door to see Devon. I sighed.
“So are you going to let me in, or do I need to stand out here all night?” My face colored as I stepped against the wall. I glanced back into the kitchen, where I could hear Sam and Neri arguing over something. Ara was in her room.
“Go into the lounge room.” I said, “What are you doing here? For someone who wants to stay away from me, you sure need help with figuring out how that works.” I shook my head, my dark hair flowing around my shoulders. I pulled it over one shoulder, twirling it around my hand.
“Your hair is so pretty when it’s down.” He smiled at me, as he reached out and ran a few strands between his fingers. I ducked back, pulling my hair with me.
“What do you want, Devon?” I demanded, annoyed. He sat down on the sofa.
“I need to tell you something. It’s about your mom.” He added, seeing the look on my face, “Look, I’m sorry, this is hard for me to do.” He said as he reached behind his back and pulled out something pink. My face flamed as I realized he was holding one of my lacy G-strings.
“Yours?” He commented dryly, dangling it from his little finger. I snatched it off him, shoving the scrap of material in my pocket.
“Back to the point, Devon.” I snapped.
“Right. The feds have taken over your mother’s case. It turns out the man in the picture is pretty highly linked to an international drug ring.”
“Oh.” I said softly. It was all I could say. I sat on the arm of the chair, my eyes focused on a dot of paper on the rug, not sure of what else to say.
The FBI.
Did I tell Neri and Sam this?
“I’d probably hold off telling the kids this, Kaitlin. There is really no new information, it’s just they have more suitable experience in dealing with these kinds of cases. She may well be fine.” I felt myself nodding again.
“Right. Well, thanks for telling me.” I said, standing up.
“Kait?” He hesitated as I looked up at him, “This also means…I’m no longer on your case. Once I have filled the feds in, I’ll have no reason to harass you anymore.” He looked embarrassed, as he should.
Is that what he thought he was doing? Harassing me?
Was it my imagination, or did he almost sound relieved to be rid of me?
“So, this whole blowing me off thing, it was never really about you being on my mother’s case then, was it?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
He hesitated. “Kait, it’s complicated.” He sighed, not looking me in the eye. I almost laughed. Complicated?
“Thanks for stopping by, Devon. I really appreciate it.” My tone made it clear I was done talking.
He nodded, standing in front of me for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something. Eventually, he simply nodded again and headed for the door.
“Kait, call me if you need to talk.” He glanced over his shoulder as he walked out the door, a sadness in his eyes. Was he serious? If I needed to talk, he would be the last person I would call.
I didn’t fucking get him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Once Sam was in bed, and Neri was finishing up her homework, I got ready for work. The earlier conversation with Devon played over and over in my mind.
The FBI.
That was big. Somehow, it made things seem more serious. I laughed. My mother had been missing for two weeks, and only now it was serious to me?
Until now, I’d thought they’d find mom, holed up in some shack with some guy. Until now, I’d hated her even more for abandoning Neri and Sam, the same way she’d abandoned me.
But now, I felt sad. Sad that Neri and Sam may never see their mom again, sad that any chance of reconciling with mom might have been taken from me.
Did I want to reconcile with her?
It wasn’t even a question of whether or not I forgave her, it was whether she still blamed me for putting John in prison.
And Devon. I shook my head at the thought of him, I was so pissed off that I’d let him into my life. No matter how much I wanted to hate him, I couldn’t. The thought of never seeing him again ripped my heart out. Even though things were messy recently, I was still guaranteed being able to see him once or twice a week, about mom.