“She didn’t come to you? Maybe rent a car?” he asks, suddenly starting to sound a little nervous.
Inhaling a deep breath, I hear a noise and lift my head. Lucinda is standing in the living room, her eyes on me. She has her phone gripped in her hand.
“Do you want me to call her?” she asks, her voice raspy from what that fuck did to her.
Nodding my head, I start to pace. “Lucinda is calling her phone,” I say.
Hansen doesn’t say anything, but I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what he’s thinking. But I know without a doubt that it is nothing good. Lucinda calls out for me, and I look over at her.
“No answer,” she mouths.
“Can you track her phone?” I bark.
Hansen doesn’t say anything right away, I hear him shuffling around and I assume he’s taking a seat. He clears his throat. “I don’t think I can find her, you have access to her phone, right? It’s your account?”
“Fuck, that’s right. I’m calling Julie right now.”
“Wait,” Hansen calls out.
I pause, wanting nothing more than to hurry the fuck up and get Julie on this. As far as I know, she would at least be able to contact IT and get on the Find My Phone app to find the cell phone. I made sure that all of that was installed on the devices, in case of an emergency. But never did I think that I would be using it for something like this—not ever anything like this.
“Do you think, that property?”
“That Susan took her too? How would she know that Tennessee was alone?” I ask.
Then something ugly slithers throughout my entire body. Slowly, I lift my gaze to Lucy. She wouldn’t. Not to her own daughter. Would she? I tell Hansen to get out there and look at the property with the detectives while I get working on tracking the phone down.
Ending the call, I look over to Lucinda. She is watching me, but as the seconds tick by, her concern grows.
“Dad?”
“Has your mother ever met that man that hurt you, your boss?” I ask.
Lucinda’s frown deepens and she tilts her head to the side before her legs carry her over to me. Slowly, she sinks down in the chair next to the sofa, bringing her feet to the seat while she wraps her arms around her shins.
“You don’t think… that Mom would? Do you?”
“This was all out of the ordinary? He’s never acted like this before?” I ask.
Lucinda shakes her head. “I thought he was on drugs,” she whispers.
I clear my throat, then I tell her about Helen and now about Tennessee. I explain to her in detail about the paternity stuff with Anderson, most of it she already knows. Then, I tell her about the company, all of it, everything that’s just happened. And there is only one common denominator in all of the shit that’s been piling up, and that’s Susan.
“Oh my god,” she breathes. “Dad, I can’t believe it. Mom… I just can’t.”
I debate telling her about her mother’s extracurricular activities, but decide against it. At least for now. I have a feeling that the truth will come out sooner rather than later, but right now all I can truly think about is Tennessee. I need to find her. I need to find them, all three of them.
“You need to go back to Tulsa,” she breathes.
“Call your mother, see where she is. I want a pulse, can you do that for me?”
It’s sneaky, I know that it is. I just don’t really care right now. Sneaky or not, I’ll do anything to find my woman. Finding Julie’s name, I touch the call button and walk out of the room, slipping into Lucinda’s home gym.
“Landry?” she asks, sounding half asleep.
“I’m sorry, Julie, I know it’s your day off, but I have a huge favor.”
“Anything.”
Clearing my throat, I close my eyes and I say it aloud. “Tennessee is missing. I had an emergency and drove back to Dallas last night. She and Holden were in the hotel and Hansen came by this morning to pick them up, but they’re gone. Can you get a trace on her phone through that Find My Phone app?”
There is a moment of silence, then I hear Julie’s voice crack before she clears her throat. “Let me see what I can do, I’ll call you back in a few.”
She ends the call abruptly, and I look down at the blank screen with a frown. Lucinda opens