No one moved. Reese waited for a crack in the glassy stillness. Certainly her mother would disclose Addie's whereabouts, right?

“Does anyone want a blueberry muffin?” Mrs. Caldwell finally spoke as she lifted the pan up for everyone’s observation.

The absurd question snapped Reese out of her momentary state of being dumbfounded. “A blueberry muffin?” Her voice raised a couple of notches. “Are you insane, Mom? Have you finally lost your marbles?”

Mrs. Caldwell pouted as she slammed the pan back onto the stovetop. “Do not talk to me that way. You do not get to come into my house and talk to me like that!”

“Excuse me? You’re never conscious enough for me to talk to you anyway. What the hell is going on with you all of a sudden?” Reese felt decades’ worth of suppressed fury boiling to the surface.

“Okay, wait a second, you two,” Paul said and he stepped between mother and daughter. His hands gestured like a boxing referee stopping an impending egregious foul. He passed Reese a warning look and then turned his focus on Mrs. Caldwell. “You said you know where Addie is?”

Mrs. Caldwell looked at Paul and then bit her lower lip as she nodded.

“Okay. That’s good, because we’re worried about her. Can you tell me where she is?”

She slowly shook her head and said, “no.”

“Why not?”

“I’m sworn to secrecy,” she said almost in a child’s voice.

“By who?” Reese jumped into the conversation. “By Heather?”

Mrs. Caldwell turned to her daughter. “I can’t say.”

“Mom, I don’t think you understand. She is in danger and so is her sister, Lucy.”

Mrs. Caldwell crossed her brows and frowned, but she tightened her lips as if to indicate she had nothing more to say.

Reese wanted to scream, but she used a softer voice and went a little closer to her mom so that Paul had to step to the side. She slouched down a bit to be at eye level with her mother. “Mom, I don’t know how you got all mixed up into this, but I know for a fact that Addie is in danger. There is someone out there who has taken Lucy and is threatening to kill her if Heather doesn’t tell him where Addie is.”

Reese heard movement from behind her and Mrs. Caldwell looked over Reese’s shoulder.

“What are you talking about, Reese?” Gregory said.

But Reese kept her attention on her mom. Mrs. Caldwell looked back at her daughter and her shoulders collapsed in submission. “She’s fine. She’s on her way back to her mother’s now.”

Reese bolted straight up. “She can’t go there!” Reese whipped around to Paul and Gregory. “She can’t go there,” she repeated. “He’s watching the house. He might even be there.”

Gregory placed a hand on Reese’s shoulder and she looked at him. Really looked at him. His face held not an ounce of concern, but rather infuriation. For a second she wasn’t sure if his anger was directed at her or the situation. He squeezed her shoulder, tightly.

“Gregory, why didn’t you tell me about your father?” Reese asked as she pulled away from his grip, carefully observing his expression to detect any changes.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Paul shift his weight so he was closer to Reese.

Gregory took a step back and appeared to assess the dynamics of the small group. He glanced at Paul and then back to Reese. “What about him?” He asked in a genuinely curious tone.

“You’re going to tell me you don’t know?” Reese said.

“Know what?” He snapped. “Does he have something to do with Addie’s disappearance?”

“He’s dead,” Mrs. Caldwell blurted.

Reese looked at her mother. How on God’s green earth did she know who Gregory’s father was?

“What?” The dismay in Gregory’s voice was real. The color quickly vanishing from his face was real.

It was all Reese needed to assure herself that Gregory was not intentionally involved. He had been in London for a month and removed from local news. “Look, we need to focus on Addie right now. We can discuss everything else later.” Reese gave Gregory a reassuring smile and he nodded.

“Mom, how is Addie getting to Heather’s? Did you put her in a cab? We need to get in touch with her and tell her not to show up there.”

“Well, she’s probably long there by now,” Mrs. Caldwell answered.

Reese sighed heavily and closed her eyes, hoping against all hope she would find inspiration to correct the situation. “Who was she with?” Reese opened her eyes and heard the words in her head before her mother spoke them.

“Your father.”

Reese nodded. “Can you call him? Does he have a cell phone?”

“Of course he does.”

Reese reached into her back pocket and waited for her mother to look the number up in her address book. Reese already knew the phone number on the receipt in her front pocket was his landline.

She dialed as her mother stated each number clearly and precisely. As Reese pressed the call button and heard the first ring, the front door opened. Seconds later a phone from the living room chimed. Reese turned to the kitchen entrance just as an older version of her father walked through. The phone rang on her end again and a second later her father was reaching into his jacket pocket pulling out an old flip phone. He looked at the caller id and smiled. Then his lips spread into a wider smile as he rushed across the kitchen floor to his daughter. He stood directly in front of her and stared down.

“Reese, my dear, how are you? Oh God, I’ve missed you.” He scooped her into his long arms and hugged her tight. His phone chimed again and he broke the embrace. “Oops, you can hang up now.”

“Dad,” Reese had a million things rushing through her head, but she needed to focus. “Please tell me Addie is okay.”

He cocked his head slightly to the side and squint his eyes. “How do you know about Addie?”

“Please, Dad. Is she okay?”

Mr. Caldwell turned back toward the kitchen entrance and called out, “Addie, it’s okay. Come on in.”

The girl who timidly approached the entrance frame was a shockingly beautiful combination of Luke and Heather. It was an utter impossibility, but she looked like their child. Reese stared at Addie relentlessly until the girl scooted close to Mr. Caldwell, tucking her head against his chest. He draped an arm over the child’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Addie,” He said craning his neck to look at her. “This is Reese. Remember I told you about her?”

The girl nodded as she leaned into Reese’s father. He looked up and with an apologetic smile, said, “Reese, I’d like you to meet your sister.”

Sister? I have a sister? Luke, we have a sister! Oh, how Reese wanted to scream to Luke.

Reese cleared her throat and took a couple of steps toward Addie. She held out her hand and presented the warmest smile she could conjure. “Hi Addie. I’m Reese, your sister.” Reese stole a quick glance at her father. The apology was still written all over his face. She looked away as she felt Addie’s hand slip into hers.

“Hi, Reese,” Addie said so softly that Reese barely heard her.

Reese felt a sense of relief, love, and concern, for a sister she never knew she had, wash over her in one wave. She wanted to snag the child and hug her. Reese stared into the hazel eyes, eyes like Luke’s, like their father’s. She had so many questions, but knew she couldn’t ask in front of Addie. She was a child after all and she seemed overwhelmed and shy.

Reese backed away in hopes of giving Addie some breathing room, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of her sister. She had a sister. Did Luke know about Addie? A pang of hurt jolted Reese. If Luke had known and not told her, what was his reasoning?

Mrs. Caldwell stepped forward and held a hand out for Addie who quickly took it and snuggled in close like she had with Mr. Caldwell. “Come on, Addie. Let’s go see if the mourning doves are in the back yard.” Mrs. Caldwell gave Reese a knowing glance as she stirred Addie through the back door.

Reese watched the pair as they disappeared into the backyard. Obviously Addie trusted Mrs. Caldwell. Another question in a long line of questions.

“I know you must be wondering what the hell is going on,” Mr. Caldwell said. He slipped his jacket off and held it from one hand. He stood there as if he expected Reese to size him up as she turned toward him.

It had been ten years since she last saw him and the passage of time had danced across his face and body. He had never been overtly thin or heavy, but now his flesh hung looser from his bones and his skin was mottled with brown spots. His hair was close to his scalp and looked finer than she could recall. She knew she should hug him, welcome him back into her life, but she was stuck, planted like a damn tree trunk that wouldn’t yield even in a breeze.

“You and Heather had a child,” Reese stated. She ignored the gasp that escaped Gregory’s mouth.

“In my defense, I didn’t know about Addie until just recently when Heather called me,” he answered, not missing a beat.

“What made her call you?” Reese asked. She zoned in on her father, forgetting Paul and Gregory were nearby.

He stretched his neck. Surely he was feeling the uncomfortable scrutiny Reese was placing on him. “She was concerned. Her husband had only recently died in a car accident and she was starting to think it wasn’t an accident. She was worried.”

“What made her call you?” Reese repeated, enunciating “you.”

“She needed a safe place for Addie to hide. I told her I would take care of it. So I called your mother and explained the situation to her.”

“Which is why Mom got her shit together?”

“Yes, I suppose. She was thrilled to have someone to look after since Luke’s passing.”

The words stung Reese. Her mother did have someone to care for after Luke died. Reese looked away from her father. The pain and the anger swirled together into a maelstrom of hatred. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat. Paul reached out and placed a hand on Reese’s arm.

“That’s harsh, Mr. Caldwell,” Gregory spoke up like a true buddy defending his friend on the school playground.

“Yes, Gregory, I guess you’re right. Both Meredith and I failed Reese when she needed us. But Addie is our chance to redeem ourselves. And we intend on keeping her safe.”

Reese looked up to her father. “Mom said you were taking Addie to Heather’s. What happened? Why are you here instead?”

“Heather wasn’t home.”

“You didn’t see a black Mercedes in front of the house?”

Mr. Caldwell gazed off like he was imagining the house. “No. No Mercedes. Nobody was home.”

Reese slumped onto the kitchen countertop and dropped her face into her hands. “Oh no,” she mumbled.

“What is it?” Paul asked as he laid a hand on Reese’s back.

She shook off the worry and stood straight. “Dad, where were you keeping Addie? She wasn’t here the whole time, right?”

“No.” Mr. Caldwell stepped closer to his eldest daughter. “Heather brought Addie here to your mother two weeks ago and then they flew out to Utah about a week ago. We drove back when Gregory called and said the coast was clear.”

“What? I never called you,” Gregory said. “I didn’t even know about Addie.”

“Yes, you did. Sunday night. You even gave the all clear signal.”

“I was on a plane coming back from London Sunday night,” Gregory protested.

“What was the all clear signal, Dad?” Reese knew from experience that the little details were often the most telling.

“You’ve got the wrong guy.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I thought it was a stupid signal, but I’m not the one who came up with it. Heather did.”