The call disconnected, and I struggled to draw a breath.

"Brynn? What's wrong?" Jeff asked, walking toward me with concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I just heard from one."

"What does that mean?"

"My mother," I said shortly.

"Vicky? Is she all right?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not my stepmother. My mother."

"I thought your mom died when you were a child."

"I thought so, too. But a nurse from a hospital in San Francisco just called me. She said my mother was shot, and she's in critical condition. She wants me to come right away."

Jeff gave me a disbelieving look. "She must have the wrong person."

"She sent me a photo of my mom with me and Dani. It was in the woman's wallet. And she said her name was Kim Landry, although she had some other name on her ID. But she had my name in her phone. That's why they called me. She wanted me and Dani to know she was sorry." The words poured out of me before I could even process them.

"There has to be an error." His brows furrowed together in a frown. "You should call Dani."

Dani was always my first call when I had a problem, but she was at her doctor's appointment. She was going to find out if her baby was okay. I could not drop this bomb on her, not until I knew what was going on. "She's at the doctor's office with Steve. They're doing an ultrasound. I can't call her right now."

"What about your father?"

"I could call him." I grabbed onto the idea like a lifeline. I punched in my father's number, but it went straight to voicemail, and I remembered Steve telling me that my father had been out of touch. I hung up without leaving a message because I had no idea what I would say. "He didn't answer."

"What about Vicky?"

"No," I said. My stepmother was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.

Jeff gave me a troubled look. "What do you want to do?"

My mind was spinning, but there was only one answer to that question. "I have to go to San Francisco, and I have to leave now."

"That's a three-hour drive, maybe longer at this time of day."

"Then I better get started."

"This is a bad idea," Jeff said. "You should talk to Dani."

"No. I need to find out what's happening. Then I'll talk to her. Please don't tell her, Jeff. Don't tell Steve, either. Promise me."

My demand made him uncomfortable. "I don't know. You're acting on emotion, Brynn. This could be a bad decision."