Page 55 of The Two Last Moments

It looks like the first contact came out of the blue, and Nina wrote back right away, asking for more information. They had a few emails going back and forth, the original sender giving more info about Travis. And then the thread turned even stranger.

The anonymous sender wrote,Don’t trust anyone else who claims they know him.

After that, the communication abruptly cut off. Nina wrote back again, reiterating that she’d already forgiven Travis and she wanted to see him. But the person never wrote again.

“This is bizarre,” I say. “It sounds like the person wanted to gain Nina’s trust. It’s got to be a scam. They were obviously going to ask for money. But the messages stopped over a month ago, and they never followed through.”

“Maybe they really did know him. It was legit.”

“But then why this secrecy? Why hide their real identity? Why make Nina hope and then stop responding?” My blood is boiling with anger to think of someone taking advantage of my grandma this way.

What if it was my uncle himself? Would Travis try to be this manipulative with his own mother?

I might believe it. He stole from her before. Left me without even saying goodbye and never came back.

“She hasn’t said anything about this to you?” I ask.

“No. Every time I’ve tried to ask about him, she shuts down. If she’s had him on her mind, maybe these emails explain why.” Lark grabs my arm. “Danny, if Nina wants to see Travis so badly, we have to find him.”

“Find him? My uncle has been gone for almosttwenty years. I’ve tried running public records searches for death certificates a few times, and nothing’s come up. He’s probably still alive, but he just doesn’t care enough to get in touch.”

“Then don’t do it for Travis. Do it for your grandmother.” Her green eyes plead with me. “Please.”

Jeez, how am I supposed to say no when she looks at me like that?

There’s so much I need to say to Lark. I need to tell her that, no matter what else we find out about her past—even if we find nothing at all—I’ll still be here for her. If she wants to get a job and move forward with her life, I’ll support that. I care about her.

But keeping her safe is non-negotiable for me.

Yet I also know that if I start down that path, I might say more than I should. I might make a move that I can’t take back. I might pull her to me and kiss her and do all thosewrongthings that I know will make us both feel so damn good.

Lark is right. My grandmother deserves a chance to say goodbye to her son. Even if Travis doesn’t deserveher.

“All right,” I say. “For Nina.”And because you asked me.

“Thank you, Danny.”

And there it is, right there. Anything’s worth doing if it makes Lark smile like that.

20

We decide not to tell Nina that we’re searching for Travis.

It’s not an easy decision. But with all that Nina’s going through, I don’t want to get her hopes up only to dash them later on. I knowexactlyhow much that hurts.

That night, Danny and I go out to the garage to talk it over. “I thought we could hire Bennett Security to trace the emails,” I say. “If they can’t find Travis directly, maybe they can find the person who sent them.”

“Great idea. Bennett is the best choice. They don’t do a ton of private investigation stuff, but I know the people there and trust them. Obviously I do, since I asked them to run the background checks about you. Cliff’s dad is a bodyguard there. Rex Easton.”

“Ah, right. I heard about Cliff’s dad.”

His brow wrinkles. “What’s that smile for?”

I’m trying not to laugh as I remember what Quinn told me about her tragically hopeless crush. “Nothing. Go on.”

Danny squints at me. “I’ll talk to Rex and see what their research people can find out.”

Finally, a few days later, Danny gets news from Bennett Security. “We know the IP address where the emails about Travis were sent. It’s a café in Solvang, a small touristy town about an hour away from here.”

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