Songbird (A Sinclair Story #1) (17 page)

Nathan
leaned forward. “Why did you think she was dead?”

Melodee
focused on the flashes of memory from that day. “Chloe was two, she got between
our parents while they were sparring.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I
tried to get to her, but I was too slow. Father hit her. He was a tall,
powerful man. She flew so far, her tiny body crumpling as she hit the wall.”

Melodee
had to compartmentalize her emotions or she was likely to lose it. She hadn’t
thought of this moment for so long.

“I
ran to her … as fast as my little legs would move. But she was so still, her
skin icy. Mother said she broke her neck. The last time I saw my sister my
father was ‘taking care of it’.”

Melodee’s
voice choked off. She shook her head, refusing to speak more. Nathan watched
her, but didn’t push further. He seemed to understand she was done reliving the
past. When Jewel started to fuss in her highchair, the three of them left the
diner.

Nathan drove the rest of the
way back to Syracuse, Melodee just stared out the window, and he could tell
that she’d cut herself off from him again. All the ground he’d made bringing
her into his life and he felt he was back where he started.

He
couldn’t handle the silence any longer. “Are you going to tell me what happened
just now with your sister?”

“She
hates me, blames me for her shitty life.” Melodee’s voice was low. “I know
that’s insane, I was only four and I don’t take blame for that. The fault for
both our lives lies with my parents. But still she said something about Jewel
that kind of made sense. The life I have lived has not given me the necessary
skills to be a parent.”

She
spun in her seat, her hands brushing gently over Jewel’s hair. The little girl
was playing with her bear. She loved the crunchy paws.

“Jewel
deserves a mother who knows how to be a family.”

Nathan
growled. Melodee didn’t sound depressed, she wasn’t feeling sorry for herself.
This was part of her altruistic nature, and something told him that if she
thought she was doing the best thing for Jewel she would never change her mind.

“Jewel
just wants love, Dee, and trust me, you have an endless capacity for that.”

She
opened her mouth to speak but the ringing of Nathan’s cell cut her off.

He
glanced down at the number flashing on his car screen.

“It’s
CPS,” he said. “I can’t ignore it.”

Melodee
sat forward in her seat. “No, we need to know what’s happening. Answer it.”

Nathan
hit the green button.

“Nathan
Sinclair,” he said.

“Hello,
Nathan, it’s Denise from child protective services. I have an update. We’ve
identified the deceased woman: Brandy Monroe.”

“So
what does this mean for the baby?” he asked.

“At
this stage we haven’t found any family, but Brandy’s records state she has a
sister in Florida. The baby’s name is Chelsea. She was born June thirtieth and
her father is listed as deceased on her birth certificate.”

“If
she has no family, I want to adopt her.”

Melodee’s
jaw dropped at Nathan’s words. What the hell was he doing?

“I
did not expect that, Mr. Sinclair,” Denise said slowly. “It’s a fairly
complicated process, but with your father’s influence I don’t think you will
have a problem getting the necessary paperwork pushed through.”

“Great,
well let me know when it’s clear for me to start the adoption process,” Nathan
said.

Melodee
was full on glaring at him now. He ended the call. “Why would you say that?”
she said, her eyes wide. “How are you going to look after a baby full time?
You’re about to become a professional basketball player.”

“I’m
not going to do it alone.” Nathan met her gaze. “You’re a wonderful mother and
role model for Jewel. No one ever said you needed to come from a perfect cookie
cutter family to know how to create a home. Dammit.” He slammed his hands on
the wheel. “You’re exactly the person I’d choose to raise my children.”

Melodee’s
heart fluttered, her breath coming in a few short gasps as happiness filled
her. Reaching out, she threaded her fingers through his hand.

“Thank
you,” she said. While his adamant defense of her did offset some of the hurt
from her sister’s words, the worried thoughts could not be squashed so easily.

The next day Nathan was at
basketball training when his phone rang. Melodee hadn’t even realized he’d
forgotten it until the clanging noise started. She dashed to it, not wanting to
wake Jewel. It had taken her an hour of walking to get her down for her morning
nap. Looking at the screen, she stopped as ‘Denise from CPS’ flashed up.
Sliding the green answer bar across, she lifted it to her ear.

“Hello.”

“Is
this Melodee?” said a female voice, but the connection was terrible. Melodee
could only just make out the words.

“Yes,”
she said, her brow crinkling as she pressed the phone harder against her ear.
“Do you have some information about Chelsea’s family?” She had to remind
herself not to call her Jewel.

“Yes,
the sister has come forward. Can you bring the baby down to meet her? Her
husband and kids are here also.”

Melodee’s
heart sank at these words.

“The
connection is bad, I’ll text the address,” Denise said, before ending the call.

Melodee
closed her eyes. The pain ripping through her was worse than any torture she’d
endured. Pulling herself together, she lifted Nathan’s phone and dialed
Charles’ number. He answered on the first ring.

“Nate,
what’s up man? I thought you were at practice this morning.”

“Shit,
sorry Charlie, I called from Nate’s phone.”

“Dee.”
His tone changed to concerned. “What’s wrong? I can be there in ten minutes.”

“No,
wait, I need you to give Nate a message. He left his phone at home.”

“What
message?” She could hear that he was moving. “I’m at college so I can be at the
gym in a few minutes.”

“CPS
called. Jewel’s aunt is there and wants to see her. I’m going to take her
down.” Melodee only realized that she was sobbing when the tears running down
her cheeks splashed onto the bench. “It’s for the best, really. They have other
kids, and Jewel will love having siblings.”

She
couldn’t contain the well of grief that was lifting from the center of her
being. For someone generally so self-contained, she didn’t know how to process
these emotions. How did people survive such pain? Could she ever go back to the
woman who needed no one? She had the suspicion that once emotion found its way
into your life, you could never be the same again.

“Melodee,
listen to me, don’t do anything until we get there, I’m getting Nathan right
now.” Charles’ voice was low and forceful. “We need to check this family out.
Jewel deserves the best parents, and as far as I’m concerned that’s you and Nate.
Screw these other people, they didn’t even report the girl missing.”

“Every
child deserves a real family, Charlie. I won’t stand in her way just because I
love her.”

“Just
wait there, I’ll be five fucking minutes. Please, Dee.” But she knew they would
exert their power as Sinclairs and probably crush this poor family, and she
couldn’t do that.

“I’m
only going for a visit,” she finally said, “nothing’s been mentioned about
handing Jewel back. I’ll take my cell if you need to contact me.”

As
she hung up the phone Charles was cursing in her ear. But maybe after her
sister’s harsh reality check yesterday, the fact Jewel might have a proper
family to go to seemed like fate. And Jewel’s happiness was Melodee’s number
one priority. Nathan’s phone beeped in her hand. She looked down to find a text
from Denise; she’d sent the address. Melodee forwarded it on to her phone and
went to grab Jewel.

Slowing the car, Melodee
peered through the window. The area outside looked industrial. She wondered if the
navigation system had made a mistake. This looked more like a space where her
cage fights would be, not a government department. Was this what the recent
budget cuts had led to?

She
stopped the car in front of the address given. It looked like a shipping yard,
but there was no water close by. She picked up her phone to check the address
again. Suddenly it rang in her hand. Seeing Nathan’s name flash up, she
answered it.

“Dee,
baby, what are you doing?” his voice blasted into her ear. “Come back and get me,
you don’t have to do this alone.”

“It’s
just a chance for Jewel to meet her family,” Melodee said. “I wasn’t sure that
you’d let it happen, and I think she deserves a real family.”

“I
won’t argue with you right now about how much of a real family we already are,”
Nathan said. “But I was always realistic. If Jewel had no family, then I wanted
her, and if a relative came into the picture I was willing to meet them and see
if they would be good enough for her. What I don’t like is you running off and
taking the decision off me.”

Shit,
he had a point, she’d let her emotional state get the best of her and she
rushed off on a crazy mission. Besides, he deserved a chance to judge this
family too.

“Okay,
Nate, Ill head home now.” She’d fallen into the habit of calling it that, even
though she still had her empty apartment sitting there. “I think Denise sent me
the wrong address anyways.”

“Where
are you?” Nathan asked.

“There
should be a text in your ph–”

Melodee’s
words were cut off as her window exploded beside her.

She
was thrown to the side, glass raining over her, and she could tell by the sting
that small cuts were littering her face and arm.
 
Before she could get her equilibrium back,
the door was wrenched open and she was dragged out by two beefy men. It was at
that point she realized that one of them had punched in the window. She hit the
asphalt hard, gravel biting into her palms. They came at her again, but she was
over her shock and already moving. She kicked one in the face, breaking his
nose, and the other reached for her, allowing her to lock on to his hand and
bend his wrist. The bone cracked with a satisfying snap. On her feet, she went
into full-on crazy mode, worried about Jewel’s safety. The man whose wrist
she’d just broken was howling as he dropped to his knees. She smashed him in
the temple, knocking him unconscious. The second came at her from the side,
clipping her in the chin and knocking her backwards. She locked him in her
gaze.

“You
are going to fucking die,” she said. And she took a running jump, before
twisting into a flip and landing on his shoulders.

She
was about to snap his neck, but stopped at the last second. She wasn’t a
killer, she worked really hard to appreciate life. And she especially did not
want this to happen around Jewel. So instead of breaking his neck, she just
chopped it on the side, rendering him unconscious. She stumbled off as he
crashed to the ground. Her injured ribs were screaming at her as she scrambled
around the car to check on Jewel. She shrieked to see the door already open and
the seat removed. There wasn’t much snow on the ground at the moment, but it
was still icy and slick; she almost fell as she spun around.

Across
the lot she spotted a car tucked in beside the tallest of metal structures. She
ran straight for it, panic threatening to overwhelm her. It was taking every
part of her training to keep control of her famous calm. A baby’s cry ripped
through the tunnel between the buildings and Melodee sped up. She slid over the
bonnet of the car and to the other side. It was a red Mustang and it was empty,
but then noise from an engine had her spinning in time to see a second car just
starting to drive out of the graveled area. Melodee sprinted after it and with
a dive landed on the driver’s door frame. She used the side step and mirror to
balance herself, clinging to the side, but not one iota of fear entered her
emotions. She focused on the driver, cursing as long red hair filled her view.
Leanna.

The
psycho swerved her car when she realized Melodee was attached to her side
window, before snarling and winding the glass down a fraction.

“You’re
supposed to be fucking dead. I’m going to take our daughter back to Nathan.
He’ll be so worried.” Her eyes were unnaturally dilated, and Melodee knew that
in this condition there was no reasoning with her. But even more worrying was
the fact that she was drugged off the planet, and she had Melodee’s precious
Jewel in the car.

Melodee
reached back, using the edge of her toes to keep herself steady. She needed a
bit more reach to smash the window, as her angle was bad. Leanna swerved again,
coming close to overhanging metal. Melodee avoided it at the last second. But
she lost the ground she gained trying to get a better angle. Leanna was coming
up to the edge of the industrial area, so with her fingertips screaming Melodee
reached herself out again and managed to fly to the door and crash her elbow
into the window. It didn’t smash, but she did create a small crack, tearing up
her elbow in the process.