Page 16 of The Unseen (Echoes from the Past #5)

THIRTEEN

Quinn settled Alex into a baby carrier and set off for her appointment.

She would have preferred to take the pram, but the tables in FreeState Coffee were too closely set up to bring it indoors and she didn’t want to leave it outside since it had begun to snow.

Logan had chosen the place for the meeting, since he could only pop in during his work break.

Quinn strode along purposefully, her arms around the baby, whose cheek was pressed to her arm.

He was wide awake, looking around with interest. If she walked long enough, he’d drift off and hopefully sleep through the meeting with Drew Camden, private investigator.

Quinn had called him that morning, thinking they could chat over the phone, but Drew had wanted to meet in person, probably to get a sense of her as a client.

The coffee shop was half-empty, which was a blessing.

Quinn took a table in the corner and ordered herself a decaffeinated cappuccino.

She would have loved a blast of caffeine but felt too guilty to indulge while nursing.

As soon as she weaned Alex, she’d have a bucket of coffee followed by several bottles of chilled white wine and a night out on the town.

She might even stay up past nine o’clock and wear something besides her elastic waistband leggings.

Quinn’s cheeks grew uncomfortably warm as she thought of Gabe and his hungry hands on her body.

Last night had been frantic and primitive, but this morning their lovemaking had been slow, drowsy, and decadent, reminding her of what their life had been like before the children came along.

She had been barely awake when Gabe pulled her against him, his hand cupping her overflowing breast as he entered her from behind, his movements leisurely and deliberate, and so delicious.

It wasn’t just the sex that made Quinn happy, it was the physical intimacy between them that had been sorely missing for the past few months.

It felt so natural and so right, like two halves of a whole coming together and locking firmly into place.

Gabe still loved and desired her, and she’d rediscovered her hunger for him and realized that she was ravenous.

They were parents to two children, but they were still a couple, still Quinn and Gabe, and they had to hold on to that no matter what.

So many couples lost their bond as the responsibilities of family took over.

She wouldn’t allow that to happen to them.

Quinn tore her thoughts away from the boudoir and turned her attention to the baby. She removed Alex’s fuzzy brown hat with monkey ears, pulled off his coat so he wouldn’t get too warm, and settled him in her lap. He was wide awake, smacking his lips in that way he did when he was hungry.

“Oh no, you don’t. I’m not nursing you here,” Quinn crooned to him. “I have a lovely bottle for you, young sir.” She extracted the bottle from her baby bag and adjusted the baby’s position for easier feeding before allowing him to latch on. “There you go. Enjoy! Same product, different packaging.”

“May I join you?” a gravelly voice inquired, nearly making Quinn jump out of her skin. “I’m Drew.”

“Ah, yes, of course. Sorry, I was a bit distracted.”

“I can see that. Sweet little lad. What’s his name?”

“Alex.”

Quinn took in Drew Camden. He was in his late forties or early fifties, with a head of thick, silver-streaked dark curls and light blue eyes that seemed to miss little.

He was a bear of a man, and a little intimidating, if she were honest. Drew extended his left leg into the space between the tables as he sat down.

“Can’t bend it all the way,” he explained. “Gunshot wound.”

“I’m sorry. Brian did mention you were shot in the line of duty.”

“No need to be sorry. What happened, happened. Now, shall we wait for your brother, or would you like to give me the backstory? ”

“I can fill you in while we wait. Logan should be here any minute. He’s coming from work. He’s a nurse at the London.”

“A noble profession. There were some wonderful nurses looking after me after my injury. One of them was so sweet, I married her,” he added as a charming blush stained his cheeks. “Every cloud and all that…”

Quinn smiled. Drew Camden suddenly seemed a lot less intimidating, and vastly more likable. “That’s a great story. Logan met his partner, Colin, at the hospital as well. He’s a lovely man, intelligent and kind.”

“And where did you meet your husband?” Drew asked, smiling at Alex, whose eyelids were fluttering as he stopped sucking and began to drift off to sleep.

“We met on an archeological dig in Ireland. He was the dig supervisor and I was one of the students. It took us eight years to actually get together.”

“Life has its own plan, doesn’t it, and its own timeline.”

“I don’t know about that. Was it life’s plan to separate me from my sister at birth? Seems awfully unfair.”

“No one said it was fair, but maybe this is the way it was meant to be.”

“Well, I mean to change that. I have to find her. I must.”

“Tell me everything you know,” Drew invited.

Logan came rushing into the coffee shop just as Quinn finished her summary, which was pitifully short. “Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?”

“Nothing yet,” Drew replied calmly. “So, Quentin is not actually missing, just not in contact? ”

“There’s no trace of her anywhere,” Logan reiterated what Quinn had already explained. “She doesn’t come up in any search. Even if she were dead, her obituary would pop up.”

“I think we need to work under the assumption that Quentin changed her name after leaving her parents’ home. Since we don’t know what she changed it to, that avenue of enquiry is closed to us. However, there are other ways to get to her.”

“Such as? We’ve learned next to nothing from her siblings or the attorney who manages her trust fund,” Logan said.

“Perhaps you didn’t ask the right questions, or pose them to the right people.”

“What other people are there? Her parents are dead, and the only people we can connect to her are her siblings and the lawyer,” Quinn pointed out.

“There are others. No man is an island, as someone great whose name I can’t quite recall once said.”

“John Donne,” Quinn supplied with a smile.

“Right. Look, I normally require a retainer of a thousand quid and then charge an hourly rate, but since you’re Jill’s cousin, I’ll forgo the retainer. If I find Quentin, I’ll bill you. If not, you’ll only have to reimburse me for my time and expenses.”

“Fair enough,” Logan said. “But don’t say ‘if,’ say ‘when.’”

“Oh, I will find her,” Drew promised. “Regardless of how long it takes.”

“Where will you start?” Quinn asked, curious about his process.

“I’ll start where it all began and work my way out from there.

Leicester will be my first port of call.

Don’t expect a report from me every day.

I’ll only ring you if I have something to tell you, but just because you don’t hear from me doesn’t mean I’m not working on your behalf.

Do you have a photo of Quentin?” Drew asked, looking from Logan to Quinn.

“No, we don’t. Karen Crawford said all her parents’ possessions had been placed in storage, including family albums. She didn’t volunteer to obtain a photograph, and even if she had, it’d have been decades old,” Logan pointed out.

“Shame, that. It would have been helpful.”

“What if Quentin doesn’t want to be found?” Quinn asked. The fear had been gnawing at her since she first learned of Quentin’s existence. What if her sister had no desire to meet her twin and wasn’t responding intentionally?

“If she doesn’t want to have any dealings with you, then she can tell you so herself, to your face. Until then, we work under the assumption that she doesn’t know you exist,” Drew replied.

“How can she not? Wouldn’t it be unethical for her attorney not to have told her or passed on the letter I sent?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, it would, but people do things for the oddest reasons. We won’t know for sure until we find her and ask her outright. Sound like a plan?”

“Yes,” Quinn and Logan replied in unison.

“I’ll be off then. I have a train to Leicester to catch,” Drew said as he heaved himself out of the chair. “I’ll be in touch.”

“What’d you think of him?”

“He seems confident that he can find Quentin, and I want to believe him.”

“Mum keeps asking if we’ve heard anything,” Logan said. “I hope you don’t mind if I keep her up-to-date on our search.”

“Of course I don’t mind. If and when we find Quentin, it will be up to her whether she wants to meet Sylvia,” Quinn said as she began to maneuver the sleeping baby into his coat. “I certainly won’t try to discourage her.”

“Would you want to meet Mum if you were her?” Logan peered at Quinn from beneath his lashes, like a little boy who feared being reprimanded by a teacher.

“Logan, you don’t have to feel guilty about loving your mother.

Sylvia raised you and loved you, and it’s only natural that you feel loyal to her.

I don’t expect you to take sides. As far as Quentin goes, I honestly have no idea how she’ll feel.

She might be eager to meet the woman who gave birth to her, or choose to have nothing to do with her. ”

“It’s just that she seems to have completely rejected her adoptive family,” Logan replied. “Some people like to hold grudges.”

“And you think she’s one of them?”

“Could be.”

“Sometimes people have a very good reason,” Quinn replied as she carefully placed Alex in the baby carrier and pulled on her gloves. “I’m reserving judgement.”

“I’ve always dreamed of having a worldly and wise older sister,” Logan joked. He held the door for Quinn as she stepped out into the street.

“See? Dreams do come true.” Quinn giggled and turned her face up to receive his brotherly kiss. She wasn’t exactly sure when it had happened, but she suddenly realized she loved him and she recognized an answering tenderness in his gaze.

“See ya, sis.”

“See ya, little brother,” Quinn replied, smiling happily to herself.