Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,74
somehow unworthy of having a child.
He’d found a local golf course with a pro shop willing to lend him clubs, so he was going golfing today. It wasn’t his favorite thing to do, but anything was better than staring at the walls of his hotel room for another day.
He headed out, following the directions on the GPS on his phone, and walked into the pro shop. He’d just given the guy his name when Gage’s name flashed on the screen of his phone and he grabbed it.
“Gage? Hello?”
“Hey.”
“Did you find him?” He was practically holding his breath.
“I did.”
“Holy shit. Really?” Miikka was momentarily a little light-headed. Part of him had been sure Gage wouldn’t succeed and he’d lose Charli forever. “Is he okay?”
“I have a couple of pictures and a document of information I’m going to email you, but you have to let me know what you want to do next. You can’t just show up at the kid’s house or something.”
“No, of course not.” Miikka had to admit he hadn’t thought this far ahead.
Holy shit.
He’d found Charli’s son.
What the fuck was he supposed to do now?
“He’s in St. Louis, which isn’t far from where you are. I think it’s about a six-hour drive, so you wouldn’t even have to get on a plane if you didn’t want to.”
“I have to talk to her.”
“Here’s what I think. I can reach out to the parents, see if there’s a way to buy a meeting for you. For her. But it could be really tricky and we’re going to have to handle this extremely carefully. You need to talk to Charli. Show her the picture, let her know that her son’s name is Dylan and he loves hockey, chocolate ice cream and Lego sets. He’s happy and healthy and has a younger sister named Nancy.”
Miikka took a deep breath. “Thank you. I don’t even know what to say. I don’t think I allowed myself to believe you’d find him.”
“I’m going to see if I can set up a meeting, but make sure you handle this delicately. Trust me, Charli is probably going to be freaked out, so think about what you’re going to say.”
“I think maybe I’ll wait until you find out if they’re willing to meet. I don’t want to talk to her about it until we know everything.”
Charli had run into Roy two more times since she’d sent Miikka away, and between confrontations with him and her mother’s constant snarky comments, she spent most of her days ready to cry. She’d never wanted to go home to Anchorage more than she did right now, but her father pleaded with her to stay. He was doing well but the doctors weren’t ready to release him just yet, so she’d spent the last two days at his bedside simply because it was easier for her and seemed to calm him as well.
She was on her way to get some lunch in the hospital cafeteria when she saw Roy again. She ignored him, getting on the elevator and praying he’d leave her alone, but he followed her, his smarmy smile annoying her more than usual. Her nerves were already shot because of her mother and the situation with Miikka, and Roy just added fuel to the fire.
“I’m getting a lawyer,” he said once the elevator doors closed.
“For what?” she asked warily.
“I’m going to find out where my son is and prove that you didn’t have my permission to give him up.”
She shrugged. “Do what you want. I had no way to reach you.”
“You could’ve hired a lawyer to contact the military, and they would’ve told you I was in Leavenworth.”
“Yeah, a homeless seventeen-year-old with no job, no money, no nothing was going to hire a lawyer.” This time, she rolled her eyes.
“You lived with your grandfather!” he yelled. “And I want to know where my kid is!”
“Good luck with that.” She stepped out of the elevator but he grabbed her arm.
“You’re not listening, Charles.”
“Fuck you, Roy.”
“Listen, you little bitch. I want to know where he is.”
“And for the thousandth time, I have no idea. It’s not an open adoption, so I have zero information.”
“Well, you gave birth to him and you signed the papers, so you’re going to figure it out.”
“Or what?” she demanded, trying to wrench her arm free. He had a steely grip, to the point it started to hurt now, and she frowned at him. “Let me go, Roy.”
“You’re going to get on the phone and find out where my