Page 98 of Silver Tears

“Darling girl, what’s wrong? What on earth is going on?”

Her bottom lip quivers as she faces him. “This is mum’s house. She lives here with our little brother, Charlie. I’ve been seeing them in secret for almost a year. Mum’s not been doing good. She’s been drinking and doing drugs and she got involved with a guy and he’s kidnapped her and Charlie. It’s all my fault, Dad. It’s my fault he’s taken them because I stabbed him when he tried to rape me.”

Adam’s face pales as he takes in her words and the devastation on his face when she tells him that someone tried to rape her is devastating to see.

“I’m so sorry, dad. I lied to you all. I’m not your perfect girl anymore. I hurt you and betrayed you just like mum did and I’m so sorry.”

Adam looks like his world has shattered around him as his little girl tells him she’s sorry. I let go of Mills when he reaches out and cups her face in his hands and wipes away a tear. “Listen to me. You are my daughter. My love for you is unconditional. Nothing will ever change that, and I’m sorry if I made you feel you had to make up for your mother’s failings. If you kept this from me, it’s because I made you feel you couldn’t tell me. I love you, Milly. Never doubt that. Nothing you do will ever change that.”

Mills throws herself at her dad and he embraces her as she breaks her heart, sobbing into his chest. It kills me to see her like this. Behind him, Damon and Luca both look like someone has punched them in the guts. Eliza moves up beside Damon and strokes his arm, trying to offer him some support.

“You knew?” Adam asks, and I nod my head.

“Don’t be mad at him, dad. Seb helped me look after them. He set up a supermarket tab for them; I was struggling to earn enough to keep them warm and fed. I don’t think I could have managed without him. He even looked after Charlie when mum was wasted, and I had to go to work.”

Mill’s phone rings and she peels herself away from her father to pull it out of her pocket. She frowns. “It’s an unknown number.”

Everyone is immediately on alert. “Answer it,” Boyd says. “It could be Lenny.”

“Hello.”

“Milly!”

It’s Charlie.

“Charlie!” Milly says frantically. “Charlie, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“That’s enough. Give me the phone, you little shit!” Lenny growls. “I have them both. You think I don’t know that you and that boyfriend of yours are rich? Your mum here told me all about it.”

“Please don’t hurt them,” Milly begs him. “We’ll give you anything you want.”

“Oh, I know you will. Here’s the deal, bitch. You have twenty-four hours to arrange a million pounds in cash, or I’ll start sending your mum to you in pieces. Then I’ll start on your precious little brother. I’ll call you tomorrow to tell you where to drop the money.”

The line goes dead on the other side.

“Work on getting a trace of the number,” Boyd orders one of his men, asking Milly if he can have her phone, which she gladly hands over to him. “Do you have any idea where he might have taken them?” Boyd asks Mills and me, and we both shake our heads.

I feel so fucking helpless. I want to make it all better for her and take away her pain.

“I can’t believe you’ve been in touch with mum all this time,” Damon says, coming to sit on her other side. “How did you find her?”

“She contacted me on snapchat and asked if we could meet.” She glances guiltily at her dad. “I was curious. I wanted to see what she had to say. When I got there, Charlie was with her, and she told me he was my brother.”

Day nods his head, listening, stroking her back. “That’s why you were working so hard to have enough money to help them?”

“Yes. I was scared Charlie would get taken off her, so I did what I could to keep things ticking over. Seb and Peggy stepped into help me when it all started becoming too much.”

“Boyd, talk to me. What do we do?” Adam asks, running a weary hand through his dark hair. “I can ask the bank to expedite the money in cash.”

Boyd nods his head, looking deep in thought. “We have twenty-four hours. I’m hoping in that time we can locate them. If we can get a lead on his location via his mobile, then we won’t have to worry about getting the money.”

“All due respect, but that’s a risk. I’ll call my bank now and get them to arrange the withdrawal.” He drops a kiss on Mill’s head and tells her he’ll be back as soon as he made the call, and it allows me to take the seat beside her again. When I do, she grabs onto my hand and grips it tightly.

“I can’t lose Chops,” she says, her eyes red and swollen from the tears she’s shed.

“You won’t. We’ll get him back safe and sound, Mills.”

The next few hours are some of the longest of my life. The house is overrun with police. Peggy knocks on the door and joins us all as we all wait for any news.

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