“Fuck.”
“It gets worse.”
Samuel rubbed his tired eyes. “What.”
“They have no idea what his plan is.” Jacobs sighed. “And believe me, they really have no idea what his plan is. We didn’t go easy on them. They just know nothing.”
Samuel sighed. “Okay, thanks. Anything else?” he asked.
“No. I’ll keep you updated.”
Samuel ended the call and continued to pace.
“Moving around so much isn’t actually going to help you, you know.”
He turned around to find Morganna walking into the room. He’d given her one of the guest houses and some clothes that had belonged to his mom, and she’d showered and changed already.
“Sorry,” he said, forcing his body to go still as he tucked hid hands, along with his phone into his pockets. “I just don’t like being so helpless. There are so many people working on this and no one has found anything yet that will help us find them. I don’t want a week to pass by before we have her back…”
By the way things were going, though, that might not be possible. And it worried him so much when he thought of Camila and how she was doing. What condition was she in right then? Was Adrien hurting her?
Or, had he killed her already?
He usually got to that thought and then stopped any more of those sorts of thoughts in their tracks. He already felt like he was going crazy, but if he thought like that, then he really would be crazy.
“Have you gotten anything at all from the police? Do they at least know where to start looking, or are they still doing a wide search?”
Samuel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “They’ve narrowed it down somewhat, but not enough. They’re at least positive he hasn’t gotten on a plane to somewhere, but he could just as easily have gotten into a car and driven off. And it’s not like they can search through every building in New York to see if he’s slipped in somewhere while no one was paying attention.”
She hummed, then moved to sit down. In the day and a half since Camila had been taken, he’d noticed how her back kept bowing lower with each passing moment. She was worrying about Camila, just like he was, but he couldn’t imagine the depth of her worry. He hadn't known Camila for that long, less than a year, and they’d been together for even less. But, she was Camila’s mom, and from what she’d told him, they only had each other in the whole world.
“Try not to overwork yourself too much with worry,” Morganna said as she leaned back in the chair. He almost thought she was trying to comfort him. “Try to conserve your energy for when something does happen, all right?”
“I can try,” he said with a sigh, moving to sit down himself. “I’m usually good at sticky situations, but not when it involves people I care about.”
“Camila did say you were in the military,” she said conversationally.
“Yes, ma’am. I was in service for about a decade before I had to come back. Still, nothing in the civilian world ever seemed worse than anything I’d ever witnessed out there, which is probably why I’m used to keeping my cool.”
When it had to do with work or dealing with his family, he was good at it, but not when Adrien did something this bad, and involving their sister and Camila, of all people…
Samuel had never dealt well with losing people he cared for. He still thought about their parents and had regrets for not being there when they passed away. It had been more than a year since he’d seen them when the accident happened, and he never forgave himself for that.
So no matter what, he wanted to be there for Camila, and he didn’t want anything horrible to happen to her. If Adrien hurt her… He clenched his fist and he pressed his lips together in a flat line, afraid to voice his thoughts.
“I can't stay calm, either,” Morganna explained with a chuckle. “I’m just older than you and I get tired with too much excitement, or I would be pacing with you. But… I can't say this is the first time I’ve gone through something like this.”
Samuel perked up in curiosity. “Do you mind if I ask you to elaborate on that, ma’am?”
She let out a sigh. “No need to call me ma’am, Morganna is fine.” She gave him a curious smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Has Camila ever told you about her father?”
He thought back, knowing they had talked about it before. Camila had been worried about how he would react to her telling him her mom was a murderer. She hadn't said that part out aloud, but her expression hadn't even tried to hide it.
“She did tell me some of the circumstances,” he said delicately. “But she did make it clear that he wasn’t around anymore.”
Morganna nodded and heaved a sigh. She appeared to be contemplating how much to tell him.
“You don’t have to—” Samuel reached a hand out to her in comfort.