Page 115 of Fierce-Dane

She thought of her business and the money she had hidden away. The money she made and what she had in her business.

Could she have helped her mother out?

She could. If she could have reached her.

Her mother had her number, but Sloane didn’t have her mother’s.

She’d always said she’d be there if needed, but everyone went their own way.

She left because she needed to figure out her life away from her mother’s thoughts and opinions.

Though her mother escaped with her and Sabrina and saved them from being stuck in the same life Nadine had given herself at fifteen, it didn’t mean her mother wanted to leave the comfort of having someone care for her.

Of not having to take care of children on her own. Pay her own bills. Worry about clothing or food.

All those things were just provided in the cult.

Sure, her mother worked for it, but everything else in life was taken care of.

When her mother talked about returning after Sabrina was out of the house, Sloane knew she had to leave.

She tried to talk her mother out of it and it appeared as if she’d never returned.

“That’s for me to find out,” Zander said. “Is there anything you can tell me that isn’t in these files?”

She didn’t want to admit the cult part but had no choice in the matter.

“My mother left home when she was fifteen. She joined a cult and became pregnant with me and then my sister, Sabrina, two years later. I don’t know where Sabrina is right now.”

She went on to fill Zander in on everything she remembered.

He never once judged, he just asked questions and took notes, but he was recording the conversation too.

“You’ve had no contact with anyone from that cult since you and your mother and sister left?” Zander asked.

“No,” she said. “I’d like to think my mother didn’t either. But you should know, she stole money from them. I’m not sure how much. I never asked and it was probably for the best, but based on her life history, it couldn’t be a lot. It was enough to get us a place to stay and food and clothing while she found a job and was set up for public assistance.”

“I’ll look into that too. My guess is no one was going to report the theft to the police when they’d have to answer questions about the underage pregnant women,” Zander said drily.

“That was my thought too,” she said. “For all of mymother’s faults, she got Sabrina and me out of there. Maybe I should have been there for her more.”

“It’s hard to do that when she cut off communication,” Zander said. “You said the last number you had was disconnected?”

“Yes. I put that down in the papers. The last number I had and roughly when I talked to her last. I guess I could have tried to find her before now.”

“Families don’t talk for years all the time,” Zander said. “For reasons much less than what you went through.”

He had a point. “I know,” she said. “I’ve told myself that too.”

The front door opened and Dane came in. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I got called to the hospital.”

Dane was on call this week. She knew that. They were lucky to get through the Sunday lunch and meet and greet with the kids without more than the three calls that he’d had to take.

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting that day and told herself to be open to anything.

The fact she left hours later with Shiloh and everyone was smiling and talking was a huge improvement from how it started.

She could only hope that the next time was better.