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Janie inhaled a shaky breath and wiped her face again. “You’re right. I just—I’m so embarrassed, Macy. I’ve never broken the law in my life, and now I'm being accused of trying to kill my children and of stealing from my hospital and transporting drugs.”
“Everyone who knows you knows it’s a lie,” I insisted. “You’re a good person, Janie. All of your coworkers support you. They don’t believe any of that nonsense about you stealing drugs from work.”
“I didn’t,” she said, even though she didn’t need to convince me. “I would have to override so many different access codes to get into the medications. I’m being framed.”
“I’m sure you are, and tomorrow, when we meet with the lawyer, you can tell them all of this.” I gripped her hand. “We’re going to clear your name, and you’re going to get Colt, Hannah, and Daisy back.”
“Have you seen them?” she asked, her lip wobbling again. “Are they okay?”
“I saw them this morning. Their social worker lets me visit them at the park near your mom’s place. She says I’m going to be cleared soon, and I won’t have restrictions anymore.”
“I miss them so much. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. All I do is think about their little faces and how hard they were crying when the police took me away.”
“I know,” I said, my heart breaking all over again. “But they’re doing really well. Your mom is great with them.”
“Do they understand what’s happening?”
“Colt does,” I said, thinking of my little brother. “He knows you were arrested and are in jail but that we’re fighting to get you home. Hannah thinks you’re on a work trip.” At Janie’s frown, I explained, “Your mom told her that, and I didn’t think it was my place to correct her.”
“No, you’re right. It’s probably better if she thinks I’m on a trip.” She swallowed hard. “What about Daisy?”
“She’s her same sweet little self. She’s crawling all over the place, and Sharon said she started sleeping through the night again.”
“Good,” Janie said with a nod. “That’s good.”
Nervous about hanging out in this parking lot much longer, I asked, “Do you want to go to the place we’ll be staying at or do you want to get something to eat?”
“I’d like to go home. Wherever that is now,” she clarified with a sad expression.
“West U,” I said and clicked my seatbelt into the latch. “It’s on Bellaire.”
“Macy,” she said warily.
“I know.” I avoided her disapproving stare. “But they offered, and we needed the help.”
She didn’t say anything else as we drove to the address on the key tag Artyom had given me. I had been expecting a duplex or townhouse, but it was a white stone cottage with a fenced yard. There was a park and playground just down the street, and I could easily imagine Colt and Hannah on the swings while Daisy played in the sandbox.
I didn’t say that, though. I didn’t want to upset Janie. It was hard enough for me to be separated from my siblings. I couldn’t even begin to understand what she was suffering from being torn away from her children. It was cruel and wrong, and I silently prayed that she would get them back as soon as possible.
I couldn’t open the garage door without the opener so I parked in the driveway for now. After I unlocked the front door, we stepped inside and I shut off the alarm using the code on the back of the tag. At first glance, it was clear this was intended to be used as an Airbnb or furnished rental. It had a lovely, homey feeling with lots of natural light and cozy furniture. There were pops of color here and there, but nothing too loud or busy.
“We’ll need to get groceries,” Janie said as she opened the kitchen cabinets. “And I’ve got to get my clothes from Mom.”
“I can get them on my way to work tonight and bring them back with me.” It would add an hour to my drive, but I didn’t see any way around it. “Do you need anything else? Medicine? Toiletries?”
“Yes.” Janie rubbed her face. “Everything should still be at Mom’s house. I’m not sure what we’re going to do about money.”
“We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” I could see that she was about to spiral and wanted to head it off. “Let’s meet with the lawyer first. We’ll know where we stand after that.”
“Yeah.” Janie agreed with a slight nod. Then, nervously, she asked, “Have you heard from your father?”
“No. It’s like he vanished.”
Janie bit her lower lip. “Do you think something happened to him? Like maybe someone made him vanish?”
I knew what she was asking without actually saying the words. “I honestly don’t know. He owes a lot of money around town. Not just to the Albanian sharks where he usually gambles, either.” Unable to tell her I had been working at Pink Paradise, I lied and said, “A man came by Whataburger the other night looking for Dad. His name was Sean Leung. He’s—.”
“Teddy Leung’s brother,” Janie interrupted with a horrified gasp. “What the hell kind of trouble is Burt in now?”
