Love in Darkness (Castles on the Sand 2)

Seven

My mom wandering off is not a new thing, but Hiroko is beside herself. “I’m sorry. I was folding laundry and then I realized it was quiet and I went looking for her. She’s not in the house.”

“It’s okay,” I tell her.

“It is?” She’s agitated. This is new to her, at least. “Does she have somewhere she usually goes?”

“Main Street.” Now I wonder if Kailie managed to distract me enough that I didn’t see my own mother heading the other way. Even if she was on the other side of the street, I should have noticed. Or maybe Mom passed by while I was talking to Kirsten. “Is she not answering her cell phone?”

“It’s on the kitchen counter.”

“Okay… um… if you call the police, I’ll start looking.”

“No, you call the police,” says Hiroko. “I’ll drive down to Wilkstone Road.” She darts upstairs to the back door.

I debate whether to call 911 or the non-emergency number, then remember that Officer Li gave me his card. I try his number first.

“Yep?” he answers.

“It’s Alex.”

“Hey, Alex.” He sounds happy to hear my voice. Weird.

“My mom’s missing.”

“Oh, since when?”

“I don’t know. Probably not longer than an hour.”

“Okay, I’ll head for Wilkstone. That’s her usual place, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So when I find her, what should I do? Talk to her first?”

“Right.”

“And if she’s scared? If she’s acting like I’m about to attack her?”

I lift an eyebrow. Who is this guy? The old Officer Li would just chuckle in amusement and head off to mock my mother and get her good and worked up before he hauled her off. Then he’d tell people around town the crazy things she’d said. It was real entertainment for him, or it had been.

“Hiroko’s on her way and she can usually deal with that.”

“All right, and do I bring her home to you or to the hospital?”

“Just home,” I say.

“Gotcha. Lemme go look for her. I’ll call you in a few.”

“Thanks.”

“De nada.” He hangs up.

Before I can even form a plan, the doorbell rings and I open it to find Madison with her arm around my mother. “Sorry,” says Madison. “I saw Hiroko driving the other way but I don’t have her cell phone number or yours. Grace, you okay or do you want me to stay with you for a minute?”

My mother looks up at her with trust and devotion, and I can’t help but be jealous that Madison gets a hug when I don’t. “I didn’t mean to wander off,” she says.

“I know you didn’t,” says Madison. “Everyone knows you didn’t. These things happen.”

“I was being chased.”

“I know.”

“But I couldn’t see them.” Just recounting this agitates my mother.

Madison pulls her in for another hug and pats her back. “I can’t imagine how scary that is.”

“You think I’m crazy?”

“I’d be terrified if that had happened to me. Come on, let’s get you inside.”