Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire #1) - Nikita Slater Page 0,100

time since getting on the phone with her mom that Fatima didn’t sound like she’d been asleep. It should be very early morning in Montréal.

“Mom… where are you?”

“I’m in Kiev. I got here a few days after you went missing.”

She didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to her before that Fatima would travel to where Shaun had gone missing. Shaun would have done the same if her mother had been kidnapped. It made her heart ache to know her mom was relatively close, less than a day’s drive away, yet they couldn’t see each other; might not ever be able to see each other again.

“I’m sorry you’ve been put to so much trouble.”

“Oh baby!” Fatima exclaimed. “There is no trouble. You are my one and only, I will do whatever it takes to get you back.”

Shaun smiled and nodded. “Thank you, it feels good to hear that. Will you go back to Canada now that you know I’m okay?”

“No,” Fatima said, her voice stern. “I’m not leaving without you. I promise, Shaun, I won’t stop looking. It’s only a matter of time.”

“I’m scared for you,” Shaun admitted. “These people are unpredictable. As you know, they aren’t afraid to kill people they think are obstacles. I won’t be able to survive if anything happens to you.”

“I feel the same about you.” Fatima sounded exhausted and Shaun regretted putting her 61-year-old mother through the strain. Fatima was healthy and strong, but she shouldn’t be spending her retirement searching all over the world for her grown daughter.

“I’m so sorry about all this. I didn’t mean for any of it to happen.”

“I know, baby,” Fatima assured her. “You’re doing everything right. You continue to give the people who took you what they want. I’ll find you, and when I do, we’ll go home together.”

Shaun felt a wave of homesickness so strong she began silently crying again. She had to choke back tears as she said, “I want that so bad.”

They continued to talk for several more minutes until a soft knock sounded on the closet door. Saskia opened the door a crack and peeked around, her concerned gaze on Shaun tear-soaked face. She whispered, “Jozef is asking the staff where you are.”

Shaun nodded and said to her mom, “I have to go.”

“Can you call me again?” Fatima asked sharply. “Is there a way for me to contact you?”

Shaun looked at Saskia, who guessed at the question. She shook her head, her expression apologetic.

“I can’t, mom,” Shaun said, despair leaking into her voice. “I’m always watched and even this one phone call puts the person who gave it to me at risk. I can’t do it again.”

“I understand. You don’t stress about it, I’ll content myself with this conversation, with knowing you’re alive and healthy. It’s enough, for now.”

Shaun realized how much it took for her mom to agree to no contact. Not that she had a choice, but Fatima could get quite vocal if she wanted something. She was trusting her daughter’s judgment in this. “I love you, mom.”

“I love you too,” Fatima said, her voice strong despite the tears choking her. “I will keep looking for you. Never doubt it, baby.”

They hung up.

Overcome by emotion, Shaun curled onto her side on the floor of the closet and sobbed, her longing for her mother, for her home, so strong that she didn’t know how she would manage to get up again. To keep living. To walk out of the closet and go back to pretending everything was perfect in Wonderland.

She felt movement beside her as Saskia sat down. After some hesitation Saskia’s hand came down on her shoulder and she patted Shaun awkwardly. As Shaun’s tears began to dissipate a tissue box landed on the floor in front of her nose.

“Are you trying to comfort me?” Shaun reached for a tissue and blew her nose.

Saskia looked sheepish. “Yeah, sort of. We’re not a really huggy family.”

Shaun let out a watery laugh. “I found that out when your mom hugged me earlier.”

“Oh, she’s the worst,” Saskia said with a quick grin and a fake shudder. “Like being hugged by the grim reaper. Creepy and boney, but weirdly comforting at the same time.”

Though Shaun laughed at the assessment, she couldn’t help but agree. She pushed herself up on the carpet and sat next to Saskia, both of them with their backs pressed to the chest of drawers.

“Your mom was upset?” Saskia asked tentatively.

“Yeah,” Shaun sighed.

“Mine would be too.”

They sat in companionable silence until Shaun’s tears stopped