When Laura opened the door, twenty years of memories came rushing back.
“I’m looking for Mia,” I said.
Laura’s expression changed.
“You don’t know, do you?”
I had heard those words before.
“Know what?”
Laura stepped aside.
“Mia was Daniel’s daughter.”
I couldn’t speak.
She explained that Daniel had never known Mia existed. Laura had never told him. Six months earlier, Sophie had discovered Laura’s name among Daniel’s belongings and tracked Mia down. The two young women had eventually taken a DNA test and confirmed that they were half-sisters.
Sophie had secretly taken the resort job because she wanted to find Mia.
But there was more.
Mia had recently given birth.
And Laura had been pressuring her to give up control of the situation because, in Laura’s view, Mia was too young and financially unstable to raise a child.
That explained everything.
Sophie hadn’t taken the baby from Mia.
She had been helping her hide the baby temporarily.
I called Sophie.
“I know who Mia is,” I said. “Give me her address.”
An hour later, I was standing outside a cheap motel.
Mia opened the door.
She looked exhausted and frightened.
