“He used his one phone call to call me.” Her mother paused for a moment to ponder that. “He told me to pack my things and move out because we were going to be evicted soon anyway. He hadn’t paid the rent in a couple of months, and there was no way he could pay now. He told me to leave the furniture but to make sure I took all the bags in the closet. In hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise because I’d already begun to try and figure out how to leave him. I did have some money put away, but I didn’t have enough for an apartment. Then a few days after checking into the hotel and going through the things in the bags from the closet so I could try and pawn them, I came across the money he’d stashed separately in them—almost twenty thousand in cash total.”

Sarah’s mouth fell open. Her opinion of her dad kept going back and forth.

He was a good guy.

He was a bad guy.

With every revelation her mom gave her, she had more questions, but she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt her mom. Luna continued as Sarah listened intently

Her mother had no choice but to use the money to try and set up her and Sarah in another apartment, but she soon got word from her mother, whom she checked in with weekly, that Sarah’s father had called her from jail to let her know there’d be people looking for her. They wanted the money, but he claimed to have rightfully earned it, and he wanted her and his baby girl to use it. And so life on the run began.

Sarah felt almost ashamed that hearing that her father, the ex-convict and drug dealer, had always referred to her as his baby girl warmed her.

Through the years, her mother stayed in contact with Sarah’s grandmother via mail, and Sydney had been right about the packages being sent to his place because her mother didn’t want to leave a trail to where she lived.

“What was in the packages?”

“Clothes, sheets, blankets—anything your grandmother thought I might need. She even sent school supplies for you.”

“Why? Didn’t you have the money?”

Her mother smiled. “Honey, twenty thousand may sound like a lot of money, but you have to remember I found it when you were just a baby. It went fast. With us having to move so often, even though I did my best to make it stretch, it only lasted a few years.”

Her mother reached out to her, looking in her eyes. She looked exhausted as if having to relive all this had drained her. “So many times I thought about telling you. When you were younger, I was afraid of setting a bad example by telling you how rebellious I’d been. The last I heard about how long he’d be in jail was fifteen to twenty years. But I had no idea if he was out, and even then there was always the possibility he’d get arrested again. His whole family was bad news. I did plan on telling you when you were eighteen, but then the whole thing with me going to jail happened and then your ordeal and trial with the coach began. When everything settled down and we were all finally at peace, I just got to thinking maybe it was better you didn’t know. Your life, even with all the drama, was—is—turning out so well, and you seemed so happy with Angel I just didn’t have the heart to stir things up again.” Her mother sighed with a frown. “Looks like he’s taken that out of my hands.”

Plopping down in the seat across from her mother, Sarah too felt as drained as her mother looked now. “So it really is him looking for me?” she asked then added as she stared straight ahead at nothing in particular. “Sydney and his mom said he’s the spitting image of me and. . .” She turned to her mother, feeling the tiniest stir of excitement. “I have a brother?”

“I don’t know anything about a brother, but I suppose it’s possible.” Her mother gave her a cautious look. “I haven’t heard anything about your father since my mother passed. It was the only way I got any news from him, and that was only the handful of times he called her from jail to get an update on us. But once she died so did the only means of communication we had. You were still very young. I have no idea what became of him. I’d just assumed he was still in jail. If you’re considering moving forward with this, Sarah, I want you be careful. He was a dangerous man then, surrounded by dangerous people, and even though it’s been twenty years, I’d still be cautious.”

They sat and talked for a while longer. Sarah still had lots of questions. By the time they were done, Sarah felt completely worn out. It didn’t help that she and Sydney had been up late talking. In the last two days, she’d been hit with two major revelations: she had a father and brother who were looking for her, and Sydney had broken a relationship he’d been in for almost three years because of her.

She lay down on her bed, looking at the time. It was too late to return all the missed calls she had from Angel. He was probably just getting ready to start his practice. She read the only text he’d sent her.

Call me ASAP.

Knowing he wouldn’t answer because he was at practice she texted him instead then turned her phone off, glad she had a few hours before he’d be out of practice. She lay down ready to take a much needed nap. As tired as she felt with everything on her mind now, she wondered if she’d be able to sleep. She’d also been up early that morning because Sydney wanted to leave by noon and Sarah had wanted to spend a little more time with him before he left. Thankfully, her body gave in to the exhaustion and sleep came fast.

Chapter 5

Angel

Because the team photo thing had run late, they’d pushed practice out another hour. Angel and Alex had just arrived at the locker room and started to dress into their uniforms when Angel decided to check his phone again. Finally, he had a text from Sarah, and he clicked on it.