Page 25 of The Unseen
“What other people are there? Her parents are dead, and the only people we can connect to her are her siblings and the lawyer,” Quinn pointed out.
“There are others. No man is an island, as someone great whose name I can’t quite recall once said.”
“John Donne,” Quinn supplied with a smile.
“Right. Look, I normally require a retainer of a thousand quid and then charge an hourly rate, but since you’re Jill’s cousin, I’ll forgo the retainer. If I find Quentin, I’ll bill you. If not, you’ll only have to reimburse me for my time and expenses.”
“Fair enough,” Logan said. “But don’t say ‘if,’ say ‘when.’”
“Oh, I will find her,” Drew promised. “Regardless of how long it takes.”
“Where will you start?” Quinn asked, curious about his process.
“I’ll start where it all began and work my way out from there. Leicester will be my first port of call. Don’t expect a report from me every day. I’ll only ring you if I have something to tell you, but just because you don’t hear from me doesn’t mean I’m notworking on your behalf. Do you have a photo of Quentin?” Drew asked, looking from Logan to Quinn.
“No, we don’t. Karen Crawford said all her parents’ possessions had been placed in storage, including family albums. She didn’t volunteer to obtain a photograph, and even if she had, it’d have been decades old,” Logan pointed out.
“Shame, that. It would have been helpful.”
“What if Quentin doesn’t want to be found?” Quinn asked. The fear had been gnawing at her since she first learned of Quentin’s existence. What if her sister had no desire to meet her twin and wasn’t responding intentionally?
“If she doesn’t want to have any dealings with you, then she can tell you so herself, to your face. Until then, we work under the assumption that she doesn’t know you exist,” Drew replied.
“How can she not? Wouldn’t it be unethical for her attorney not to have told her or passed on the letter I sent?” Quinn asked.
“Yes, it would, but people do things for the oddest reasons. We won’t know for sure until we find her and ask her outright. Sound like a plan?”
“Yes,” Quinn and Logan replied in unison.
“I’ll be off then. I have a train to Leicester to catch,” Drew said as he heaved himself out of the chair. “I’ll be in touch.”
“What’d you think of him?”
“He seems confident that he can find Quentin, and I want to believe him.”
“Mum keeps asking if we’ve heard anything,” Logan said. “I hope you don’t mind if I keep her up-to-date on our search.”
“Of course I don’t mind. If and when we find Quentin, it will be up to her whether she wants to meet Sylvia,” Quinn said asshe began to maneuver the sleeping baby into his coat. “I certainly won’t try to discourage her.”
“Would you want to meet Mum if you were her?” Logan peered at Quinn from beneath his lashes, like a little boy who feared being reprimanded by a teacher.
“Logan, you don’t have to feel guilty about loving your mother. Sylvia raised you and loved you, and it’s only natural that you feel loyal to her. I don’t expect you to take sides. As far as Quentin goes, I honestly have no idea how she’ll feel. She might be eager to meet the woman who gave birth to her, or choose to have nothing to do with her.”
“It’s just that she seems to have completely rejected her adoptive family,” Logan replied. “Some people like to hold grudges.”
“And you think she’s one of them?”
“Could be.”
“Sometimes people have a very good reason,” Quinn replied as she carefully placed Alex in the baby carrier and pulled on her gloves. “I’m reserving judgement.”
“I’ve always dreamed of having a worldly and wise older sister,” Logan joked. He held the door for Quinn as she stepped out into the street.
“See? Dreams do come true.” Quinn giggled and turned her face up to receive his brotherly kiss. She wasn’t exactly sure when it had happened, but she suddenly realized she loved him and she recognized an answering tenderness in his gaze.
“See ya, sis.”
“See ya, little brother,” Quinn replied, smiling happily to herself.
