Page 159 of Severed Rivalry
Ayla laid it out for Mom already. I guess I’ll have to too. My family won’t be near a man who would be—and do—to his kids what Seamus Murphy has. She’s welcome; he is not. And seeing as I have the first grandchild, she needs to decide quickly.
I slide a notepad and pen from a drawer and start lining out things I have to figure out.
What’s the status of the Laotians?
House before next school year?
Mom.
Therapist.
Connect2Coach owners – where are they?
Jonas.
What do we do with five teenagers?
Phoenix.
Who is Freddie Gauthier?
Geez. So everything in my life but the two Ocoteas under my roof is in flux. It’s a wonder I sleep at all.
I put a one next to the house-and-school line item and a number two next to “Mom.” Might as well hit the easiest items first. I’d scoff, but those, in fact, will be the easiest to tick off.
My phone buzzes.
Liam: You up?
Me: Yep.
My phone rings, and I’m right to dread what comes next.
“One of the girls ran away.”
Fuck my life. “When? Where?”
“If I knew where, I wouldn’t call it running away.Whenis sometime in the last three hours.”
“Do we know who?”
“Ruth.”
“The quiet one? The meek one who always looked terrified?”
“No clue. I only saw them once and they all looked terrified.”
“So a girl with no concept of distance or modern technology is on the lam in one of the biggest cities in the country, with no… anything. Do I have that right?”
“You do.”
“Fuck.”
“Yep.”
“Where do we even begin?” But I know. We begin with Rosie. She knows more about these girls than anyone. Sariah spent hours, but Rosie has lived with them.
“I’ll head there now. Hate to ask, brother, but…”
