Page 57 of Muted

With a sigh, he finishes explaining. “I’m an only child and my dad wasn’t doing so well at the time and mom needed some extra help. He hung around for another five years or so, but then he passed.”

I lift my hand to rest on my chest, so fucking heartbroken that he lost his dad. Inwardly, I’m shocked when Chester lifts our joined hands to press a kiss on the back of my hand, before lowering it back to the center.

“It’s okay. Dad didn’t really take care of himself. He loved his bacon and saturated fats, so he ate himself to a heart attack. My mom tried her best to get him to eat better, but he was old and set in his ways. There was only so much she could do, though. He worked until the day he died, so he’d sneak off to get fast food for lunches.” He pauses, then smiles softly. “I miss him, but at least he lived a good life and was happy as hell when he went. Can’t ask for more than that.”

We brake again and come to another stop at the same time a tear drops down my cheek. He does a double take when he looks over at me and then leans toward me. Reaching up to my cheek, he smiles softly as he thumbs away the evidence of my empathy.

“None of that. It was a while ago, and I’ve made my peace with his loss. Such is life, am I right?”

I squeeze once as another tear falls, which he catches this time. My mouth opens on a sharp inhale when he puts his thumb into his mouth, swallowing my sadness.

“Are you close with your parents?” With all the questions he asked me, I haven’t answered them as quickly as I do this one. I grip his hand so hard, desperate to tell him how wonderful my parents are.

Are they perfect? No. Of course not. Everyone makes mistakes. But the mistakes they made were early on when they were trying to figure out how to raise a traumatized three-year-old. We all figured it out, eventually. By the time I turned eighteen, we had a mutual respect for each other.

They also were there everysinglestep of the way through the shit I went through with the people of my hometown and my biological father’s family. Withhim.

Finally, the traffic starts to thin out and Chester is able to kick up the speed to the limit. My exit is a few miles down the highway, so I know this is all coming to an end soon.

“I’d love to hear about them. Even if you send me a text or an email. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

Two squeezes. I swallow deeply, remembering Aunt Elaine’s struggles through my early childhood when she had negative after negative pregnancy tests. There were two times I remember they were positive, but I knew within a month after each time that it wasn’t going to happen. Her late-night sobs, and Uncle Ronnie’s soft words behind closed doors broke my heart.

When I was twelve, I remember overhearing them in the kitchen. I was supposed to be outside playing but had come in to get a drink. Aunt Elaine had said, “Susanna is all we need, Ron. She’s everything we could have asked for, so let’s put this behind us and focus on keeping her healthy and safe.”

What the fuck is happening to me tonight?Another tear falls and Chester seems regretful. Maybe because he can’t catch this salted drop too.

Instead, he spends the last ten minutes of our drive asking me random questions about some of my favorite things, while I stare out the window, wiping away each tear as they fall.

I really need to fucking call them tonight.

Chapter 16

Bramble

Chester

“Good morning. Chester?”

“Yep. How are you doing, Officer Mercer?” I ask. I recognize his voice immediately even though I’m surprised at how quickly he got back to me. After we spoke a week ago, I sent over the release that Susu signed with her application for us to run her background check. Luckily, that seems to be all that Mercer needed to put together something for me.

“Honestly, you can call me Vincent. Not that I don’t enjoy the whole officer thing, but I prefer to keep it casual.”

I laugh into the phone, settling it between my ear and shoulder as I lean back in my chair behind my desk. “Noted. So, I’m assuming this isn’t a friendly call. Were you able to dig anything up?”

The sigh he blows into the receiver is so loud, I know he’s gotsomethingfor me. “Yeah. Maybe? It’s… well, let me just tell you. You had mentioned an article that you found, correct?”

“Yes. One about a woman named Laura Evans. It didn’t have Susanna’s name in it, but it linked her to the search,” I tell him, then add, “Would you hold on a second? I want to shut my office door.”

“No problem,” he says.

Setting my phone down, I stick my head out to look around and find no one around. Vance isn’t coming in for a few hours, and today is Cliff’s day off. I expect Theo in soon, so I’m not worried about that. But if some of the staff comes in, I don’t want them to overhear. I’m not picking up Susu until early afternoon. I should be clear, thankfully.

“I’m good. Just wanted to lock my office door. You can go ahead,” I tell him once I pick the phone back up.

“No worries. So, Laura Evans?”

“Yeah?”

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