Panic hits me full force and I leap to my feet, toppling the small metal chair backward. I have no desire to catch up on old times with a man who is pissed that I didn’t sleep with him. A man who sent horrible, degrading, text to me the day he left me on a beach in Miami; the same man who screwed the receptionist at our hotel and threw my things in a garbage can. I can’t control the tone or the volume of my voice as I yell at this woman who is supposed to love and care for me. “Mother, what have you done? I am engaged to someone that makes me very happy. I have no desire to see John or anyone else from my past for that matter.”
“Oh Darling, quit being a drama queen. He only wants to see how you are doing. You are making a scene and embarrassing me. Sit down this instant.”
My eyes scan the crowd, hoping to God that they don’t fall on the one familiar face I had forgotten a long time ago. All I have to do is make it to my car and I can drive straight to Ren’s and safety. John never hit me or hurt me, except emotionally, but my experience with Jerry has me leery of anyone’s moods that can change so quickly if they don’t get what they want.
I don’t say another word to the woman who has become a stranger to me and walk quickly down the sidewalk toward my car. It is lunchtime and traffic is nonstop, so it takes me a minute to cross the street, but once inside my car, I breathe a little easier. I lock my doors, pull out into traffic and don’t bother looking in my mother’s direction as I pass the café. Glancing in my rearview mirror to change lanes, I see the face I had forgotten two and a half years ago staring back at me with malevolence in his eyes.
Chapter Twenty-two
Nightmare:
*a very unpleasant or frightening experience or prospect. *a frightening or unpleasant dream. *a person or situation that is very difficult to deal with.
~Savage~
“Savage speaking.”
“OhmyGodTroy, I’m afraid something has happened to Olivia. She asked me to watch Alex for two hours so she could meet with her mother in town but that was over five hours ago. She isn’t answering her phone or texting me back. I asked her not to go alone and even offered to go with and sit in the car, but she said she would be fine in a public place.”
“She left me a message saying she was going to Café Letti but not with whom. I assumed it was you and Tori. When I called her around two she didn’t answer so I thought she left her cell phone at home and would call me back. I am on my way home now, would you keep Alex a little longer until I can figure out what is going on, and please have Derek call me right away.” I hang up and call Jax.
“Hey, Mate, you miss me already?”
“Jax, we’ve got a problem. I need you to pull information on Estella Ann White, Livvy’s mother. I need current address and cell phone number if it’s listed.” I hear him typing away and know he will get me everything I need, no questions asked.
“What’s going on, Mate?”
Okay, so I was wrong about the no questions because he is a nosy bastard. When it comes to his personal life, he is a vault, but when it comes to everyone else he cares about, he’s Oprah. He’ll just dig and dig until you cave.
“Livvy went to meet her mother in town at noon and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. She hasn’t spoken to her mother since she told her she was pregnant and I am worried about her intentions toward Livvy and my son. I need to find her A.S.A.P.” I hear the click of his keyboard in the background and know he will have the information in a second.
“Maybe they just went shopping and she left her phone in the car. Maybe they just got caught up on catching up and she lost track of time. Here it is. I’ve got an address, home and cell, and place of work. I’ll text it to you now. I’ll call her work and see if they have any info on if and why she took time off. Do ya think that maybe you’re just paranoid, Mate? Our women do like to get together and socialize.”
“Here’s the problem with that thought: Livvy doesn’t talk to her mother since she abandoned her years ago; Livvy is not with Ren and Tori to socialize. Remember that time I called you in the middle of the night to see if things were okay with you?
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with this?”
“I told you I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, that someone I cared about was in trouble or suffering. Well, Livvy and I figured out that was the day she gave birth to my son. She went into labor at 2:00 a.m. and had Alex at 7:00 a.m. After I had called you, I wasn’t able to go back to sleep that night because that feeling didn’t go away. I have that same gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of my stomach that something is wrong.”
“Shit!”
“You make your calls; I’ll make mine. Call Derek and tell him we need help.” I hang up, and Jax’s text beeps through so I call her mom immediately. On three rings she finally picks up.
“John, is that you? Why didn’t you show up?”
“Estella, this is FBI Agent Troy Savage and I need to ask you some questions about your daughter Olivia. I understand you are
