What If

31. Five Large

Seattle/Tacoma Airport
9:45pm Thursday July 23rd

I tapped on the steering wheel of my car impatiently. I didn't get back to Seattle until seven. I tried Lydia's cell phone repeatedly and got nowhere with that. Calling her brother was for the best and I was lucky he was available to fly here. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw him exit the double doors under the Southwest Airlines sign. He hurried to my car, putting his bag on the backseat before getting in the front.

"Sean, please explain what the hell is going on. Where is Lydia?"

I followed the signs for the airport exit as I tried to explain. "You know how she wanted to find her mom, right?"

"Yes."

"We had one lead to someone who had been arrested in Washington. We went there and no luck. She took that pretty hard. Then, my assistant was able to find another lead to, ah, someone who was brought into the morgue."

I didn't have to look at Michael to see that he was now staring at me in shock. "What?! The morgue? Was-- was it her?"

When I didn't answer right away, Michael cursed under his breath. "I know the kind of life she lived, but I still can't believe it." He rubbed his face before he looked over at me again. "I'm assuming since you bought me a first-class ticket to Seattle, a place I swore to never come again, Lydia has taken off?"

"Yes," I said as we pulled into the hotel Lydia and I were staying at.

He stopped and frowned at me when I walked past the front desk without checking in. "Sean, I need to get a room."

"It's okay. You can stay in Lydia's."

His brother seemed even more confused as he followed me to the elevators. "You have separate rooms? I just thought that..."

I knew where he was going with this. "We are. Together, that is. But it's recent. The night you saw us at the food festival was our real first date."

He winced at the memory. "I regret that night."

I gave him Lydia's key and invited him to my room so we could talk. He sat at the table and let out a long breath. "Please, tell me everything. Start from the beginning. With you guys. Contrary to popular belief, I know my sister. The more information I have, the more chance we have to find her."

If circumstances were different, I wouldn't divulge information. But, there was a bigger threat here than Lydia's anger. "We met in the middle of the night on July 4th."

"Where?" He pressed when I didn't continue.

I closed my eyes as I said, "The George Washington Bridge. In New York."

By the sharp intake of his breath, Michael knew exactly what I was saying. "Then?" He asked, his voice raspier, as if picturing Lydia on that bridge was too much.

"I took her for coffee. I was on my way to Atlantic City to clear my head. It was the anniversary of my parents death and I wasn't taking it well. I had a suite there and I...invited her along."

"She actually went?" He asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, I was surprised, too. I think we both just needed a friend."

"So, how did you guys end up in San Francisco?"

He listened while I explained what happened in Atlantic City. He laughed when I told him how happy she was when she won that money. How she still insisted on paying me back. I explained James showing up and us leaving, with our new plan to travel. I explained introducing her to Japanese food, and our trips through multiple museums. I told him how she was afraid to cross The Mile-High Bridge and that got a chuckle out of both of us. He thought that me getting us lost in the park was hysterical.