However, the coffee shop I found myself in less than a day after talking with Lily was connected to a bookshop, so it wasn’t too bad. Most people were sitting around reading a book rather than talking, and those who did engage in conversation kept their voices at a minimum level. The coffee grinder was even isolated in a back room so it didn’t disturb the atmosphere.
It was a place I would have enjoyed spending some time if I wasn’t in a hurry. The drive here from the safe house had taken several hours, and I didn’t want to leave the others alone any longer than necessary.
If someone managed to find the safe house when I wasn’t there...
It wasn’t even worth thinking about. They would be fine. I’d done everything I could to cover our tracks and make sure no one had followed us or knew where we were.
Yet, the gruesome images wouldn’t leave my mind.
Sebastian gunned down in his sickbed.
Newt crumbled on the floor with his blood staining the carpet.
Frankie beaten to death as he tried to defend his friends, because there was no way the man would go down without a fight.
No, it wasn’t worth thinking about, because it wouldn’t happen. I would finish my business and return to a house filled with three perfectly safe and bored individuals.
“Agent Long?” a small voice asked from behind me.
I controlled the urge to flinch, uncomfortable with having anyone standing out of sight at my back. Setting down the book I’d been reading—it wasn’t as good as the cover had promised—I rose from the table and turned to meet the newcomer.
A woman stood just a few feet away, looking small and nervous.
“Miss Bell, I assume.”
“Yes, um, that’s me.”
She wrung her hands before tucking them into the front pockets of her overalls. They were stained and frayed in a few places, but obviously well loved and cared for. Along with the two thick braids that hung over her shoulders and her heart shaped face, she looked like a modern Dorothy Gale. I could easily picture her working on a Kansas farm and singing about rainbows.
When she didn’t move or say anything else, I gestured for her to take the seat across the table from me.
“Now, Miss Bell, I’ve looked over the information you gave the agency.”
“Oh, call me Tansie. Miss Bell sounds so formal.”
“Okay Miss... Tansie. I’ll get right to the point. You claim to have found your son.”
Her hands started fidgeting again, this time toying with something in her pocket. “Well, I didn’t exactly find him. That’s actually the problem. I can’t find him.”
Her words came out in a rush, tripping over each other so I could barely understand what she was saying.
“Take a deep breath and tell me everything from the beginning.”
She ended up taking several breaths before she could continue. I tapped my foot impatiently against the bag sitting on the floor beside my chair as I waited.
If anyone asked, I’d only bought the books in order to avoid looking suspicious as I hung around the bookstore, but that would be a lie. I’d bought them for myself. There was no telling how long I was going to be stuck playing bodyguard for Sebastian and the others. I would need something to keep my mind distracted, and books usually did the trick.
Eventually, the woman collected her nerves enough to speak straight.
“A few years ago I, um... I gave birth to a child. I was young. Barely out of high school. I couldn’t look after a kid, so I gave him up.”
She hesitated again, probably waiting for me to cast judgment on her for her life choices. It was none of my business, and I honestly didn’t care that she’d had a child so young out of wedlock. The only thing that mattered to me was getting the info I needed as soon as possible.
“All right.” I nodded and tried to hurry her along. “Since you claim you found your child, I assume you eventually went looking for him.”
“Well, no. I didn’t go looking. I ran into him by accident.”
She pulled out her phone and showed me a photo. It was blurry around the edges and sat at an awkward angle, but a young boy stood out prominently at the center of the image. He looked to be maybe eight years old and bore almost no resemblance to the woman sitting across from me.