Her Escape

Chapter 17

I'll Kill You

"Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden." – Cormac McCarthy

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Lexie P.O.V

I desperately wish I was one of those people who could just turn off their emotions and pretend like nothing ever happened. But unfortunately, I had been cursed with the ability to care a little too much, and to this day, I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

It's how I found myself standing in front of a large office building in downtown Philly about to do something very very stupid.

After that night with Chase in the stairway, I went down a rabbit hole on the internet trying to find Brenda's mom. At first it proved to be nearly impossible because who knew there were so many fucking Jessica Manon's in fucking Philadelphia. But eventually, I narrowed it down and I stumbled on her LinkedIn page.

Turns out, Jessica Manon was an accounts payable specialist at some manufacturing firm not too far from the gym.

From that point on it was just a matter of me getting my ass down there and talking to her. I eventually mustered up enough courage last night after dinner when Olivia said Brenda hadn't been at school the past week. If I had to guess, it was because CPS had temporarily enrolled her in a new school closer to where her foster parents lived.

I contemplated telling Chase what I was going to do before I left, but I knew he would try and stop me. Instead, I told him I was taking a long break to have lunch with Scarlett. I would deal with the consequences of that small white lie later.

Making my way through the revolving doors and into the main lobby, I stopped right in front of the large circular reception desk. "Hi, could you please direct me towards Jessica Manon's office?"

"Do you have an appointment?" The guy in his early twenties lazily asked.

"No but –"

"You'll need to come back when you have an appointment." He quickly cut me off.

Gritting my teeth, I took a deep breath. "If you would just –"

"No appointment, no visit." He didn't bother waiting for me to respond again before he pressed a button on his headset and started talking.

Once it became evidently clear that I wasn't getting anywhere, I sighed in frustration and plopped down on the nearby bench. My plan wasn't exactly off to a great start so far, I thought as I glanced at the time on my phone. It was also getting late and I should probably be making my way back to the gym before Chase noticed I was gone too long. However, I couldn't bring myself to stand up and leave. I was so close! I couldn't just walk away now. I figured she'd have to leave her office eventually, what would another twenty or thirty minutes be?

I would deal with the consequences later.

Twenty or thirty minutes quickly turned into an hour and a half before I spotted Brenda's mom coming out of the elevator. The receptionist continued to eye me skeptically as I stood up and called out, "Mrs. Manon?"

"Yes?" She looked up frazzled, her thick black hair falling down past her shoulders in waves.

"I –" Okay Lexie, now is not the time to freeze, I thought to myself. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'm sorry but I'm running late." She quickly replied, pushing past me. Her piercing blue eyes were cast down to the ground as she began digging through her purse.