Final Mend by Angela Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

daughter safe.”
    “No.” Jake’s bristly voice pricked her skin. “Lillian isn’t like that.”
    “Let’s not forget Amy’s father was murdered, maybe even right in front of her. A mother’s first mission would be to comfort her child, protect her child, hide her child. Maybe whoever killed your cousin is looking for Amy, and her mother hid her away for safekeeping. Maybe she wants the men who did this to think her daughter is dead. And if that’s not the case, you should probably take your eyes off this woman and focus on whoever would kill your cousin. Because they are the ones who probably have Amy.”
    Jake didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. Just watching him and his movements, she knew she’d never be able to make him see reason. He was convinced the child’s mother was involved, and nothing she said would change his mind. She had seen evil and knew a woman was capable of murdering her only child, but if Jake didn’t give her all the facts, no way could she ever track this child, much less find her alive.
    “You should know about my last investigation,” Winona said. “After you hear it, you’ll probably wish you’d never wasted your time on me.”
    She paused. His face did not soften. He watched her with a steady gaze. She bit down on her emotions. This was the time to remain apathetic.
    “I tracked a girl for thirteen weeks and found her dead,” she said. “She died two days before I found her. Raped and brutalized.” Winona closed her eyes, picturing blue clouds and rainbows as remorse hit her with a gale-force wind. She clenched her teeth and thought of birds flying in those clouds, across a clear-blue sky, urging out the memory of Hannah.
    Opening her eyes, her gaze landed on Jake, but his face was fuzzy through her tears. Her throat burned as the charred ashes of her memories ripped across her internal scars.
    “It was a few weeks after I lost my mom to cancer. My focus wasn’t a hundred percent. After all, the police were looking, too, but the family hired me to help. I never should have taken the job. I still had so much to do with my mom’s stuff and had barely started the grieving process. I wasn’t quick enough. I took it for granted that I’d never tracked anyone who died. All my investigations ended successfully. But not this one. The little girl died.”
    “You weren’t quick enough,” he repeated. “Kind of like now.”
    Her eyes widened, her blood shot out of her. She felt her face paling under his glare that had softened with regret as soon as he uttered the words.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry. Shit.” He leaned back in his chair and brushed his hand over his tired face. “It wasn’t your fault. You have to know that.”
    “You know as well as I do that it was all my fault. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said what you said.”
    He dropped his hands and looked at her. “I only said what I said to be a jerk.”
    “You succeeded quite well.”
    He smiled, but the dip in his cheeks didn’t flash to his eyes.
    “There was a whole slew of investigators searching for that girl,” he continued. “If they hadn’t hired you, the body might have never been found.”
    “Really? Overworked and underpaid investigators who have hundreds of missing children cases a year. Is that why you’re putting your trust in them?”
    Jake stood so abruptly he knocked the chair to the floor. It crashed with a loud bang and buzzed through the condo, venting its anxiety after absorbing the tension in the room.
    “We’re wasting time now,” Jake said.
    “I’ll make some phone calls and see what I can find out, and I’ll let you know what I decide. I still recommend you hire someone else. I can’t devote a hundred percent of my time, and if you want a field investigator to help in the search, you need someone besides me. Too much time has already passed as it is. We can only hope her mother has her and she’s in safe hands.”
    Jake’s look turned sour. “If her