Free Finding Purgatory by Kristina M Sanchez Page B

observant.”
    For a long moment, Tori eyed the other girl. There was something very twitchy about her, but it seemed ridiculous to consider her dangerous. Her belly was already big enough she had that whole waddle thing going on. “She’s my sister.”
    “Your sister?” Emily ducked her head, clapping a hand over her mouth when she realized how loud that had come out. “Sorry. Just, errr. I mean, she looks a lot older than you.”
    “You’re kind of a spaz, aren’t you?”
    Emily pursed her lips, but then she rolled her eyes and grinned. “That’s exactly what my brother calls me.”
    “Oh. Well, yeah. My sister is a lot older than me. My parents had me when she was sixteen.”
    “That’s kind of the same as me and my broth—my brother.” A strange, sad expression came over Emily’s face for a moment, but it was gone the next instant. “But we don’t have the same dad.”
    “Ah.” Tori paused a beat more because she was curious what else was going to come out of this near-complete stranger’s mouth. But the girl only looked back with an expectant stare. “Anyway. She’s probably waiting for me.”
    “Oh. Yeah. I’m, uh . . .” She glanced around. “I think I’m going to get a cookie before I leave.” She waved awkwardly. “See you next time?”
    “Yeah.” Tori nodded. “Guess I’ll be here.”
    She was a little surprised to realize she wasn’t lying.
     
     
    Ani turned Shane’s business card over and over in her hands. She tapped it on the edge of her desk and tried to concentrate on the words on her computer screen. She was supposed to be replying to an e-mail, but it was difficult to concentrate on work these days.
    More and more, Ani’s thoughts were consumed by the puzzle her sister presented. The want to know what had happened to Tori between the time Ani had left her in the supposedly capable hands of the Welches and when Tori climbed into her car, seventeen and pregnant, was consuming her thoughts more and more.
    The previous night, when Ani picked Tori up from group, she’d been flippant about how it had all gone.
    “They got a little pissed at me when I dared to mention how giving a baby up for adoption doesn’t guarantee its life is all rainbows and sunshine,” she’d said. “I guess I was lucky the Welches got pregnant before they could adopt me. After you sign all the paperwork, you’re stuck, right? And then they would have had the kid they really loved because it looked like them or whatever, and me—the kid they got stuck with because they were stupid enough to sign a piece of paper saying they would love me forever.”
    Her final comment had made Ani’s stomach ache. “Guess we better hope this one looks like your old kid, huh?”
    Ani put the card down on her desk and rubbed her temples. Her heart was beginning to pound, and an uncomfortable lump had risen in her throat. She was doing her best not to think about her sister’s baby. Not yet. There was still time for that.
    She concentrated instead on the other tidbit of information. At least it was one of a million questions answered. She knew now why Tori had ended up tossed back into the system with no chance for permanence in her life. The Welches had changed their minds about adopting.
    Giving up on the idea she was going to get any work done today, Ani picked up her phone and dialed.
     
     
    “Thanks for doing this,” Ani said to Shane as they were led to their booth. He had agreed to meet her for dinner so she could talk about Tori.
    Shane nodded. “Just remember I have a lot of privileged information I can’t talk about without Tori’s permission.”
    “I understand. But if I know something from her past, I can talk about it?”
    “I don’t see why not. I’m just telling you now, I can’t give you details.”
    “Right.”
    A waiter came to take their drink orders. When he’d gone again, Ani was as ready as she was ever going to be. Still, she didn’t know where to start, didn’t know how