in Trenton that kept her going back to him I wasn’t sure.
It was only because they had been together for so long that I had his phone number. Not all of her boyfriends—she had a quite a few during her “off” times with Trenton—had she shared their number with me.
Having nothing to lose, I called Trenton next, but he didn’t answer his phone either. His voicemail greeting—Trenton here. Too busy to talk. Leave a message and I might get back to ya.—grated on me.
Wannabe tough guy. If he’s why Sage’s gone, if he’s done anything to her, he’ll learn the definition of tough from me. I swear to God.
My cell was almost dead. Great. I put my phone on the charger and was just beginning to pace in my crammed living room when my cell rang. Practically diving for it, I answered with a breathless, “Hello? Sage?”
“Victoria? It’s Corinne.”
“Corinne!” My voice sounded strained. I cleared my throat. “Have you heard from Sage?” My voice still sounded strained. Maybe it would until Sage was found. Blood rushed to my ears, and my heart pounded hard in my chest as I awaited her answer. Please let her have seen Sage or know where she is. Please!
“Not in a week,” Corinne answered. “Sorry. I’ve been out of town. Jack and I went to the beach, and we found this cute little cove and—”
“That’s all right,” I cut in. I really didn’t need to know what exactly happened in that “cute little cove.”
Sage’s best friend had no filter. Corinne tended to go into great details about everything, and that included her sex life. I didn’t care to hear about that at all, and she wasn’t the best of influences on Sage, but at least she had never broken a law—outside of sex in public places—and she had never been in jail, so she had that much going for her. Considering I hated her boyfriend, I figured it was one of those pick your battles type deals. I was all right with Corinne if it meant Sage would stop being with Trenton. Not that that had worked in my favor.
“Did she tell you about where she would be going?” I asked in a rush. “Did she have a trip lined up and she forgot to tell me?”
“Nah.”
My heart sank, and my knees went weak. I sank to the floor, my phone still plugged into the charger. Corinne had been the last person for me to get ahold of. She had been my last chance at finding them. Well, outside of Trenton. I had really thought and hoped she had been with Corinne, or that Corinne would at least know where she was.
So where the hell was she? Where had she gone? Why hadn’t she told Corinne? She shared every detail with her best friend. Why start to keep secrets from everyone now? Maybe it hadn’t been a planned trip. Sage could be a little impulsive at times, just never to this extent before. She always left me a voicemail or a physical note to let me know where she was. Her mom had disappeared too many times on her so that was one thing Sage had almost prided herself on. Even if she was going to a party she knew I wouldn’t approve of, she would still let me know she was going.
So maybe it hadn’t been planned. Maybe something serious had come up. Like what, though? What would keep her radio silent for five whole days? It just didn’t add up. Something was wrong. Call it mother’s instinct.
My growing fear kept me silent, but that never bothered Corinne. She just kept right on talking.
“Sage and Trenton have no money. They planned on staying low key, far as I knew. Couldn’t even afford to go out to dinner or nothing. We, Jack and I, just got back, and I was about to call her, but then I got your messages and thought I’d call you first. You know, your voice goes kinda high-pitched when you’re upset. You sound like a—”
“Try calling Sage,” I urged, even though I figured her calls would go straight to voicemail, too. I didn’t need to know what I sounded like. I needed Corinne to stay focused. “Maybe she’ll call you back, and this will all just be a big misunderstanding. I mean, she didn’t tell you anything to make you think that she’ll be leaving, right? She wasn’t home when I came back from work five days ago, and no one has heard or seen from her or Trenton ever since.”
Actually, I didn’t know for sure about the Trenton bit. Maybe he was hanging around his place. Maybe he and she split, and Sage needed some time by herself.
But still, why hadn’t she called me?
And I was rambling. Corinne tended to ramble all the time. Who knew it would rub off on people.
“Nope,” Corinne said. “I’m sorry. I wish I could be of more help. I haven’t a clue where she might be. Which is kinda strange. I mean, she tells me everything, even told me before she told you that she had gotten back together with Trenton this last time. Anyhow, I’m sure she’s fine—”
“It’s been five days,” I growled, “with no phone calls or emails or anything. No communication at all. With technology making communication easier than ever, I’m freaking out and rightfully so. Sage isn’t like this. She doesn’t check in all the time, but she’s never been gone this long before, and I’m worried.”
“Chill, Victoria.” Corinne laughed, but this was no laughing matter. Couldn’t she see that? “I’m sure she’s fine,” she repeated.
“If you hear from her, will you call me?” I asked, almost pleading.
“Of course. But seriously, stop being so uptight.” A strange smacking sound came over the line. Maybe she was chewing gum. “Get laid or something. You’ll feel better.”
“Right,” I said dryly. Because that was going to happen. I didn’t need to spread my legs. I needed to find my daughter. “Can you call her and then call me right back, please?”
She blew out a breath. “Fine, but you’re making a mole hill out of nothing.”
I frowned. “You mean a mountain out of a mole hill.”
“Nope. A mole hill out of nothing. There’s nothing here. So Sage isn’t answering your calls. Just means she’s busy, that’s all.”
“Just call her,” I ordered, and hung up.
I waited on pins and needs for Corinne to call back. Which she did. Almost immediately. Which meant…
“Voicemail?” I asked without even saying hello first.
“You got it. Still doesn’t mean anything,” she said.
Sighing, I hung up again. This time, I called the police station, but they hadn’t gotten any farther than I had.
“We’ll let you know,” the officer said, the same one who I had been talking to all along, an Officer Steve Jenkins. He was young and honestly didn’t seem to be that competent, or maybe I was being unfair. I couldn’t tell. “As soon as we make any headway, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Are you sure I shouldn’t organize a search?” I asked, desperate to feel useful, desperate to do anything that might help speed up the process of finding Sage and bringing her home safe and sound.
Ever since I first realized she was gone, I had been plagued by terrible nightmares. I’d see images of her body cut into ribbons, of her being throw into the river, of her being involved in a fatal car crash, of her being cold and scared and alone and terrified. Hell, I was scared and alone and terrified.
“I advise against it, ma’am,” he said calmly. How could he be so calm? “You don’t want to impede our investigation.”
What investigation? I wanted to scream. Were they even doing anything? I knew our small town in the south didn’t have a lot going for it, and that there had been a suspected murder a month ago they still hadn’t solved so they were more concerned with that, and rightfully so, but still. This was my daughter we were talking about.
I basically hung up on the officer and sighed again, wearily rubbing a hand down my face. My stomach was all twisted into knots, and the heavy feeling in my chest wouldn’t go away. I had adopted her to give Sage her best chance at life. I wouldn’t rest until I succeeded.
Running off with Trenton Young wasn’t her best option, if that had been what she’d done. Did she know that? Had she done it anyway? Did she not bother to tell me because she knew I wouldn’t approve? I knew she was nineteen, that she could technically do what she wanted, but she had always kept me in the loop. And she told Corinne everything. If Corinne didn’t know where she had run off to—and Corinne, bless her, couldn’t lie if her life depended on it—that made me fear she hadn’t gone off willingly.
What if she tried to break things off with Trenton and he hadn’t taken it well? What if he had kidnapped her? If he had hurt her at all, he’d better hope I never found him, because when I did, I would make him regret it. I had told the police about her relationship with Trenton, how it was toxic, and they had taken down notes, but I didn’t know if they had followed up on that lead. Should I call back and press? Find out if Trenton had been seen recently?
Regardless of whether or not Sage had gone willingly, I just wanted to make sure she was all right. I was bound and determined to get to the bottom of what happened to her. One way or another, with or without the police’s help, I would find her.
Now that I had finally gotten ahold of Corinne and she’d turned out to be a dead end, Trenton Young and the Devil’s Horns were my best lead. Her disappearance most likely was because of the damned motorcycle club.
Sage often went to an apartment complex called The Shades to be with Trenton. It was downtown and not at all in a good area, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I grabbed my cell—only about half charged—and my keys and purse and dashed out of the house and to my car. Traffic was brutal, and a car almost rear-ended me. I swore my luck was at a serious low point right now. It took me almost an hour to reach The Shades.
I had never been here before and my heart sunk at the sight of it. It was a terrible building, with peeling paint, broken windows, and graffiti. No lines marked the parking spots, and the cars already parked weren’t in the best of shape with dents or duct tape and plastic to cover up a busted window. Around the side, some of the cars were nicer, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they belonged to drug dealers, because, man, did I smell some strong marijuana and other druggie whiffs as soon as I left my car. I never touched drugs myself, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t recognize the scent of them.
Sage had come here how many times to be with Trenton? The thought made my stomach churn even more. She deserved better. I’d never forget the first time she introduced Trenton to me.
He’d been wearing a wife beater and holey jeans, way down low over his hips. He had tattoos, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing—who doesn’t love a guy with some ink? Except his ink left a lot to be desired. If you couldn’t afford to have a decent tattoo artist, it was better to not bother to get inked at all, and Trenton was walking proof of that. I was talking about a misspelling and mousy-looking lion instead of a fierce one. A fierce lion could be hot as hell. His made him look like a punk.
But Sage had been all smiles as she introduced him to me, and like a good mother, I held out my hand for him to shake. Not only did he ignore it, but he walked past me, into my house, and asked where the fridge was because he was hungry.
Sage had given me a sheepish grin and trailed after him. She ended up making him a sandwich, and then he ate it all just as she finished making herself one. He took one look at it, and Sage wordlessly gave it to him, and he polished that one off, too, before she even could eat one herself. The man—he acted more like a kid than a man, but he was twenty-two so it felt weird to think of him as a boy—seemed like he should be back in the fifties. Wanted Sage to wait on him. Acted like he was the important one and she had to do his bidding. Gave her just enough attention for her to not realize what an ass he was.
That night, after he had left, Sage had held up her hand. “I don’t want to hear it,” she said.
“Hear what?” I had asked innocently.
“Your opinion.” She’d crossed her arms.
I had cocked my head to the side. “If you don’t want to hear it, it’s because you already know what I think. And don’t you agree?” I’d so hoped she would agree, but of course she didn’t.
“You don’t know him,” she’d protested weakly.
“And I don’t want—”
“He makes me happy,” she’d said quietly. And damn it all if there wasn’t something in her eye that suggested she spoke the truth. But how? How could someone like that ass of a wannabe man make her happy? “Don’t you want me to be happy?”
“Of course, but I—”
“He takes care of me,” she’d added.
I had wanted to argue that she could take care of herself, but she had been smiling, and her happiness did seem genuine, and he hadn’t done anything nasty or mean or abusive toward her, so I let it go.
Now I was kicking myself for not speaking up more, for not giving her grief, for not doing everything in my power to open her eyes. Yeah, it might have only pushed her away from me and closer to him, but if she realized just how little he obviously cared for her outside of what she could do for him, she might be home right now. She might be with a man I approved of, one who saw what a treasure she was, one who enriched her life. The kind of guy she deserved.
Maybe some of it was my fault. Since I didn’t bother to date a guy more than once or twice, she never had the chance to see a healthy relationship. Maybe her mother’s guys left Sage thinking terrible relationships were the only relationships you could have. Hollywood certainly reinforced that with so many movies about cheaters and broken marriages. Sure they would have a happily ever after at the end, but everyone knew those guys were perfect and complete fairytales.
Okay, so maybe I was a cynic myself, but I did know there was more to a woman’s worth than what she could provide for a guy. I had been trying to reinforce that into her mind for years now, basically since I took her in. The problem was that Sage didn’t see her own self-worth. One time, a few months after the adoption had been made official, I had found her crying in her bed late at night. It took her several minutes to calm down enough to tell me what was going on. Basically, she hated herself because her mother had picked drugs over her. And I wasn’t proud of my response, but I talked a lot of smack about her mom. Her mother had damaged Sage, and I did my best to try to heal her. Sage refused to see a therapist, so I had to be mom and boss and therapist and friend all in one. I did the best I could, but now I was trying to figure out where I had failed her.
There had been only so much I could do, though. After all, I couldn’t live her life for her. She would grow up and make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. God knew I made a lot of mistakes myself.
Hopefully this was all just a mistake, and not one that would cost Sage something dear.
I parked, locked my car, and held my purse tight to me. I wasn’t the kind of woman to own a gun, but right now, I wished I did have one. I’d feel safer if I did.
I kept my eyes peeled, looking all around as I made my way to the front door of the apartment complex. The parking lot was almost full, but I didn’t see Trenton’s car. That didn’t surprise me. I had a strong hunch that he hadn’t been around for as long as Sage’s been gone. I wanted to confirm that, or, better yet, I wanted to find him, and Sage, too.
The stench of garbage, drugs, and body odor could’ve knocked me over as soon as I opened the front door and stepped inside. A shiver ran down my spine. I did not want to be here. Something seemed off about this place, but that just had to be my imagination, right? Either way, this place was the pits.
But what else could I do? What other option did I have? The police hadn’t even been sure I needed to file a missing person’s report yet considering I contacted them as soon as I saw Sage wasn’t home and hadn’t answered her cell. They assured me they were doing everything they could, but they had to be busy with other pressing matters, and honestly, I wasn’t making any major headway myself, and this was my only pressing matter. Yeah, sure, I wasn’t an investigator, but I was the one most desperate to find her.
Sage and I hadn’t even fought recently. We had been on really good terms—mostly because I had kept my mouth shut this time around with her latest re-hook up with Trenton. I had been trying to get her to prove herself at the restaurant. I desperately wanted to promote her to being a waitress, but I also didn’t want to play favorites, and honestly, she didn’t deserve it yet. She just wanted to be a girl, to not have a lot of responsibilities, and I understood that. She had to shoulder a lot and basically had to take care of herself for a long time before her mom ended up in jail. Her childhood hadn’t been ideal, and now she was trying to be a typical rebellious teen. She had never gotten into any real trouble, so I couldn’t complain too much.
Or maybe I had given her too much of a leash because I wasn’t a fit mother. I had a lot of sleepless nights when I first decided to adopt her. I had only babysat for one summer before I started at the restaurant as a waitress and started my way up the ladder almost immediately, making my way up to hostess at eighteen and then to manager by twenty. Two years later, I was the owner. I was a go getter. One day, Sage would be one, too.
I hoped.
I closed the door to the apartment complex behind me and appraised the long hallway lined with doors. Now the only question I had was how to figure out which apartment was Trenton’s.
Loud music blasted from the door on the right. I knocked, but no one answered. They probably couldn’t hear me, so I knocked again, harder and longer this time, but still no one answered. I wasn’t about to try the doorknob because who knew what kind of person or people might be on the other side, so I kept on walking down the hall, knocking on doors.
Always the same result. No one answered.
To say I was getting frustrated would be an epic understatement.
Not sure what else to do, I headed back toward the front door. Maybe I could learn who the landlord was and find out Trenton’s apartment’s number from him. Maybe I could even convince him to use his key to open the door. He had to have a skeleton key, right? Hopefully the landlord was an okay guy. Given the state of the place, he allowed his tenants to trash the place, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were bugs creeping around. If he didn’t care about the building, he probably didn’t give a rat’s ass who he had living inside the walls, so long as he got his money. Well, if he wanted money, I had some squared away. I could give him a Benjamin and maybe then he would be willing to help me out.
Through the window, I spied an old car rolling up. It took the driver a few times to squeeze into a spot and then climb out. It was an older woman. She was the first soul I’d seen since I arrived. Hopefully she would be willing to answer a few questions.
Trying my best not to get my hopes up and failing, I opened the door and walked out to her. “Excuse me. Hi. I’m Victoria Klein. I’m looking for Sage Farron. Do you know her? She’s—”
“The girl of that Trenton Young fellow.” The woman eyed me, tilting her head to the side. Her permed white hair didn’t budge. Her eyes were shrewd, and I found myself a little unnerved to be the subject of her scrutiny.
“Yes. Have you seen her recently? Or him, for that matter?” I held my breath as I waited for her answer.
“Why you asking? They owe you money or something?” She sounded so disgusted I had to grimace. She didn’t care for Trenton, or Sage, and that made my heart hurt.
“No. Nothing like that,” I said to reassure her. “Sage’s my daughter.”
Her light eyebrows shot up, and she looked me up and down. “You’re not old enough to be her mother.” The disapproval in her tone and her pursed lips that caused thousands of tiny wrinkles to appear left me agitated. She wasn’t the first to cast judgment on me once they learned I was Sage’s mother. They figured I must’ve gotten knocked up at thirteen. I could see it in their eyes, and this woman clearly thought it, too. I hated their judgment, resented their assumptions. Even if I had Sage while really young, what business was it of theirs?
But I couldn’t lash out at her. I swallowed my pride and offered her a tight smile. “Adopted mother,” I clarified, my cheeks flushing. “Please. She hasn’t come home, and I’m worried about her.”
“You should be.” She wagged a gnarled finger at me. “That Trenton boy. Didn’t you discourage that? He’s not good for her, not good for anyone.” The old woman shook her head, lips still pursed.
I grimaced but tried to keep my cool. I really didn’t need her judgment, but I really did need her help. “I did discourage it, but there’s only so much I can do. Do you have children?”
The woman finally relaxed her pursed lips. After a long moment, she slowly nodded. “Yes. You’re right. Kids, daughters especially, tend to do whatever they want, which is often the opposite of what you want it to be. They’re trying little brats. Oh yes, there are those who claim their gifts, but, honestly, they can try even a saint’s soul.”
My impatience burst through. I didn’t need her to ramble on about kids. I needed to know about one kind in particular—my daughter. Tapping my foot and crossing my arms, I asked, “Have you seen either of them?”
She rubbed her chin. She had a few whiskers. She had to be in her seventies. The woman kept squinting at me as if she couldn’t see me even though I was standing right in front of her. The idea of her driving did not sit well with me, but that she hadn’t answered my question yet sat even worse. The woman nodded again, the movement halting. “I think I saw them a week ago,” she said. “Yes. They were talking and laughing. Actually looked happy for once. Sometimes they would argue, quite loudly at that. Your girl can be headstrong.”
“Don’t I know it.” I grinned despite myself. Sage had showed determination and patience when she wanted to. Like the fancy blue gown she wanted for prom. I told her if she saved up for half of it, I would pay for the rest. She ended up saving for all of it, so I bought her heels and a purse. She could be mature and responsible. If only she picked better friends. Corinne wasn’t the best of influences, but I’d pick her over Trenton any day of the week. She just needed to continue to set goals for herself because when she did, she shattered them. “A week ago,” I repeated glumly. A week meant I had seen her after that point. Damn it. “Exactly a week?” I pressed. “You’re certain?”
“Yes. I saw them walk into his apartment. I had come home from playing bingo. I didn’t win anything. Not that time. I swear it’s rigged. I won every week for the first month that I started going, but ever since, not once. Not one time! They just want my money. They rig it so you win at first, just enough to hook you in, and then they rig it so you lose and—”
“Which apartment is his?” I interrupted, not wanting to be impolite but wanting answers badly enough to risk offending her.
“Rude,” she huffed under her breath. “Interrupting like a no good…Number 352. His friends dominate that entire floor. Not any of them are any good. They’re so loud and obnoxious and just plain bad news. I’ve thought about calling the police on them a few times, but I’m too scared of them to. Maybe I should call anonymously. But if they did trace it back to me—”
“Sage isn’t like that,” I said, sliding toward the front door.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” The woman shrugged. She coughed slightly into a trembling hand. Sounded deep and tight to me, like a smoker’s cough. “I’m Georgia Henderson. I live in 212.”
“Thank you, Georgia,” I said warmly. Overtalker or not, she had given me some help, and I was so appreciative for that. “If you could call me or the police if you see her, I would be so grateful.” I dug into my purse and removed a slip of paper. I jotted down my number and handed it to her.
Georgia looked it over and nodded. “I will. I am sorry you can’t find her, and I do hope she’s all right.”
“She probably is.” I forced a smile. “Maybe they went on a vacation and don’t have cell access. A spur of the moment type deal.”
But I didn’t believe it. Sage wasn’t the kind of girl to not check in. The longest she’d gone between checking in when she had gone away on vacation with Corinne had been two days. Two days compared to five. And I knew there was no way she would deliberately not check in.
I could’ve understood if we had fought and she rebelled to get away from me, but we had gone out for ice cream the night before she disappeared. Just the two of us. We had talked and laughed. It had been wonderful. I teased her about her ability to eat like a teenage boy. She teased me back about my slow metabolism and how I’d better watch how much ice cream I ate or else I’d blow up like a whale. A girls’ night.
Sage had wanted to watch a movie once we got home, but I had to get up early for work, had a meeting, so I declined, something I was now majorly regretting. Had she been reaching out to me and I hadn’t realized it? What if Trenton had crossed the line and she needed me to help her push him away and move on for good this time? I thought Trenton was bad for her, but I didn’t think he had ever been abusive toward her. If he had been, well, I would find out if I looked good in prison orange.
The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced Trenton had played a role in her disappearance. This just wasn’t like her at all.
Moving quickly, I turned the doorknob and reentered the apartment complex. I didn’t even say goodbye to Georgia, and I didn’t bother to hold the door open for her either. I just ran up the stairs to the third floor and hurried down the hall until I found his apartment. Taking a deep breath, I screwed up my courage and knocked.
No answer.
I put my ear to the door. I couldn’t hear anything. Trenton wasn’t here. Not a surprise, but I still felt let down.
I knocked again. I pounded again and again until my fist started to hurt and even then I kept on knocking.
“Trenton. Trenton Young!” I called, my voice loud and clear, echoing in the empty hallway. I swallowed hard. “I demand answers. I want to know—”
The door opened, and I grinned. Finally. Now I would learn where Sage was. I didn’t necessarily need to take her back home with me. I just needed to know she was safe. That my fears had been for nothing.
But the guy standing in front of me wasn’t Trenton Young. It was a man I’d never seen before, a man who towered over me. His dark hair curled slightly on the ends. His tattoos were amazing. He should’ve given the name of his artist to Trenton. One tattoo was of a raven on his shoulder. On the other arm, he had a fierce-looking wolf. Amazingly detailed, so detailed I wanted to step forward and get a better look at them.
Only because of his intense glare did I refrain. After all, I wasn’t here to gawk. I was here for a purpose, and no one, not even a hot guy, was going to make me forget it.
I put my hands on my hips and glared right back at him. I wasn’t one to be cowed. “Where is Trenton?” I demanded, trying to look around him even though he hadn’t opened the door wide enough for me to.
He wasn’t a huge man, but he had a lot of muscles, and he filled up the space of the door opening. He wasn’t a man to be messed with, but he was going to find out that I was a woman who wasn’t to be messed with either.
“Just leave.” His voice was impossibly deep. The man stepped back and started to close the door.
I shoved my foot forward so he’d have to close it on me. “I’m not leaving until you answer my questions,” I said stubbornly. I had come too far to just be cast aside now. “I take it Trenton isn’t here.” I raised my eyebrows.
He stared at my foot and slowly looked upward, taking his time, giving me a once-over. It made me nervous, but in a good way, and I didn’t expect that at all. Focus, Victoria.
I crossed my arms. “Well? Trenton?” I demanded.
“Not here,” he uttered in that deep voice of his. He went to close the door again.
I didn’t move my foot. “Look. I’m not here for Trenton. I’m looking for Sage.” Damn it all if my voice wasn’t starting to show signs of apprehension. “Do you—”
The man suddenly threw open the door, yanked on my arm, and pulled me inside. He closed the door behind us, holding me far closer than he should. His eyes pierced into me, as if seeing clear through to my soul as he asked, “What do you know about Sage, and why are you here?”
My breath caught in my throat. What kind of a mess had Sage gotten herself into? And what kind of a mess had I gotten myself into as a result of looking for her?