Page 111 of The Long Game

“And brave,” Jack guessed.

Grady wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing at this stage. God knew, brave and foolish weren’t mutually exclusive.

Sam continued to read. “Brae says they went back to the hotel to see if she’d gone there, found her cell phone on the bed and her suitcase gone. The cash they’d left locked in the room’s safewas gone. A little more than three hundred dollars.” A ghost of a smile passed over Sam’s lips. “Brae’s pissed about that, since he’d brought a lot of that to buy Leafs gear.”

Jack sighed. “Of course, the fuckingLeafs.”

Grady smirked, but it faded fast. “Do they know where she went? Did she leave a note?”

Sam sighed. “Yeah. Her note said,real families love you no matter what.”

Colton and Sam exchanged a long look.

Jack cocked his head. “That means something to you, doesn’t it?”

Colton poked Grady. “You said that to us. The other day.” At Grady’s blank look, Colton rolled his eyes. “At the lawyer’s office. When Jack was about to do something stupid and you were losing your mind.”

Grady grimaced. “Gosh, Colton, you really have a way of bringing it all back. So, what does that have to do with Hannah?”

“I posted it. In our cool family Facebook group,” he said, sounding apologetic. “I was explaining how different it is here. How different youare than the rest of the family.”

Sam gripped Colton’s arm. “And I backed you up.”

“Neither of you are responsible for this. I told you to tell them I was here if they needed help.”

Jack eyed the boys. “Is that what you think she’s doing? Coming here?”

Colton shrugged. “Maybe? I’m not sure. I know she’s been fighting with her parents. Brae’s mentioned it a couple of times, but he doesn’t know what’s going on. Her parents won’t talk about it with anyone. He thinks it’s because she doesn’t want to marry her boyfriend.”

“Isn’t she sixteen?” Jack asked, confused.

Sam sighed. “Yeah. And he’s twenty. That’s old enough as far as our family is concerned.”

Jack stood, open-mouthed and speechless.

Grady sighed. “You’d think they’d evolve, but no.”

“Are you kidding? That’s never going to change,” Colton said bitterly. “We’re all supposed to get married and make babies,” he said, gesturing between himself and Sam, “and it’s even worse for the girls. The men, at least, have the option of going to college and waiting until they’re done. The girls are expected to marry as soon as they’re out of high school.”

Jack looked vaguely ill. “And if they don’t want to?”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know anyone who hasn’t. Well, present company excepted. For the girls, teenage hormones combined with being brainwashed into believing it’s the only way they have any worth is pretty effective. For the boys, they still get a lot of freedom and a decent education, so maybe it doesn’t look so bad to them.”

Jack lookeddistinctlyill now.

Grady was wishing he’d eaten a lot fewer tacos himself. He reached for Sam and Jack and pulled them in. Colton hooked his arm around Sam’s waist and Jack wrapped them all in his arms, holding them tight.

“Okay, we see the bullshit,” he said, voice firm, “and it sucks. Right now, let’s focus on what we can do to help. I’m going to head back to work so I can find out what the RCMP and Toronto Police Service know and what they’re doing. If we think she’s headed this way, I’ll make sure Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City are keeping an eye out.”

“I might be able to help with that, too,” Jack said, his expression thoughtful. “I have a friend in Montreal with lots of…uh…connections.”

Grady wasn’t sure what that emphasis meant, but he’d take any help he could get. Sixteen was old enough, probably, for Hannah to pass as an adult, so there was little to stop her fromgrabbing a bus or train or—god forbid, since three hundred wasn’t going to get her far—hitching a ride.

“Great,” he said, giving Jack an extra squeeze.

“Won’t telling the cops where she’s headed mean the family will know, too?” Colton asked in a worried tone.

“Yes,” Grady admitted. “But making sure Hannah is safe is the most important thing.” He didn’t have to tell Colton how scary it could be for a kid alone. He knew better than any of them. “Once we find her, no matterwhofinds her, we’ll do what we can to help her,” he promised.

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