“Thank you,” I say softly, and he reaches across the table with his tattoo-covered hand, and I take it like I have since I was little and likely will until the day I have to say goodbye to him.

“Now, tell me what you know about your friend.” He gives my fingers a squeeze and I let his hand go and sit back against the booth behind me.

Then for the next hour and a half, while we eat, I fill him and my brother in about Carly, Matthew and what has happened over the last week. And when I leave the restaurant and get back in my car, I feel more at ease then I have in days because like always, I know my father and my family will be in my corner no matter what happens.

_______________

SITTING ON THE couch in my living room with my computer on my lap, and my cell phone in my hand, I bite my bottom lip as I stare at the password box on Carly’s email. Since I got home an hour ago, I’ve accumulated a dozen potential passwords for her account from the information on her resume and what I knew of her. But I have yet to try any of them. Like all websites now days, I know I only have a limited number of tries before I’m locked out for good, and I do not want to risk that happening.

Checking the time on the clock I see that I have about two hours before I need to leave to head to Clay’s place. After telling him that I spoke with Annie, he wanted me to come right to him after brunch, but I told him when I was leaving the restaurant that I had stuff to do around my place, which wasn’t a total lie. Besides trying to break into Carly’s account, I need to catch up on laundry, run down to the mailboxes to see if there is anything there, then clean up since Leah will be home in a few days.

Holding my breath, I type in my first password option then click enter and almost instantly it kicks me back to the sign in page to try again. After the fourth try with no success I close my eyes. The chance of this working is almost impossible, and although I knew that it’s even more apparent now. Looking at the screen, I pull up the dating app and my eyes land on the sign up now link. I haven’t used this dating app, but I’m familiar with others just like it. Rubbing my lips together, I hit the sign-up button and start to fill in the information required. It doesn’t take long at all for my account to be approved and once I’m on their site, I search for Carly’s profile. Once I find it, I start to look through her photos and my throat gets tight when I come across one of her with two little boys and a woman who I bet is Annie. When I slide to the next picture, I smile at the photo she and I had taken at dinner one evening a couple months ago. Then I laugh when I slide to the next picture, I forgot that she, Becca, and Indigo had dressed up like bunnies one day for work before Easter.