Page 57 of Silent Betrayal

She surprises me by settling back against me and pulling my arm around her shoulder. She looks up at me with a worriedsmile, so I smile back and give her shoulder a little squeeze to let her know I’m here for her.

Atlas moves closer to her other side and holds his hand out, palm up. She threads her fingers through his and squeezes tight, then looks down at the phone and pressing the button to dial before putting it on speaker.

We all hear it ring and wait anxiously to see if he answers.

Chapter twenty-four

“Hello?” a tired sounding man answers after three rings.

I squeeze Atlas’s hand tighter, glad for his strength, as my stomach twists with nerves.

“H-hi. Is this… Paul Stevens?” I ask shakily.

There’s a pause before he answers, “yes, who is this?”

“M-my name is Mina.” He gasps and I can hear the shock as my eyes move up to where I catch Ben watching me. He gives me a reassuring smile that helps to give me strength.

“Mina? As in…myMina? Where have you been?” he asks with worry and hope threaded through his tone.

“Umm…” I mumble, not sure how to answer.

“You’re calling me, so you must know who I am? Do you remember me?”

“I do. You… You left me. You said you’d come back. But you didn’t! You left me alone with her!” I sob out the last word. I didn’t expect to immediately yell at him like that. I hadn’t planned on saying anything, but after all this time, it just sort of exploded out of me. I sniffle and try to calm myself so I can finish the conversation. Gideon passes me a handkerchief and I use it to wipe my face and blow my nose.

“Oh, honey. I’m so, so sorry! I… There… I can explain. Can I meet you? I need to see you with my own eyes. Where have you been this whole time?” I push my face into Atlas’s chest as I try to contain my cries, and thankfully, Gideon takes the phone from me.

“Hello sir,” Gideon says into the phone.

“Who is this?” His tone immediately changes, and he sounds furious.

“My name is Gideon. I—”

“Put my daughter back on the phone, now!” he demands loudly, making me jump. Atlas holds me tighter, rubbing my back as I sniffle against him.

“Sir, she is right here beside me, you are on speaker phone with us all. But she is upset right now and can’t speak at the moment.”

“Who are you? And who else is there? What’s going on?” he demands answers as Gideon looks at me.

“Mina? Is it okay if I give him a brief history of what’s going on here?” I think for a second, then nod. I’m not sure I could get the words out again.

“Paul?”

“Yes, what is going on? I want to talk to Mina.”

“Look, Mina is upset. She didn’t even know you were still alive or that you’ve been looking for until we found out about you a couple days ago. She says I can tell you a bit about what’s going on, then we can arrange for you two to meet.”

“Alright, I’m listening,” he says gruffly.

“From what we can gather, when you went into rehab, Helen took her and has been moving her around the country ever since. She… She wasn’t treated well. Her mother kept her locked in the basement and beat her frequently.” Atlas grips me harder at those words, nuzzling my head with his.

“Oh god. I—I’m sorry, honey. Can you hear me?”

“She can hear you.”

“I want to explain, but let’s do it in person. Where are you?”

“We are in Blue River, Montana.”

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