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There certainly wasn't anything in my hand that led me to believe otherwise.
What the hell was I doing here?
I was risking my life for a woman who might have been good to me for a while but had disappeared without a trace, leaving me to be raised by a man who wasn't even my father. No wonder my dad had fallen apart when he'd realized the depth of her betrayal.
As I thought about my dad not being my biological father, I couldn't help but wonder about Ian Holden.Was Ian Holden my father?
The timing fit, but the description Rachel had given me of my bio dad being a dangerous man did not. Or maybe I didn't know Ian any better than anyone else.
Was it just a coincidence that he'd shown up in San Francisco a month before my mother was shot?Maybe he was the one who'd shot her. Or he was the one who'd hired someone to do it, to try to kill her, to grab me. He had money and connections. He worked at universities; he probably had access to plenty of students who could guide him onto the dark web or wherever people went to hire hitmen.
A buzzing in my pocket made me slip the stones back into the pouch as I grabbed my phone.
"Hello?" I said.
"Ms. Landry? This is Nurse Miller from St. Mary's. I have good news. Your mother is awake, and she's asking for you."
My heart flipped over. "That is good news, because I really want to see her, too. I'll be down there as soon as I can."
I ended the call, then took the pouch and the metal box into the house. I debated where to put them. I couldn't just leave the box on the table, so I took everything upstairs and buried the box under a pile of clothing. I went back into the bedroom to grab a jacket.
As I put it on, I had second thoughts about the stones. I went back into the closet and removed the velvet pouch from the box. I took out the emerald ring and slipped it into the inside zippered pocket of my jacket. I wanted something to put in front of my mother to force her to tell me the truth. I was about to put the pouch back into the box when I thought it might be smarter to separate the items.
Debating for another moment, I took the pouch into the bedroom and looked for a better hiding place. There were several holes still in the walls. I'd covered some with the pictures that had originally hung in those spots. It seemed doubtful that someone would look where they'd already looked, so I took down the painting over the bed and tucked the pouch into the broken wall, then replaced the painting.
As I stepped back, I thought I should probably just take everything to the police station on my way to the hospital, but I wanted to talk to my mother before the police took over, and I probably only had a short window of time in which to do that.
I grabbed my bag and jogged down the stairs. When I headed outside, there was no sign of Kade's motorcycle. Who knew where he was now? He could be anywhere. He had a lot of anger to ride off. I sent him a quick text that my mother was awake, and I was heading to the hospital. He didn't answer by the time I'd gotten in the car and started the engine. He was probably still on the road. I wanted to tell him what I'd found, but I didn't want to leave it in a text, so I set down my phone and headed to St. Mary's. I felt more optimistic on this drive to the hospital than any other.
I couldn't wait to talk to my mother about what I'd found. She wouldn't be able to lie to me, not with the proof in my pocket. I was finally going to get the truth. I just hoped she wouldn't get so agitated that the doctor would kick me out again. I'd have to approach things as calmly as I could, which wouldn't be easy, because adrenaline was racing through my body.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced down at the console to see Dani's number. We hadn't talked since she'd hung up on me the night before. I needed to speak to her, but not right this second. I couldn't get into a long conversation now when I was about to turn in to the hospital parking lot. I'd call her back after I spoke to our mother. Hopefully, I'd finally have a complete story to tell her.
The parking lot was crowded, so I had to park on the top floor of the parking structure. Too impatient to take the elevator, I raced down the stairs. I was nearing the ground level when I heard someone coming down behind me, moving fast, making a lot of noise. I was about to turn around when I felt an enormous weight come down on my head. I tumbled down the last few steps as pain ripped through me, along with the fatalistic thought that I wasn't going to get away this time.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
I don't knowhow long I was out but as I became aware of noises around me, I realized that I was still alive—at least, for now. I was laying on something hard and cold.
As I opened my eyes, pain swept through me, made worse by the light coming through the slits in the blinds above me. I squinted as my eyes tried to focus through the throbbing ache that seemed to get worse with each breath, each beat of my heart.
I heard someone crying. As I tried to sit up, I realized my hands were tied behind my back. It took me a minute to roll over, but I managed to get onto my side. I was in a storage room. There were dusty shelves filled with Bibles. I blinked at that odd realization. There were also boxes of candles and pamphlets, some music stands and containers that smelled like incense.
My gaze moved across the room, stopping abruptly when it came to the figure lying on the floor across from me. My heart skipped a beat. Her hands were tied, and there was a blindfold around her eyes, but I knew her like I knew myself.
"Dani," I said, finding new energy to get onto my knees and scoot across the floor. "Oh, my God! How did you get here?"
"Brynn?" she asked between sobs as she rolled over onto her back.
"It's me. What happened?"
"I don't know. I was grocery shopping. I put the bags in the back of the car and then someone hit me over the head. I woke up, blindfolded, in the trunk of a car. I was there for hours. Then some guy carried me in here and dropped me on the floor. Where are we? Can you see anything?"
"Yes. We're in a storage room. It kind of feels like we're in a church. There are shelves with
Bibles and candles."
"A church? How can we be in a church?"
