His smile is small as he gets lost in his memories. “Yeah, not a lot, but a little. She was my shining star, my baby girl. I came tonight to remember her. She and my son have been missing for months.” The raw pain in his eyes isn’t something you can fake.
Fuck, my chest hurts.
Before I can tell him that I’m sorry or that I hope he can reunite with them soon—something someone would say who doesn’t know where his kids are—Maribel speaks up.
“Oh, I’ve told you, you need to move on,” his new wife basically scolds him, slapping his upper arm with her bejeweled fingers, albeit with a little chuckle, like it’s all in good humor. I’m not sure what she finds funny.
“Move on?” I tilt my head her way, and she looks at me, a small smile on her face. Sly, almost like a fox.
“Yes, move on. We need to start traveling. Forget about them.”
“Forget about them?” both Colin and I say in unison before looking at each other. I see it then with undeniable certainty, the immense sadness in his eyes. Deep remorse for losing them. I know for sure he’ll want them back, want them in his lives. But then Maribel speaks.
“Nothing but trouble. They left. We can’t find them. They’re ungrateful,” she says flippantly.
“I never lose hope that they’ll come back.” He gives me a forced smile. “So I bought one of Tanner’s finest bottles tonight, one I can keep to open with my daughter when I see her again.”
“What would you do if they turned up tomorrow?” I ask him, but I watch her. Her eyes burn holes into me; she might as well be throwing flames.
“I would give up everything to have them back. I haven’t been a great father. Not for a few years anyway. I have my faults. But I’ll make it up to them,” he admits. I want to dig deeper, see what he might say about Preston, but Maribel interjects once again.
“Well, they don’t want to be found. We’ve looked everywhere. Even in the deepest forests,” Maribel says, and something about the way she says it has me looking back at her with intensity.
“Forests?” I bite out, jaw clenched tight as my heart stutters.
“Yeah, you know, there are little cottages hidden all among those types of places. I’ve left no stone unturned.”
My phone rings, and I pull it out, hands shaking as I see the number.
“Excuse me,” I say to them and hold up the phone.
“We need to get going. Pleasure to meet you,” Colin says politely, and I watch them turn to leave as I pick up the call.
“Tinker?” I breathe out, already worried.
“Sutton… Maribel…” is all I hear, her voice sounding slurred and breathless before the line goes dead.
I stand in shock for a second. My feet unmoving, my heart rate escalating. She sounds off. Something is wrong, wrong, wrong. I look at my cell again, like it can tell me something more, and then I realize she called from the satellite phone and I start to fully panic.
“What is it?” Sawyer’s right at my side. I look up and around, feverishly scanning the crowd for the couple who were just here a moment ago.
“Where are they?” I demand, starting to gather interest from the people around me, but I don’t care.
“Who?” Tanner asks as he strides over.
“Where’s Colin Titan?” My head whips from side to side, and finally, I spot Colin and Maribel as they’re walking out the door.
“Hey!” I shout, dodging waiters as I stomp through the crowd, almost bowling over the wine guy I wanted to talk to in my rush to chase them down.
“Fuck!” I hiss as I see them now outside, almost to their car, and I start to sprint, my brother following, my security team on our heels.
“Stop! Don’t leave!” I yell again, my heart lurching from my chest as the party continues inside. I feel nothing as the cold night air hits my face, my eyes blazing on the one woman I know can tell me something.
“I said stop!” I catch them just before they get to their waiting car. Colin pauses and spins around to look at me as I see Maribel pushing him to get in the car.
“What have you done?” I seethe at her, and she pauses, her body tensing for a moment. Then she takes a step forward, and for a split second, her smile gets bigger, before she feigns mock shock.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, her voice sickly sweet.
