“You didn’t talk to her when you dropped off her stuff?” John sounded shocked.
“No. You made it clear we couldn’t talk to her without you present.” I chose not to be offended that he thought I’d circumvent his rules. “And I wanted to talk to you before telling her what we found.”
“So she doesn’t know about this?” Jamie indicated the key and note.
“No, and I’m not looking forward to telling her we had to cut open her bear to retrieve them.”
“I don’t envy you that job,” Jamie said.
“You don’t think she noticed?” Jay asked with a laugh.
“I sewed him back up.”
I could handle her wrath; it was her tears I dreaded. Ignoring my cousin’s good natured ribbing, I reassured John, “I don’t want to cause her any more stress than necessary, so I don’t plan on dumping everything in her lap.”
“What will you tell her?”
“The truth. We found a key and a note. And I’ll ask if there’s anything about them that feels familiar or sparks a memory.”
“Dude, she was three when she was adopted. I doubt she remembers anything,” Jay said. He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t appreciate his attitude.
Even those of us with stable, happy childhoods would struggle to remember our infancy, and Nina’s early years were anything but happy or stable.
“I know, but I’ve learned we can’t rule anything out. Nina may know more than she realizes, and the right item could spark her memory.”
I looked at the key and note in their plastic bags, hoping they could perform a miracle while knowing deep down they couldn’t.
“I’ll get to work on my search. Are you working here until Nina gets off work?”
“Is that an offer?”
“Yes,” John answered. “I’ll have Doug set you up in here.”
“Thank you.”
“I never would’ve predicted I’d be working a case with you, but I’m glad we can help.”
I shook John’s proffered hand.
“The team is at your disposal when they aren’t working their current assignments.”
“Thank you, they all know to keep this quiet and only use secure servers, right?”
“If you keep insulting them, they’ll be a hell of a lot less friendly when they help you,” John answered.
“Right. Sorry. I usually work with highly trained officers or untrained civilians; I’m not used to working with highly trained civilians.”
“Get used to it.”
“Yes, sir.” I saluted.
“Don’t call me sir,” he said with a grin.
Chapter 31
Nina
I’d babysat for Beth for four years, worked at Grannie’s for two, and yet, prior to this week, I’d never visited the SSI office.Now I’ve been here twice.
