Page 33 of One Cry Too Loud (Coastal Crime Unit #9)

W e found ourselves standing in front of a quaint little home on the outskirts of Dorset much quicker than I’d imagined.

Somehow, I’d thought of this place as one of the most sprawling areas in the world.

Maybe it was the way Holly had always described it; as an endless thing that was impossible to escape from.

In reality, the area was cozy. It was the sort of place I could have seen myself raising a family, if that wasn’t the sort of thing that was behind me.

Looking over at the eccentric woman, I watched much of the pretense she had been carrying melt away.

In doing so, I realized that, while justified, much of the anger she had been showcasing was something of a shield.

If she was upset, she didn’t have to focus on how afraid she was.

And from the look of her, she was scared to death.

“You don’t have to come inside if you don’t want to,” I said.

I was on one side of Holly. Kat was on the other, and Joe was on the other side of me.

While it was pretty clear that we were wrong about him being Nefarious, he had hurt Holly deeply, and I thought it was in everyone’s best interest to keep him at a little more than arm’s distance.

“I do,” she said, nodding firmly with her eyes, as teary as I’d ever seen them, locked onto the house.

“You don’t,” Kat said, agreeing with me. “We’ve done this before, Holly. Whatever information your parents have to give us, we can get on our own. There’s a little cafe just down the street. You can wait there. Joe can come with us.”

“I don’t mind,” Joe said, a half whisper.

“You’ve been through a lot the last few days,” I added. “A lot of old wounds have been reopened. You shouldn’t have to put yourself through-”

“I am going through it, though, Jack,” she said.

“And I have been going through it for years. Honestly, I’ve never known a moment of true peace since the second I gave that little girl up.

” She took a deep breath. “I don’t regret it.

I meant to give her a life I couldn’t provide for her, and up until recently, I did just that, but I also ran.

I ran away from the problems I created and my responsibility in them.

” She looked over at Joe. “I blame Joe for a lot of what happened, but the truth is that I’m not blameless either.

I may have been young, but so was he. He might have made some terrible choices and pushed me to do some risky things, but I made similar choices, and I’m not stupid.

I knew the risks of what I was doing and I did it anyway.

” She nodded again. “Yes. I did it to impress a boy who I thought was cool, who I thought loved me, but I also did it because I never had any other kind of love in my life. Ever since my sister died, even since my parents emotionally cut me off, I think I’ve been looking for love and acceptance.

That search got me thrown in prison, but it also brought me to the only family I’ve known since my sister’s death. ”

She looked at Kat and I.

“That’s why you don’t have to do this,” Kat answered. “We can do it for you, because we’re family.”

“And who would that make me?” Holly asked.

“I am a strong, competent, impressive woman. I’m not running away from this, not again, not anymore.

” She looked down. “Hell, maybe there are pieces of my relationship with my parents that I need to take responsibility for too. Maybe there will be some healing in this, but whatever happens, I’m done letting this dark cloud hang over me, and I refuse to let it affect my daughter.

If they know where Cindy is, by God, they are going to tell me.

” She pointed at herself. “Me! Because I gave birth to that girl, because I deserve to know, and because I’ll demand it. ”

“Wow,” I replied. “These guys aren’t going to know what hit them.”

“We seldom ever did when it came to Holiday,” a voice sounded from behind us.

Turning, I saw an old woman with a bag of groceries in each hand.

She had a long jacket on and a scarf around her neck.

Though her face was wrinkled, I could see the resemblance.

This woman was most definitely Holly’s mother.

“She was always something of a wild card.”

“Mother,” Holly said. “I’ve-”

“Come unexpectedly during tea time. I can see that,” the woman cut her off. “And with company, no less. Two people I don’t know, and one I do.” Her lips pursed. “Hello, Joseph. I’d say it’s nice to see you, but we both know that wouldn’t be true.”

“Hello Caroline,” Joe said. “We-”

“Is someone going to help me with these groceries, or am I condemned to continue to believe that chivalry died with the rotary phone?” She asked, cutting Joe off.

“I-I’ll help you ma’am,” I said. Marching over to her, I took the grocery bags from her hands. It was filled with carrots, tomatoes, and a couple of boxes of fruit snacks. “My name is Jack Harrington. I’m-”

“A hostage,” she finished. “Or you used to be. I saw all about you in the Gazette last year. I think Daniel Day Lewis is set to play you in a movie version of your life.”

“I haven’t heard that,” I said as she started walking toward the house.

“You should be so lucky. He’s a fine actor and an Englishman to boot. He’ll have to get your roughneck accent perfected, but I have faith in him.” She laughed a little. “I am surprised to see you here. You’d think that, after all your troubles, you’d stay away from dicey situations.”

“No offense, but you are not good at letting someone finish a sentence, are you, ma’am?” I asked.

“Why bother when everyone is so often wrong?” She mused. “Might as well cut the social fat, so to speak.”

“I tend to like social fat. It often reveals things we don’t mean for it to,” I said. “Like your choice of words for example. What on earth would make you think that I would believe accompanying a friend to visit her parents would be a dicey situation?”

“Oh, come now.” She threw her hand. “Am I supposed to pretend I don’t know why you’re here?” She looked over at Holly. “You’ve come for your daughter, right Holiday? You’ve come for Cindy?”

Holly’s eyes went wide. “What? How did you-”

“All these years,” Caroline cut her off.

“All those good grades and awards and accomplishments, and you’re still behind the curve.

It really is disappointing.” She shrugged and turned back around, heading toward the house again.

“Come inside, then. I’ll whip up some tea cakes and introduce you to your daughter. ”