Led by Her Heart
Lynn Callahan, a divorced single mom with her own party planning business, is content in her busy life until her ex-husband Drew, fails to pick up their seven-year-old son from school. Because Drew is a recovering drug addict, the police don't believe he's missing, he's probably off on a bender somewhere, but she knows he wouldn't relapse after eight clean years, so she hires a private investigator to take on the case. While helping Jake Connolly, she's thrust into a life of mystery, drama, action, and romance. After Drew is found, her job becomes mundane, and she misses the excitement of working with Jake, but becoming a PI herself seems impossible, even with his help. However, when a young boy goes missing and a murder suspect is wrongly accused, despite the obstacles and risks, she must abandon all doubt and let her heart lead her to adventure, love, and true happiness.
Chapter 4
On the drive back to Melanie’s house, Lynn’s stomach rumbled with a forceful consistency. She hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. The sound of her hungry stomach distracted her from the worry she’d been feeling for Drew.
When she pulled into Melanie’s driveway, Lynn wondered what she would tell Danny if he asked about his dad. She had no updates, minus his missing car and the cops' relapse theory.
She’d stick with the half-truth: ‘Daddy wasn’t home, but his phone was. He probably left in a hurry and forgot to take it with him.’
That’ll do.
As she walked to Melanie’s open front door, Lynn sniffed the air. Something smelled delicious, a combination of pasta and garlic. When she walked into the house, Danny rushed to her.
“Mommy.” He wrapped his skinny arms around her waist.
“Hey, bud.” She gave him a squeeze and kissed the top of his head. Melanie sauntered out of the kitchen.
“So, how’d it go?” Danny let go of her waist. “Did you see Daddy? Is he mad at me?” His eyes were wide with worry.
Half-truth time. “No. His phone was at the apartment though. He must have gone out and forgotten it.”
Good job.
“Oh.” He had little-boy curiosity on his face. “Where did he go?”
Melanie interjected, “Hey, Danny. Feel like drawing us a cool picture?”
“Yeah.”
She led him to her desk in the corner of the living room. “There’s paper in the top drawer. Have fun, kiddo.”
Once Danny was settled, Melanie and Lynn walked into the kitchen.
“You hungry?” Melanie asked.
Lynn pointed to her grumbling stomach. “Can’t you hear it?”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She opened the fridge and pulled out a foil wrapped baking dish. Then she placed it on the counter and opened the cabinet door directly above her and reached for a dinner plate.
Lynn smiled when Melanie took the foil off. Her nose was right: broccoli cavatelli with a side of garlic bread.
“Help yourself to a drink.” Melanie dished the bounty onto the plate. “So, what really happened at Drew’s apartment?” she asked over the whir of the microwave.
Lynn sat at the kitchen table and opened the cap to the bottled water she’d taken from the fridge. “Nothing good.” She swallowed a sip.
“Have you talked to your mom? She’s usually your go-to person, aside from me, of course.” She smiled slyly, as if she had one up on Lynn’s mother.
“She and my dad are in Florida right now.”
“That’s right. I forgot about their cross-country road trip.”
Lynn’s dad had surprised her mom with a rented RV last week, a retirement gift. They were to travel around the country for three months. She couldn’t remember the last time her parents took a vacation together, just the two of them. It was well deserved. “I want them to enjoy their vacation, not spend it worrying about us.”
“Understandable. Now back to Drew. Lay it all on me.”
“His car wasn’t in the lot and his phone was on the floor in his apartment.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It gets worse. There were two empty pill bottles on his nightstand.”
“Oh, jeez.” Melanie opened the microwave door and walked the plate to the table and set it in front of Lynn. “What kind of pills?”
“Oxy.”
“No way. Did you report him as a missing person?”
“The cops think Drew relapsed, but I know he didn’t.” She chewed a piece of cavatelli, then took another sip of water. “Something else is going on.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
Lynn sighed. “If the police won’t look for Drew, I need someone who will...a private eye, maybe.”
“Can you afford it? The cost can range anywhere from ninety-nine to one hundred fifty bucks an hour.”
Lynn arched an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”
Melanie shrugged. “My parents have a very distrusting marriage, and yet, they’re still married. Go figure.”
Lynn laughed. “I have a rainy-day fund. That might cover the price.” She finished off her cavatelli then carried her empty plate to the sink.
If dipping into her rainy-day fund meant finding Drew, she was all for it. Her one hope was that he’d be found. Alive.
Please be alive, Drew.