Free Sunset Thunder by Shannyn Leah Page A

that light of love with. The light that Donald and his late wife had held. Violet remembered seeing Mr. And Mrs. Carlex’s love for each other, and then looking at her own parents and wishing they’d shared the same special bond. They hadn’t and that was long before Violet realized happily ever after was the delusion of children’s dreams.
    Violet should have known this face from the strained relationship of her parents. The lack of love was a result of Robert’s selfish, money-hungry ways, until his last days, when the cancer took over his body and crushed him down to nothing. Those days had been the only days Violet had seen anything remotely close to compassion, love, or kindness in her father.
    Even then, she’d been wary of him.
    He wasn’t a man to trust. He was a man to fear, to be cautious of and, sure enough, after his passing, it had been brought to their attention just how corrupt Robert had really been. Behind the walls of Robert’s old office, located outside of their suites, Eliza had revealed a secret hidden room, where they found thousands of lives that Robert had destroyed, all packaged neatly in manila file folders, like alphabetized summer activity events.
    It had been unsettling.
    Eliza, being the exact opposite of Robert, was a loving, compassionate and caring person to her deepest soul and was making sure to right all the wrongs Robert had inflicted on families. It would take years. Violet didn’t even know where she would begin.
    Anya.
    Anya, Daddy’s girl. She was the closest to their father, as close as one could get to a brick wall without slamming your head off it. But she had left weeks before their dad’s death and had returned only for the funeral, then vanished again without a word. That was over a year ago and Violet would bet her disappearance had something to do with Robert. All that aside, Violet wished she knew where Anya was or at the very least that she was alright and safe. If there was a file, wouldn’t Eliza have brought it to their attention and ensured Anya’s safety.
    Then it hit Violet, a private investigator . They should hire a PI to find Anya.
    The thought had never dawned on Violet and it startled her at how much it sounded like something her father would think of. But it was brilliant. She could guarantee her sister’s safety and ease the worry she held every day for Anya. Violet planned on running the idea by Marc. With his combined knowledge of his father’s background, he would know which private investigator they could pay for and maintain a secrecy about it.
    Violet swam to the far side of the pool, hoping each stroke would leave behind her worry and clear her head.
    After this cool down, she had a date with the lounger beside the pool, a book and a bottle of wine. 
    She broke through the surface of the water and the tropical indoor paradise of palm trees and bushes around the pool offered a relaxing atmosphere, but the calm was soon ripped away as she heard her son screaming holy terror from the doorway of their suite.
    Violet grabbed the edge of the pool, lifting herself slightly to find her panicked son.
    What happened? What could possibly happen in the two minutes she’d had to herself to walk and dive into the pool? Where was Sophia?
    Violet went straight into mother mode. Joel was picking them up this morning, any minute. Was everyone okay or was it simply another sibling argument? Parker was growing a bad attitude that needed adjusting. For being the younger of the two, he didn’t fear Sophia and generally it was her tattling on Parker. 
    “What’s wrong?” she called to him, already climbing out of the pool. 
    “Dad’s running late,” Parker said, still yelling. He rolled his eyes and with a sneer added, “As usual. Can you drive us to meet him?” 
    That was it? Joel was going to be late and they needed a drive? Thank the stars neither of her children were hurt. 
    “Yes.” Violet grabbed her towel from the lounger that had promised