left Billy
somewhere else, hiding her tracks even more.
“Or maybe she just abandoned you because you were too much damn trouble,” I
muttered, disgusted with myself for the stupid fantasy. Odds were, my mom had known nothing
whatsoever about the Olympians. I couldn’t fathom why she was so desperate to get rid of me—I
didn’t become a hellion until I started living in foster care—but there is, sadly, no shortage of
women who abandon their children, one way or another. There was no reason to believe my own
mother wasn’t just one more.
EIGHT
I felt even more tired now than I had before I’d taken my unintentional nap. I brewed a
pot of the terrible in-room coffee, made even more terrible by non-dairy creamer. Then I took
another shower, hoping it would clear my head.
It didn’t.
Afterward, I reluctantly turned my phone back on and checked messages. As I’d
expected, Anderson had tried calling back a couple of times, though he hadn’t left any voice
mails. Also as expected, I had a couple of messages from Steph, wondering where the hell I was
and why I wasn’t calling her back. Her third message revealed that her slight concern was well
on its way to becoming full-out worry.
“Nikki. I talked to Jim, and he said you ducked out early last night. No one has seen or
heard from you since. Please call me back as soon as you get this. If I don’t hear from you soon,
I’m going to call the police. Please call.”
I winced in guilt as I heard the quaver in my sister’s voice. It wasn’t like me not to return
phone calls, and after what must have seemed like a somewhat mysterious exit from the
restaurant last night, I couldn’t blame Steph for being worried. I might not run into the kind of
daily danger that cops did, but my profession was not without its risks. She’d probably come up
with a boatload of worst-case scenarios already. I prayed to God she hadn’t gotten worried
enough to try to call the Glasses yet. Surely she wouldn’t interrupt their cruise unless she were
certain there was something wrong. At least, I hoped not.
Knowing I could put it off no longer, I put on my big-girl panties and called Steph’s
house. She answered on the first ring, like she’d been hovering over the phone willing me to call.
Maybe she had.
“Oh, thank God!” she said in lieu of a greeting, then immediately burst into tears.
Another wave of guilt rolled over me, even as I was momentarily annoyed at the
melodrama. Steph bursts into tears at the drop of a hat. Which is probably healthier than my stoic
reserve, but it gets on my nerves anyway.
In a lot of ways, it’s a minor miracle that Steph and I are so close, seeing as we’re polar
opposites. Steph is a true blond bombshell, the kind that makes anyone with a Y chromosome
start drooling. She’s perky as hell, and everyone seems to like her. She’d always run with the
popular clique at school—naturally, she’d been a cheerleader—but she’d been friendly with just
about everyone, even the kids at whom cheerleaders traditionally looked down their noses. Steph
may have been a card-carrying member of the popular crowd, but behind the frothy façade, she
had a backbone of steel. No amount of peer pressure was going to make her be cruel to people
who were outside her usual social circle. And heaven help anyone who dared to be cruel to her
adopted little sister, even when said little sister made being an outsider a point of pride.
“I’m sorry I worried you,” I told Steph as she fought to control her tears. I hadn’t yet
figured out what I was going to tell her—if I’d waited until I dreamed up the perfect explanation,
I’d never have gotten around to calling—but I knew I had to come up with something fast.
“I’m fine,” I continued. “I promise. Not a scratch on me. But I was in a car accident last
night.”
“What?” she shrieked, and I had to hold the phone away from my ear.
“I’m
somewhere else, hiding her tracks even more.
“Or maybe she just abandoned you because you were too much damn trouble,” I
muttered, disgusted with myself for the stupid fantasy. Odds were, my mom had known nothing
whatsoever about the Olympians. I couldn’t fathom why she was so desperate to get rid of me—I
didn’t become a hellion until I started living in foster care—but there is, sadly, no shortage of
women who abandon their children, one way or another. There was no reason to believe my own
mother wasn’t just one more.
EIGHT
I felt even more tired now than I had before I’d taken my unintentional nap. I brewed a
pot of the terrible in-room coffee, made even more terrible by non-dairy creamer. Then I took
another shower, hoping it would clear my head.
It didn’t.
Afterward, I reluctantly turned my phone back on and checked messages. As I’d
expected, Anderson had tried calling back a couple of times, though he hadn’t left any voice
mails. Also as expected, I had a couple of messages from Steph, wondering where the hell I was
and why I wasn’t calling her back. Her third message revealed that her slight concern was well
on its way to becoming full-out worry.
“Nikki. I talked to Jim, and he said you ducked out early last night. No one has seen or
heard from you since. Please call me back as soon as you get this. If I don’t hear from you soon,
I’m going to call the police. Please call.”
I winced in guilt as I heard the quaver in my sister’s voice. It wasn’t like me not to return
phone calls, and after what must have seemed like a somewhat mysterious exit from the
restaurant last night, I couldn’t blame Steph for being worried. I might not run into the kind of
daily danger that cops did, but my profession was not without its risks. She’d probably come up
with a boatload of worst-case scenarios already. I prayed to God she hadn’t gotten worried
enough to try to call the Glasses yet. Surely she wouldn’t interrupt their cruise unless she were
certain there was something wrong. At least, I hoped not.
Knowing I could put it off no longer, I put on my big-girl panties and called Steph’s
house. She answered on the first ring, like she’d been hovering over the phone willing me to call.
Maybe she had.
“Oh, thank God!” she said in lieu of a greeting, then immediately burst into tears.
Another wave of guilt rolled over me, even as I was momentarily annoyed at the
melodrama. Steph bursts into tears at the drop of a hat. Which is probably healthier than my stoic
reserve, but it gets on my nerves anyway.
In a lot of ways, it’s a minor miracle that Steph and I are so close, seeing as we’re polar
opposites. Steph is a true blond bombshell, the kind that makes anyone with a Y chromosome
start drooling. She’s perky as hell, and everyone seems to like her. She’d always run with the
popular clique at school—naturally, she’d been a cheerleader—but she’d been friendly with just
about everyone, even the kids at whom cheerleaders traditionally looked down their noses. Steph
may have been a card-carrying member of the popular crowd, but behind the frothy façade, she
had a backbone of steel. No amount of peer pressure was going to make her be cruel to people
who were outside her usual social circle. And heaven help anyone who dared to be cruel to her
adopted little sister, even when said little sister made being an outsider a point of pride.
“I’m sorry I worried you,” I told Steph as she fought to control her tears. I hadn’t yet
figured out what I was going to tell her—if I’d waited until I dreamed up the perfect explanation,
I’d never have gotten around to calling—but I knew I had to come up with something fast.
“I’m fine,” I continued. “I promise. Not a scratch on me. But I was in a car accident last
night.”
“What?” she shrieked, and I had to hold the phone away from my ear.
“I’m
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