Page 40 of The Housekeeper's Billionaire Boss
“Emilia, thank you.”
He started from the beginning, detailing everything he knew: where Derek and Brenda were last seen and Molly’s suspicion that her mom was paying them to change their minds.
He’d debated about telling Molly what he was doing, but for one, he wasn’t sure Emilia would even take the case. Plus, he didn’t want to get Molly’s hopes up that they’d find Brenda only to come up empty. Molly was already dealing with enough; he didn’t want to add another disappointment to the list.
“Oh, man, her mom?” Malakai whistled. “That’s harsh.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Josiah replied.
“So, Derek and Brenda are here in Dallas. Do her parents live in Dallas?” Emilia asked.
Josiah nodded. “Yeah, in the Flower Mound area.”
“Nice neighborhood and good schools,” she added.
“Can’t deny that, but trying to take her granddaughter at the expense of her daughter isn’t so great.” Josiah still couldn’t wrap his mind around that.
“No, it’s not. Okay, do you have a physical description of them?”
Josiah grumbled. Why hadn’t he thought of that? He should have been prepared for it in case she did take the case. “No, but I can get them and then text it to you.”
“Awesome. I’ll get you my fee schedule, and once you agree to that, you can send me the photos. I’ll get to work on it.” It sounded to Josiah like she was farther from the phone this time.
“Okay.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Mal,” she said, and then a door opened and shut.
“Hey, Josiah,” Malakai said quickly like he thought Josiah was hanging up. “While you’re on the phone, I wanted to go over that list of properties you sent me the other day.”
“You bet. Did you like any of them?”
“I liked that third one. Tyler wants to know if there’s ever been a restaurant in that location.”
Josiah pulled up the property on his phone and scrolled through his notes. “Not that I can see. I’m looking through all the records. It’s been a clothing store, a fabric store, and an art studio. No restaurants.”
“Art studio. That’s cool. Do you think we could go look at it in a couple of days?”
Josiah pulled up his calendar. “I’d love to, but…”
“Oh, man, yeah. Your girl is stressing. Man, I’m sorry. I wasn’t even thinking.”
Chuckling, Josiah shook his head. “She’s not really my girl, but I do need to stay. I can get another realtor to show you the space, though. It’s not a big deal.”
“That’s fine with me. You’ve been great. Emilia is awesome. If she can’t find someone, they can’t be found by anyone.”
“Good to know. Anyway, I need to get back. If you need anything…”
“Text me your dude’s number. Go be with your family.”
They said their goodbyes, and Josiah ended the call. He stepped out of the truck and found his dad sitting on the porch with a mug in his hand.
“Hey, bud. Why don’t you come sit a spell with me?”
Josiah took the stairs two at a time and took a seat in the rocking chair next to his dad. “What’s up, Dad?”
“Oh, not much. Just enjoying the quiet.”
Josiah rolled his eyes. That was the most ominousnot muchhe’d ever heard. “I guess itisnoisy in there.”
