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.

When I got to New Orleans, that's when I had to get into a little more detail.

"So, your PSYCHO ex-girlfriend stalked you all the way to New Orleans?" Michael asked with brows raised.

"Yeah. I actually warned Lydia about it and offered to fly her home, where she would be safe. But-"

"She refused," he finished for me.

"Yeah. So, we got word that she was in the city. So, we came up with this plan to draw her out for the cops." I chuckled as I said, "Lydia called it Operation: Fake Date. Anyway, it worked. She showed up with a knife and got arrested."

"I'm sensing a but..."

"The day before Lydia's birthday, I got a call from New Orleans P.D. They said she got into a bad fight and was rushed to a local hospital. She managed to escape from the ambulance somehow. Clearly, it was all a ruse to escape."

"Do you have reason to believe she's here in Seattle?"

I leaned back in my chair and ran a hand through my hair. "I don't know, man. She's crazy. She was able to track me all the way to New Orleans by hiding a tracker in my car. I gave Lydia an untraceable phone, but what if she uses her debit card or something?"

"So, you asked me here because you fear for her safety and not because she ran off and you are trying to play the smothering boyfriend?"

I knew why he was asking that. I thought about it myself. "Yes, I'm worried about her safety. If she just wanted space, I would have given it to her. For as long as she needed."

"You love her." It wasn't a question.

I could try to keep denying it all I wanted, but it would be useless. We may have started out as friends but somewhere along the way that changed. She makes me a better person and I feel like I do the same for her. I knew I loved her since that night we made s'mores by the fire. She got so angry at the fact I may be arrested.

"Yeah, I do. I'm scared, Michael. I'm scared she is going to find her."

"Okay. How do you expect to find her?"

"Did your mother say anything at all to you about Lydia? Even when she was high? Anything that might have been in that letter."

Michael started pacing around the room, trying to recall anything that might help. "She always said that she was incapable of loving Lydia. That Lydia caused more problems than anyone. She said there was some big secret that we didn't know about."

"Wait," I interrupted. "You said that she was incapable of loving Lydia?"

"Yes, she said that a lot. Like she tried to but couldn't."

I got to my feet and stood in front of him. "Oh, my God. That's it."

"What?"

"You're dad must have had an affair and slept with someone else. Don't you see? You and Lydia have different moms."

"Holy shit. That makes so much sense now," Michael replied as he continued pacing back and forth.

I thought about the bombshell that just got dropped on us. No wonder she ran off. If it said in the letter that Tahlia wasn't her mother, she was going to find her.

"Michael, what would she do first to try to find her real mom?"

The look of dread in his eyes confirmed what I already knew. "She would see my dad."

Washington State Penitentiary
Walla Walla, Washington
1:40pm Friday July 24th

Michael and I waited for the guards to bring his father to the visiting window. Luckily, there were two phones. I'm glad I brought Michael, because it would have been harder to get in without him.

It took a little convincing to bring Michael down here. He was in total support of helping to find Lydia, but he never wanted to see his father again. Especially after he learned the truth. But, the important thing here was Lydia's safety. I had Anne searching for Amy with my facial recognition software. I really wasn't supposed to be using that. I only developed it to aid the NYPD once upon a time.

They hired me to develop a new updated facial recognition software for them, and I promised not to use it for myself. More like, I signed a non-disclosure forbidding me to use it. If my gut feeling was right, somehow Amy was probably already here in Washington. But how can she do this by herself? Somebody had to be helping her...

"Well, well, well. Michael. I honestly never thought I would see you here. Let alone you and your sister in the same day."

"So, Lydia was here today? What did you tell her?" Michael asked with a firm tone.

His father gave him a smug look. "Boy, you haven't come to visit me once. I don't owe you anything." He looked to me, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm-"

"He's a friend," Michael interrupted. "And no, I didn't come visit you because you deserve to be in here. You almost killed my mother. Let's not forget all of the other things you did."

His father smiled and evil smile. "That's not going to work on me."

That's when something dawned on me. I've met people like him before. I knew exactly what he wanted. "How much do you want in your commissary?"

Lydia's father met my stare and I knew Michael was looking at with with surprise and confusion.

"Well," I prodded, "how much?"

"Five large."

"Done. Give us the information we want or you won't see a penny."

"Fine. I told her the name of her birth mother was Maria Sinclair. March 5, 1974."

"The money will be in your account by the end of the day.." I said before hanging up the phone and getting to my feet.

"You're a real piece of shit, Dad. I hope you rot in here."

We left the prison and remained silent until we got to the car. If I was being completely honest, if that glass hadn't separated us I probably would have beat her father to death for what he did to her. I also noticed Michael kept his hand fisted as he talked to him. He was probably feeling the same urges I was.

"So, what now? We barely have any information on this Maria person. How are we going to find her?"

I gave him a sly smile as we got in the car. I pulled out my phone and dial Anne's number.

"Don't you worry about that, Michael. We have just what we need."