Page 44 of Her Forever SEAL

“Think about it. They give Mrs. Bowman pictures of Bree and say, you do something, or we kill her. So she definitely does whatever they ask. That’s leverage.”

“Just like they say to my mom, you do something or they kill Brady?”

“Same thing.” Kayla nodded.

“Kayla, what do I do?”

“We get my mom to help you.”

“No! I don’t know what they’ve said to my mom, but I’m sure they’ve said not to get the military or police involved.”

“And my mom is just my mom. She’s not military or the police.”

Mandy searched Kayla’s face. “Then what can she do?”

“She’s already doing it. My aunts run a security firm. They’re trying to find out where Bree really is.”

Mandy’s eyes went wide. “They know that Bree was kidnapped?”

Kayla nodded.

“We need to get our moms talking. I promise, my mom won’t do anything that will get Brady hurt.”

“Okay,” Mandy nodded. “I’ll talk to her.”

There was a knock on the window. Then the door opened and Cat peeked into the room. “Is the drama over with? I mean a girl can only pee so long.”

Kayla laughed, and to her surprise, so did Mandy.

13

Sophia had been to Peggy Kowalski's house exactly twice. Once for a neighborhood gathering two years ago, and once to drop off a birthday cake for Dan that Peggy had special-ordered from the bakery. She knew the street, knew the house. It was a comfortable ranch-style on a corner lot with a basketball hoop in the driveway and a ball sitting in the middle of the concrete like Brady had just stepped inside for a minute.

She looked at that basketball as she parked.

Then she got out of the car and went to the door.

Peggy answered before she knocked. She'd been watching from the window. She was holding it together like she’d decided falling apart was not an option. Sophia admired that.

“Sophia.” She stepped back. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course.”

Lettie was at the kitchen table.

In front of her was a shot glass, full to the rim. Beside it, a bottle of Smirnoff, cap off. Her hands were wrapped around the shot glass without lifting it, her knuckles white.

She looked up when Sophia came in. Her eyes were so exhausted it almost hurt to look at them.

“I haven't had any vodka yet,” she said. Like that was the most important thing to establish. “I just needed it there.”

“Okay.” Sophia pulled out the chair across from her and sat.

Lettie looked at her for a long moment. Then she said, “You knew something was wrong that very first day at the coffee shop. How?”

“I've been where you are,” Sophia said simply. “A long time ago. So I knew.”

Lettie looked up at Peggy, who gave her a nod of encouragement.