Page 76 of Fierce-Zander

“No,” Sloane said. “I’d like to think my mother didn’t either. But you should know, she stole money she needed to escape from the cult. I’m not sure how much. I never asked and it was probably for the best, but based on her life history, it couldn’t be a lot. It was enough to get us a place to stay and food and clothing while she found a job and was set up for public assistance.”

Jesus. He couldn’t imagine this happening.

“I’ll look into that too. My guess is no one was going to report the theft to the police when they’d have to answer questions about the underage pregnant women,” he said drily.

“That was my thought too,” she said. “For all of my mother’s faults, she got Sabrina and me out of there. Maybe I should have been there for her more.”

“It’s hard to do that when she cut off communication,” he said. “You said the number you had was disconnected?”

“Yes. I put that down in the papers. The last number and roughly when I talked to her last. I guess I could have tried to find her before now.”

“Families don’t talk for years all the time,” he said. “For reasons much less than what you went through.”

“I know,” Sloane said. “I told myself that too.”

The door to Sloane’s opened and Dane Grey, Chloe’s brother, came in. “Sorry I’m late,” Dane said. “I got called to the hospital.”

“Not a problem,” Sloane said.

Zander stood up and shook hands with Dane. “Good to see you again,” he said.

“You too,” Dane said. Zander had talked to Chloe’s brother at the rehearsal dinner and at her wedding. Dane seemed like a great guy. Loved kids and was a pediatrician. He obviously knew about Sloane’s past and wasn’t bothered by it. Not many men would feel that way.

It reminded him that when you found someone that you loved, nothing else really mattered.

Nothing came between it either.

“I was just filling Zander in on everything about my childhood,” Sloane said.

“I’ll let you both talk,” Dane said. “I’m just here for support.”

Sloane and Zander talked some more, then she added the last part about a locket of her mother’s. “It’s the only thing I’ve gotof my mother’s. Shiloh said a friend gave it to her. It’s a picture of Sabrina and me from when we were in school. A friend could have been another woman. It could mean nothing.”

“Why don’t you hold onto that for now,” Zander said, taking a picture of it and the two photos inside. “I’ve got enough to get started. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’m not guaranteeing I can find out who Shiloh’s father is. We’ll see if we can figure out any man in your mother’s life around that time and just go from there. I don’t like to give false hope and should warn you that we could also come up with things you don’t want to know.”

He hoped for Sloane’s sake that wasn’t the case, but he didn’t want her going in blind either.

“I don’t think much could surprise me anymore,” Sloane said. “Not with the way I grew up and what is happening now.”

Zander shook both their hands and left, then drove home to his apartment.

He was too wired to do any work and had to let some of this just sit in his brain.

It was nice to close some cases, but then another one was right on his doorstep.

He looked around his apartment and decided to clean while he thought things through.

Regan wanted to see his place. It was nothing special and he’d warned her, but she said she didn’t care. She only wanted to be with him.

Dane didn’t seem to care about what he knew in regards to Sloane’s past.

Just like him. He wouldn’t pass judgment on anything that happened in Regan’s past. What she went through as a child or even why she chose her profession.

She barely talked about her family and he had to accept that. Or when she did, it wasn’t with the fondness he had with his.

Which brought up another thing. He’d have to tell his parents soon, and when he did, they’d want to meet her.

He’d save that for another day.

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