Turn for the Worst

Chapter 43

Neal paces back and forth in his motel room. He'd called August more than a day ago and was still waiting for him to call to tell him he was on his way.

August was actually originally a friend of Emma's. He had been the one who found Emma after she had been abandoned on the side of the road. Both were orphans "allegedly" and grew up together, often being handed from foster home to foster home. The two bonded, looking out for one another and considered themselves brother and sister. However, when her "brother" turned eighteen, he moved out into the world on his own, promising his "sister" that once he had found a place to live, he'd take her in. That did not happen however for reasons that only he knew, leaving a young Emma betrayed and without hope for finally escaping the foster system. August went on to study to become a private investigator and managed to track down his real father, a carpenter in a small town in Wisconsin. Apparently, there was a huge complicated issue that arose; his parents had split up while his mother was still pregnant with him. Why that was, he never knew because his mother was in a terrible car accident after he was born. She tragically died, leaving her son in the tiny apartment alone. He was only discovered a day later by neighbours because of his crying. Since the courts had no way to track down his father, he was thrown into the foster system. August ended up running away, much like Emma did when he was young and found a crying baby by the side of the road. Knowing he could not care for a baby or leave her there, he went back to the orphanage.

Neal and Emma both met August by chance a few years back. She was still very upset about what her "brother" had done, breaking his promise like that, but August apologized and he hit it off with Neal. Emma reluctantly went along with their friendship and still did not particularly like August, until he offered to her to find her real parents. Once he had become a private investigator, he thought he should make it up to Emma to find her real parents like he found his. His former sister refused outright, not wanting to open up that old wound, but she was slightly impressed that her surrogate brother was willing to find her birth parents. The two had mutual respect after that, not much else. August and Neal both stayed in touch even after the latter left his family, but the two had drifted apart and lost contact until now. Neal knew that August would do anything to help find Emma, so he called him to help. Sometimes the police are not enough.

Neal lays on the bed he'd been sleeping for the past week and a half. He should have anticipated that his stay would be much longer, but his fiancée... not so much. Tamara called him every night and asked if he was coming home soon. She only asked about Emma once, the first night, the rest was all grovelled about how she missed him and that the apartment was not the same without him. She also told him about wedding plans and she did want him to be present for at least some of them.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but everything's just a mess and I can't leave..."

"But I really miss you," she says in an almost whining voice.

"I miss you too, but I need to be here for Henry, that's what Emma would want."

"And you're sure she didn't run off?" Tamara asks skeptically.

Neal swallows an angry lump in his throat. "No, Emma would never leave Henry behind. I might've, but not her."

"Okay, well can you give me a window of time of when you might be back?"

"I can't say, Tammy, just try to understand..."

"I'm trying baby I really am, it's just not the same without you around to hold me."

"Hopefully it will go by faster than you think. I've hired August to help with the investigation."

"You mean August, the private investigator?"