Page 26 of One Step Sideways

“Kane Diaz, thirty-three. Mom, Elizabeth, but she fucked off when I was three—no idea why.” He paused and suddenly, despite my madly infuriating and interfering family, I wished he had the same.

“Dad, utter bastard. Still alive, I guess.”

“I could check,” I offered. “Both of them.”

Kane glanced at the ceiling. “Not sure if that would make it better or worse.”

“Your decision.” He didn’t know, but it was a promise to not go snooping if he didn’t want me to. Kane’s gaze met mine and I could see the indecision behind the way his eyes seemed to delve so deep that I felt wide open. I wasn’t sure why he was weighing his decision against what he saw in me, but he nodded. I bent over Shae again and checked his vitals, then grabbed my laptop, which was never far away.

“Father’s full name and address, if you have it?”

“Jacob Elijah Diaz. Twenty-seven Ranier Road. Atlanta.” But I’d found it with just the name.

“Wife Tamara Grace Diaz,” I confirmed softly, and he nodded. “You might have to give me a few minutes unless it’s obvious…No, Jacob still lives in Ranier Road.” I glanced up and Kane didn’t reply. He didn’t look like he cared, and I could understand that. I found a marriage certificate immediately, then frowned as I gazed at Tamara’s financials. Everything had stopped around 1990.

“Do you expect her to be able to live off the grid? No bank cards, no credit cards, no addresses?”

Kane frowned. “To be honest, I don’t—didn’t—know her. I have a vague recollection of blond hair, but—”

Kane’s words stopped abruptly as an image flashed on the screen. I heard his breath catch as a gray-eyed blonde woman with a sunny smile flashed onto the screen. I stared at her. Kane had his dad’s looks, but his eyes were his mom’s. Gray with an almost silver fleck that added a smokiness, but I imagined them happy like his mom’s had been in the photo. Before life sucked the joy from them.

“Tamara Grace, nee Williamson.” I clicked. “Did you know you have a grandfather?”

Kane gasped in shock. “A grandfather?” he asked, the longing so apparent in his voice. “No, he never said.”

“It was your mom’s dad, so maybe that’s understandable,” I said, scanning the screen. The info wasn’t hard to find, but for someone who’d been inside with zero access to information, I guessed it was. I had to remember that what I took for granted wasn’t what other people did, and Kane had said they restricted everything he did.

“Albert Williamson, seventy-eight. Still lives in the same house he has for the last forty years. Adairsville, Bartow County. Kane nodded once, then turned and bolted.

Kane

I couldn’t stay in the same room. I couldn’t stay and watch the pity creep into Danny’s expression. I wasn’t surprised Dad was still alive. The only thing that would take that bastard out was his liver, but I’d hoped for my mom. Somewhere in those screwed up years at home and then more unbelievably in jail every time visitors had come, a tiny, really pitiful part of me had hoped she would walk through those doors. It was stupid and fucking pathetic, but it had never stopped me from wanting it. And now…what, she was dead? People didn’t live off the grid, okay so a few did, but not some random housewife. Ice clutched my stomach because I knew. And for a bare moment a part of me started to rejoice that she hadn’t left me, until I realized what had happened to her instead. And the joy turned to shame, and I could taste the ashes of it on my tongue.

Bile rose in my throat, and I stumbled to my bathroom, just making it to the toilet before retching. Not that there was anything in my stomach to expel. Fuck, but I was a mess. Even when I could eat, it seemed my body didn’t want to.

Had he killed her? Was she registered as a missing person? What did my grandfather think had happened to her?

It seemed the obvious alternative. He was bitter and controlling, but part of me knew he would want her chained to him rather than dead, and he would have done a lot to make that happen. I straightened up and went to the sink to scrub my teeth. Should I be here? Or should I be looking for answers? Should I go and meet a grandfather I never knew existed?

Would he be ashamed of me?

I walked out of the bathroom and stopped short. Danny was sitting on my bed, and for once without the dog. He looked up, expression soft, and it immediately made me ignite. I tightened my fists and walked past him.

“Kane.”

I stopped and rounded on him, fury licking at every nerve ending I had. Who was he? Who was he to have a perfect fucking family and to come here gloating?

“What?” I barked.

He didn’t answer right away, which wound me up even further.

“I just wondered if you were okay—”

“No, I’m not fucking okay,” I nearly yelled, and the door nearly slammed in on itself as Sadie came barreling in and jumped on the bed.Mybed.

“Sorry, that was a dumb question.” His apology took the breath from my lungs and cut off the head of steam I was working up to. Anger was a luxury I’d never been allowed inside, but now I was pissed.

Except I really wasn’t. Or not at him. None of this was Danny’s fault. He stood, pushing Sadie over carefully, and took a step to close the distance between us. I inhaled, ready to tell him to go to hell, but I caught the scent of the shower gel I’d used last night. I hadn’t realized Rawlings had gotten me the same as Danny used. Made sense. And my stupid brain decided that it liked the smell of whatever it was. Maybe almonds. Maybe coconut. But fresh and clean, and nothing like me. Then I realized he’d taken another step toward me, and Danny was really, really, close.

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