Page 6 of Sutton's Shadow

Daggers of guilt sliced through him. She was his best friend’s woman; he had no right to think of her as sexy. Aside from that, he couldn’t afford the distraction since his little sister was God knows where.

The ringing of his phone pulled him out of the spiral his thoughts were taking. He yanked the device out of his pocket, not recognizing the number. His heart leapt, hoping this was news about Bethany. “Hello,” he greeted, moving away from the bar to the corner by the jukebox.

“Mr. Tinsley?” a woman asked.

“Speaking.”

“I’m Myra Hannigan from Child Protective Services. I understand you’ve been looking for some information.”

“Yes, I’m looking for my sister who was taken to a foster home five days ago. The caseworker told me he’d contact me once she was settled. I haven’t heard anything from him. I’ve tried calling him repeatedly, but every call goes straight to voice mail.”

“Yes, I understand. I’m afraid to say that at the moment, we don’t know where your sister is.”

His entire system froze, the phone nearly slipping from his fingers. As the woman’s words sank in, his heart turned over and proceeded to pound against his rib cage. “You lost my sister?” He spoke low, his grip on his control tenuous.

“No... well, not really... that is to say...” Myra sputtered.

His grip on his phone. “You lost my sister?” he repeated, louder this time, catching the attention of Jolene and Sutton.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Tinsley. That is not what I meant. We’ve had some issues the past few days. Our entire system crashed, and we lost everything. Bethany’s records included. We’ve been doing all we can to figure out which foster home he placed her in. Unfortunately, Mr. Davis, her caseworker, had a family emergency and had to leave town. We have been unable to reach him as well. We’ve been weeding through all the messages left at the office. I’m sorry I don’t have more to share with you at the moment. We’re short staffed, but we have people visiting all our foster homes in search of your sister.”

Wyatt thrust his fingers through his hair. “Let me get this straight. My sister was torn out of my arms, against her will, and placed with a bunch of strangers. The man who did the tearing neglected to inform anyone where he placed her and is now MIA. Any electronic record you had is lost, and you’ve sent foot soldiers out in search of my missing sister.”

“That’s it in a nutshell, Mr. Tinsley. But don’t you worry, I’m sure she’s fine.”

His fist smacked the side of the jukebox, the resultant thud echoing through the room.

“Jesus Christ. You’re sure she’sfine?”

He was moments away from losing his shit, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything except Bethany.

“Let me explain something to you. My fourteen-year-old sister had to defend herself against a man who was three times her size. A man her mother brought into her home accompanied by every drug imaginable. My fourteen-year-old sister had to use a taser to get away from the asshole hell-bent on raping her. She then escaped to the woods, hiding in a hollowed-out tree until I could get to her. While she hid, that same asshole and another stalked and threatened her with all manner of depraved things. I had to listen to her fright, frantic I wouldn’t be able to reach her in time. The fear in her voice is something no fourteen-year-old girl should ever experience.”

He was breathing heavily as he continued his rampage. “And then, when I finally found her and she finally felt safe, she was taken away from the only family member who loves her—the only family member who would do anything to protect her—and was placed with strangers. Assured she’d see me the next day, that brave fourteen-year-old girl went willingly. It’s been five fucking days, and you tell me you have no idea where she is? You’ve lost a fourteen-year-old girl who only wanted to go home with the brother she loves in order to feel safe for once in her life.”

“Mr. Tinsley, please calm down. We’re doing all we can to remedy this situation. I’ll call as soon as I hear anything.” Without another word, she hung up. Wyatt stared at his phone, dumbfounded that the CPS woman had cut him off.

“Fuck!” he roared, slamming his phone down on the bar, not caring if it broke. What was he going to do now? His sister was missing. Christ, when he failed, he did it spectacularly. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through right now?what she was thinking. Her brother had failed to contact her. How would that make her feel?

He needed to make this right. He needed to find her. But how? Were foster homes on public record? He had no idea. Maybe he could ask Emma to see where her hacking skills could go. In the meantime, he’d go crazy unable to do anything. But there was nothing he could do short of knocking on every door in the county.

“Wyatt.” Jolene’s gentle voice broke him out of his stupor.

“I’m sorry, Jolene.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet. Laying a twenty on the bar, he grabbed his surprisingly unbroken phone and marched out the door.

Suttonwatchedthedevastatedman storm out of the bar, her heart aching for him. She may not have known the entire story, but she’d gotten the gist of it through that phone call. That poor girl.

“Shit,” Jolene muttered. “Poor Bethany.”

Sutton shook her head. “I can’t imagine.”

“I feel so helpless. I wish I could do something. Maybe I could get her picture and start asking my patrons if they’ve seen her. Perhaps I’ll get lucky and the foster parent who took her in will come here.”

Sutton raised one brow, doubtful that would happen. Nevertheless, it didn’t hurt to get the community’s help in searching for her. Someone had to know where she was.

“Is all that stuff true? What his sister is going through?”

“Yeah. Wyatt has been trying to get custody for a while now. The other night, things came to a head with their mother. I don’t know all the details, but it appears things are getting worse for that poor girl.” Jolene shook her head, her red ponytail swinging.

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