“Sure. Give me the name and a rundown of what I’m looking for.”
“Cecily Kemper. She was married to an Allen Kemper, mother to Adaline Kemper.”
“That your roommate?”
“It is.” I dropped my pen to the desk and stood, feeling the need to move. “She left Addie with her asshole of a father when Addie was young. Some closure’s needed there.”
“When you say asshole…?”
“I mean abusive.” Addie hadn’t explicitly shared, but I knew that much was true.
Holt muttered a curse under his breath. “I don’t get how anyone could leave a kid in a situation like that.”
“Me, either. I don’t care how scared you are.”
“I’ll see what I can find. But if she landed at a shelter, there’s a chance she might’ve changed her identity.”
“Whatever you can do, we’d appreciate it.”
“See there’s that we word again. It has me wondering if you’re feeling a little more than friendship for your little roommate.” There was a grin in Holt’s words.
I shook my head. “When did you turn into a nosy gossip?”
“Hey, I always like to know what’s what.”
“You just don’t like it when the gossip’s about you.”
Holt grunted in response.
“I like her. Addie’s different.”
“Different how?”
“Sees more than most of the people around her. Appreciates the little things. I don’t know. I feel at peace when I’m around her.” Heat crept up my neck as I spoke, yet I couldn’t deny that everything I said was the complete truth.
“For people like you and me, peace is the greatest gift there is.”
“It is.”
“Don’t waste it. She gives you that, don’t be afraid to go for it.”
I started moving again, walking back and forth across my office. “It’s complicated. She’s been through a lot—”
“Don’t waste it, Beck.”
“I won’t.”
Raised voices sounded from down the hall.
“I want to have a word with the fuckin’ doctor, and I want that word now.”
Hell. “I gotta go. Someone’s making a scene in reception.”
“Go. I’ll call you when I have an update.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Anytime.”