Page 62 of The Gathered Fragments of Us
"Of course you do. I'm awesome," I could hear the smile in her voice.
"You are. Okay—so, the reason we were having some issues..." And I gave her an abbreviated version of what has happened over the last couple weeks from the purse and fight with Caden, the feeling of invisibility for the last few years. My fingers were fiddling with the locket as I told her about the apology gift from him and Macy and how they not only donated the purse but their time too. "They chose an organization that helps women rebuild their lives after abuse. Women like..." my voice trailed off.
"Women like me," Maliyah finished quietly. "Damn. I want to hate him so much for the shit he pulled, but I love what he did to turn things around. I really love that they didn't just throw money at a problem. That's precious."
"I know. It was more than I would have thought they'd do."
"Babes, they did it because they knew you—saw you. I get things broke with Caden along the way, but his actions now say something about his heart. People do dumb shit, but it's what they do on the other side, and how they learn from it, that makes the difference."
"I hadn't thought of it that way."
"I think the big question is whether the change will be sustained, or whether you'll be back in the same spot next year."
"He wants to do therapy. Even found a few therapists—but then all this with Macy happened."
"Damn."
"I know. I think he will still—" my voice trailed off as I saw the door opened down the hall. Detective Morrison emerged with his phone pressed to his ear. He caught my eye and held up one finger—almost done.
"MayMay, I gotta go. The detective is coming back."
"Okay. But Felicity? Call or text me tonight, no matter how late. Just to let me know how things are going, okay?
"I love you, May."
"I love you too. And I'm praying for all of you."
I hung up and walked back to where Caden was sitting. He looked up expectantly.
"Just Maliyah." I explained, settling beside him. "She had some thoughts about Jessica's behavior."
"Like what?"
Before I could answer, Detective Morrison approached us, his expression carefully neutral.
Morrison appeared in the doorway, looking tired but focused. "The Amber Alert is active across three states," he said, settling into the chair across from us. "But I have some other information that might actually be good news."
Caden looked up from his phone. "What kind of good news?"
"We've been checking out Jessica's husband, Brad, to see if he was involved in the financial crimes. He's clean. No evidence of any connection to the theft, no unexplained deposits, nothing—they even have separate accounts and only use a joint one for their shared expenses."
I felt some tension leave my shoulders that I didn't even realize I'd been carrying.
"So he really didn't know?" Caden asked.
Morrison nodded. "When we questioned him about Jessica's computer habits, her recent behavior changes, he was genuinely shocked to learn about the theft. He talked about her recent behaviors around keeping her devices private, but he thought she was just dealing with work and some other stressers.'"
"He thought it was just work stuff?"
"Exactly. He'd actually been trying to get her help—found searches on his computer for therapists, depression resources. He thought her mood changes were stress-related."
Caden ran a hand through his hair. "So he was trying to help her."
"Looks that way. He did mention she'd been having headaches, trouble sleeping, her moods would swing from irritable to happy and then morose. He'd been encouraging her to see someone."
I thought about Brad at family events—always quiet, always seemed to genuinely care about Macy. "What about Macy? Is he worried about her?"
Morrison's expression softened slightly. "First question he asked was whether she was safe. He's been cooperative about providing information that might help us find them."
