Dark Secret - Avelyn Paige Page 0,24

Kasey float throughout the house, and I stand from my place at the kitchen table, where I’d been unsuccessfully making phone call after phone call to more kids from Hayden’s class, hoping they’d heard from her.

“She’s right in here.” Lorna’s high-pitched voice alerts me that they’re on their way.

Lorna enters the kitchen first, and Kasey shoots me an apologetic smile as she comes in behind her.

“Sorry to burst in on you ladies.” Kasey wraps her arms around my shoulders and pulls me into a hug. I don’t hug her back. It’s been less than twelve hours since I’d seen her last, which means she likely has news. With so little time having passed, I’m not betting that it’s good news.

“I heard back from Judge Onstein just a little while ago,” she says, taking my hands in hers. “It took a little convincing, but he was sympathetic to the situation. He made the phone calls himself, and Blox World has already been served papers, and has been instructed to send over the information you were looking for as soon as possible.”

I can only gape at her. “Isn’t that too easy?”

She grins. “Not when your husband’s uncle is a Supreme Court Judge. I just hope they don’t take their sweet time getting those files into our hands, and that once we have them, there’s something there that will help us find Hayden."

My face crumples as my daughter’s name leaves her lips. “Oh, Kasey,” I cry. “What if we can’t find her?”

Lorna pulls me into a hug as Kasey crosses her arms over her chest, glaring down her nose at me. “Uh-uh, not happening. Not yesterday, and not today. There won’t be any pity party on my watch. You want to crumble? You do it after Hayden’s safe in her bed. All that fear you have going on in there right now, save it. It’s not the time.”

Lorna holds me tighter, attempting to shield me from Kasey’s words. “Her daughter is missing,” she admonishes, lowering her voice on the last word as if it’s too filthy to say aloud.

“Yes, she is,” Kasey agrees, placing one hand on my back, and the other on Lorna’s. “And she needs her momma to keep it together.”

I sniff, knowing full well she’s right. “I’m so tired of crying all the damn time,” I tell them both.

“Then don’t.” Kasey has no clue what it’s like to have a daughter missing. Hell, she doesn’t even have kids.

“Honey,” Lorna interrupts. “You wanna cry, you cry. You wanna yell, you yell. You want to punch somebody …” She trails off. “Punch Miss Kasey here.”

“Hey!” Kasey cries, a smile spreading across her face. I can’t help but chuckle.

“I like that idea.”

She laughs. “Figures you would.”

Lorna gives me a squeeze and pulls away, wiping at a few stray tears. “I think this calls for a stiff drink. What do you girls think?”

Kasey and I lock eyes over Lorna’s head, our eyebrows raised high. As one, we burst into full-blown, belly shaking laughter. Lorna jumps a little at the sudden noise, looking first at Kasey, and then at me, confusion twisting her withered face. And then she joins us, her joyous cackle making us laugh even harder.

I laugh so hard, my lungs hurt. But the lack of oxygen doesn’t even matter. The past couple of days have been the hardest days of my life. Fear had overwhelmed me, nearly breaking my spirit. But when strait-laced Lorna suggested a stiff drink, the laughter that followed was a blessed relief.

“You girls are just as crazy as you were when you were sixteen years old,” she declares, stalking to the cupboard and pulling out three crystal tumblers. “Pick your poison. I’ve got whiskey, vodka, and some vanilla bean moonshine.”

Kasey widens her eyes at me before holding up a hand and calling out, “Moonshine!”

“Moonshine for me too,” I giggle.

We watch in shock as Lorna pulls out a step stool. Climbing to the top, she reaches deep into the cupboard and pulls out a large jug of yellow liquid. Like a professional bartender, she uses tiny silver tongs to place ice cubes into the tumblers and pours the liquid over top.

She hands us our glasses and holds hers up in the air, and I can’t help but notice it holds more moonshine than ours. “Bottoms up.”

“Bottoms up,” we repeat, but Lorna’s already well into chugging hers. So much for moonshine being something you sip. Apparently, Lorna’s become a boozer since my father passed away.

“So, Kasey,” she says, her cheeks