Sonia chewed on her lip, briefly meeting her mother’s anxious gaze before glancing away again. For several minutes they continued pushing their food around their plates in silence, before Sonia cleared her throat. ”Okay kids, run along and play while Grandma and I clean up the kitchen. We can watch a movie together after that.”
“You’re shaking like a leaf,” Evelyn muttered, the minute the kids hightailed it out of the kitchen. “Are you all right?”
Sonia leaned over the sink, feeling as if she was about to throw up everything she’d just eaten. “It brings back bad memories, that’s all.” Snapping out of it, she turned to her mother. ”But, this isn’t about me. Do you think I should report what Henry said to the authorities?”
Evelyn set down the tumblers she was holding with a sigh. ”It might come to that, but we should think this through carefully. With Ray in the state he’s in, Child Protective Services will put Henry in a foster home until they get to the bottom of things. I can’t bear the thought of Celia’s grandson winding up in the system—that never ends well.”
”What choice do we have? We can’t control what they end up doing with him.” Sonia folded her arms in front of her. “It’s not like we can foster him. I have a business to run, and you have your hands full already helping out with Jessica.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes. “I’m not naïve enough to think I can run after a four-year-old at my age. I just meant we have to be sure of our facts. Neglected children sometimes say things to get the attention they crave. We need to figure out if Henry’s telling the truth, and who he’s talking about. The police are going to need more information—evidence.”
“Whoever he was talking about, it’s obvious he’s afraid of him,” Sonia replied. “If it’s Ray, we need to act before he’s discharged from the hospital. We can’t risk him taking off with Henry in the middle of the night. If he finds out Henry’s been saying things, he might load up his truck and disappear with him.”
Evelyn rubbed a mottled hand over her brow. “Who else could he have been talking about?”
Sonia shrugged. “I don’t know. What if Ray’s wife was having an affair? Maybe her boyfriend was violent. He could have been the one who put his hands around her throat. Ray might have abducted Henry to keep him safe. His own horrific childhood would be enough to drive him to do something this drastic.”
“If that’s the case, we need to help Ray,” Evelyn said, a worried tone in her voice. ”If he can’t remember anything, then he won’t remember why he took Henry away from his wife in the first place. She might take advantage of the situation to get him back.”
The trill of Sonia’s phone cut into their conversation. ”I’d better get that,” she said, hurriedly drying her hands. “It could be the hospital. I gave them my number in case they needed to get a hold of me.” She reached for her phone which she’d left plugged in on the counter. “Hello, Masterton Design.”
“It’s me,” a gruff voice answered.
Sonia’s heart sank like a lead weight. Finn’s voice sounded distant and gravelly, as if he’d been drinking. The last thing she wanted to do was put Jessica on the phone with him when he was belligerent, but she would be devastated if she found out her father had called and Sonia hadn’t let her know. No doubt he was calling to apologize for missing Jessica’s eighth birthday last month. He’d have the same old excuse as always—he’d been off on some classified mission in some dangerous part of the globe and unable to call home.
Fighting to keep her frustration in check, she said in a clipped tone, ”I’ll fetch Jessica.” Without waiting for his response, she set her phone on the counter and mouthed to her mother, it’s Finn.
Evelyn flattened her lips and turned away to begin loading the dishwasher. She didn’t approve of Sonia allowing Jessica to talk to her father at all. But Sonia knew that one day her daughter might hold that against her. She was of the firm opinion that Jess would realize herself before too long what an utter waste of time her relationship with her father was—if you could even call it a relationship.
Giddy at the news that her dad was on the phone, Jessica skipped her way down the hall to the kitchen, face aglow. Sonia followed close behind holding Henry by the hand. She sat him down at the kitchen table and gave him a cookie, then made a show of wiping down the counters while unobtrusively trying to listen in on the conversation between Jessica and Finn. Jessica always got upset if she put the phone on speaker, or made it obvious she was listening in, so she was stuck with a one-sided conversation.
“Grandma made me a chocolate cake for my birthday with raspberries on top … uh-huh … uh-huh. I got an “A” for my art project … yup … I know … when are you coming home on leave? No, not really … Mrs. Jenkins died and some new people moved in. Well—“ She broke off and shot a furtive glance Sonia’s way before darting to the door. ”I need some privacy,” she called over her shoulder.
Sonia bit back her frustration, deciding against going after her. It would only make Jessica dig in her heels. Instead, she pulled out a broom and began sweeping the floor while her mother sat
