Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2) (16 page)

Per your instructions, the
subject has not been approached. If you would like more photographs, we will
gladly provide them to you. The subject doesn’t appear to work, but money
doesn’t seem to be an issue for her. Please advise us if we can be of any
further assistance to you.

Sincerely,

Marc Sanchez

Amanda Bowing Grace?
 
Her mother?
 
Alive
in Texas?
 How could that be? No. It couldn’t be her mother. There
was no way she was alive. She’d gone to her funeral. 
Although,
she’d never technically seen her body.
 Her mind began to go in
circles. Could her mother be alive? Why would she let her believe she was dead?

Falling back against the
chair, she raised a shaky hand to her mouth. Could it be possible? Thousands of
emotions flitted through her. 
Happiness, joy, elation,
which then tilted towards disbelief, hurt, despair, and anguish.
 Would
her mother really have moved on and never once try to contact her? Why? If
indeed it was her mother, why would she have run out on them? Her father, she
understood. Who wouldn’t have left him for masterminding their kidnapping?

And Rush knew… or at least
suspected… yet he never told her. He knew how much her mother meant to her.
Even if it wasn’t true, why wouldn’t he mention it to her? Then she remembered
the note. What did it 
mean,
 
I know you
told me you were not interested in this anymore.
 Why wouldn’t he be
interested in it? Why wouldn’t he do all he could to find her, ensure it was
her, then let Trinity know? Could he be that callous? 
That
heartless?
 Did he think he was protecting her in a weird way?

Tears sprang into her eyes
at the thought that her mother might be alive. She’d missed her so much.
Leaning forward, she placed her elbows on the desk and laid her face in her
hands. How could she ever find out for sure? What kind of life was it when
there wasn’t even one person you could trust explicitly?

As she scrubbed her hands
over her face, her elbow rubbed painfully against something underneath the
sheet of paper she’d just read. Flipping the paper over, on the backside she
found a clipped photograph. Her breath caught in her throat… it was her mother!
Her chest heaved in its attempt to gather oxygen into its depths.

With shaky hands, she
picked it up and studied the slightly blurry photograph. There were obvious
differences from what she remembered as a child ten years ago. Her mother’s
once-long hair was now cut into a sleek, dark bob, but the curve of her face
was the same. With a finger that shook, she traced the line of the face she’d
been dreaming about for years… yearning for, for years. She shook her head.
Could this be real? If so, what did it mean? Was her mother really living in El
Paso?

As her thoughts swirled, an
idea began to take root. Reaching forward, she grabbed the telephone on the
desk and pulled it towards her. Picking up the letterhead, she dialed the
number at the top. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled deeply to calm her nerves.

“Hello,” a deep, masculine
voice said in a light Spanish accent.

“Umm.
 Hi, this is Nora, Rush Drayton’s assistant,” she began. “I’m
calling about a package.”

“Mr. Drayton received it,
didn’t he?”

Bile rose in her throat,
but she swallowed hard, resisting the violent urge to vomit. It was true! With
a voice that shook, she asked, “Is this Marc Sanchez?”

“Yeah,” he answered
abruptly.

“Mr. Sanchez, can you tell
me anything about the information you sent?”

Silence filled the line.
Finally, in icy, clipped tones, he replied, “If Mr. Drayton has any questions
about the 
package,
 please have him call me
directly.”

Before she was able to open
her mouth to reply, he’d slammed the phone down. It didn’t 
matter,
 she’d gotten the information she needed. Rush
had found out somehow that her mother was alive and had looked into it, then
for reasons of his own, had dismissed it. Why would he do that? She wondered
how long ago he’d gotten his original package. She fell back in the chair as
another thought crossed her mind. Who’d sent the package to her? What did she
do now?
Whatever she was going to do had to be done quickly
if she wanted to find her mother.
 Right now she somewhat knew where
her mother was; the Rio Grande Vista Lodge. If the information held true and
her mother had moved in on July first, looking at the desk calendar, Trinity
figured she had four or five days to find her there… unless she had moved
early.

A tap at the door made her
jump. Covering the papers with its envelope, she answered, “Yes?”

The door opened and Alex
stuck his head in. “Trinity, the baby is beginning to fuss.”

Oh, my God
! She thought. She’d forgotten all about Blake in all of this.
What was wrong with her? “Thanks, Alex.” Moving quickly, she stuffed the papers
back into the Fed Ex envelope and left the office. As she passed Alex, her lips
formed a grim line. Alex… how was she going to get past him? She didn’t want
Rush to know what she was up to because he’d first deny it and then he’d try to
stop her. She meant to do this… right after she confronted her father for the
truth.

Chapter Nine

Once she’d collected Blake from his swing, she settled into the
padded rocking chair in his room to feed him. As she gazed at his exquisitely
face, love washed over her. She never knew she could feel this way. She
swallowed hard and tears sprang into her eyes. Hadn’t her mother ever loved her
this way? How could she cast her aside? Was there something wrong with her? Had
her father known all along? She frowned as another thought crossed her mind;
was her mother hiding from him? 
If so, why?
 While
her father might be immoral, he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

After placing Blake in his
crib and covering him with a light blanket, she went to find Anna. She was in
the kitchen stirring a pot of red sauce.

“Anna, would you mind
watching the baby for a couple of hours? He’s asleep right now.”

“Of course,” she replied.

“Do you know where Alex is?”
Trinity asked.

“I believe he is in the
gym.”

Moving swiftly down the
stairs to the gym, her mind couldn’t help but drift back to the last time she’d
been down here. Rush had made love to her so sweetly. She shook the images
away. She was so hurt and angry at him. Betrayal… another betrayal… was a tough
pill to swallow.

When she stepped into the
gym, she looked around until she spotted Alex lying on a weight bench, pressing
a huge amount of weights away from his chest. He was dressed in only a pair of
shorts. His muscular chest and arms glistened in sweat as he exerted himself.
The usual light blonde of his hair appeared dark, coated in sweat. The sharp
angles of his face were drawn into lines of extreme concentration. Her eyes
drifted over his chest and arms in abject appreciation. She noticed several
scars littering his upper torso and again realized just how much she didn’t
know about this man.

She stood patiently until
he finished his reps. 
Once
 he put the
weights on the stand and sat up, it was then he noticed her. 
“Trinity?
 Was there something you needed?”

“I need to go to the
courthouse to see my father. If you’d like, I can have Radcliff drive me.”

“No. Give me fifteen
minutes and I’ll be ready. I’ll drive you myself,” 
came
 his
quick response.

With a nod of her head, she
went back upstairs and finished dressing. Because she knew her father wouldn’t
approve, she dressed in jeans and a sweater, and left her hair loose. Picking
up the Fed Ex envelope, she grabbed her purse, stopped to press her lips against
the head of her precious son’s, and headed out into the living room to wait on
Alex.

As promised, he was ready
in 
under
 fifteen minutes. They drove in
silence. She contemplated her meeting with her father. If he’d known her mother
was alive, she’d never forgive him. What he’d done to their family was bad
enough, but keeping her mother from her was something altogether different.

Alex followed her into the
courthouse. Briefly, she wondered what his feelings were about her going to see
her father. She owed Alex for what he’d provided to her. When she entered her
father’s outer chambers, it was to find the ever-present Ms. Callie, her
father’s secretary, at her desk.

She rose and clasped her
hands when she spotted Trinity. 
“Trinity, how wonderful
to see you.
 Congratulations on your engagement and baby. I saw your
picture in the paper. I’m so happy for you.”

Trinity smiled wanly, not
sure whether she was still engaged or not. “Thank you, Ms. Callie. Is my father
in?”

“He is. Go right on in.
He’ll be so excited to see you.”

Trinity doubted he’d be
excited, but just gave her another smile and nodded her thanks. She turned to
look at Alex. He gave her a small nod and planted himself firmly beside the
closed door of the office with his hands folded in front of him like some sort
of sentinel guard. She smiled briefly at the thought. Her smile faded, however,
as she took in a deep breath before placing her hand on the slanted handles of
her father’s office.

She opened the door quietly
and stepped inside, turning to close it with equal quietness. When she turned
back around, she found her father’s eyes on her impassively. She swallowed, not
sure now what to say to him.

“Trinity,” he said in
acknowledgement, as he pulled his dark-rimmed reading glasses off his face.

“Father.”

He stared at her silently
for a long moment. “Was there something you needed?” His tone was somewhat
dismissive.

She blinked rapidly. “How
did my mother die?”

The space between his eyes
wrinkled in consternation. He eyed her curiously as he tried to understand the
nature of her question. “You know how she died. What’s this about?”

“Just tell me again.”

“She died from a sustained
blow to her temple. Now, what’s this about?” he demanded.

His tone irritated her. He
had no right to be angry about anything. “Did she really die?”

His head tilted to the side
and his eyebrows rose. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how to be any
clearer,” she replied sarcastically.

“You were there. Of course
she died,” he answered.

“Why didn’t you let me see
her?”

With a heavy sigh, he
pinched the bridge of his nose. “You were a very young girl and had already
suffered so much. I thought it best if you didn’t see her that way.”

Harshly she said, “Suffered
at your hand.”

Sighing heavily as if bored
with their conversation, he asked, “What’s the point in dredging up all this
past history, Trinity?”

“
Mmm
.
 I wonder. What would
you say if I told you I know for a fact she’s alive?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You
were there. You know that’s not true,” he said, as if he thought she was daft.

  She eyed him
for a long moment before saying quietly but emphatically. “She is alive.”

With a dismissive wave of
his hand, he said, “Trinity, I went to the morgue to identify the body. I went
to the funeral home and picked out her coffin. I saw them put her body in that
coffin. I have a death certificate in my safe at home. She is dead,” he ended
on a harsh note.

Tilting her chin up
defiantly, she hissed, “And why would I believe anything you say? You have
proven over and over that your word means nothing… less than nothing!”

Her father stood up
abruptly, causing his chair to roll back from the force. “I don’t have to put
up with this, young lady.”

Rising just as abruptly,
Trinity dug into the Fed Ex envelope and pulled out the picture of her mother
and thrust it in his face. “Tell me this isn’t my mother.”

He ran his tongue under his
top lip in frustration before glancing down at the photograph. He paused for an
instant. “Where did you get this?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter where I
got it from. What matters is that my mother is alive and I think you knew it.”

With a dismissive wave of
his hand, he said, “Trinity, I’m sorry to tell you this, but someone is playing
an elaborately cruel hoax on you. Your mother is dead.”

She stared into his eyes
looking for the truth, but just couldn’t tell. He’d lied so convincingly to her
in the past. “I don’t believe you,” she said with a little less conviction.

“Honestly, I don’t care
what you believe at this point,” he said, throwing his hands up in
exasperation.

She leaned forward and
gripped the edge of his desk and met his eyes firmly before saying coldly, “You
may not care right now, but I promise you this: if I find out you had anything
to with keeping my mother away from me, I will shout it from the rooftops. The
pristine reputation you’re so proud of will be smeared when people are told the
truth about the Embassy Fund and the kidnapping!”