Free Her Sister (Search For Love series) by Karen Rose Smith

Amanda knew he didn't believe that
any more than they did.  She couldn't stand any more of the police talk, the
questions, the underlying insinuation that as a parent, you'd done something
wrong.
    Had Clare
done something wrong?  From the story that had come out about what had happened
with this Brad Hansen in the past week, it just sounded as if Shara didn't want
to abide by Clare's rules.  But who knew what was going on in a young girl's
mind?
    As
Amanda sank down onto Shara's bed, she scanned the room that was so totally her
granddaughter's.  She didn't have teen idols on her walls.  No, she seemed to
go for older men. Because she'd never had a father?  Because Max hadn't been
present in her life any more than he had in Clare's?  The poster was Alex
O'Loughlin from Hawaii Five-O.  Good looking and sexy.  Hot.
    Since
when had Amanda thought in those terms?  Not in years.  All that had ended with
Max leaving.  She had no desire to go to the church's social next Thursday, or
the community's single parent get-togethers.  No, she had her business.  At
home, she had hobbies.  She only wished Clare let her into her life more
completely.
    And if
Lynnie was found?  What difference would that make to their family?
    Lynnie. 
Shara.  It all swirled in Amanda's head.
    Max
found her sitting there, thinking about the past as much as the present.
    "This
isn't going to be the same," he said in a grim voice, as if he could
fathom exactly what she was thinking.  "Shara's not three.  She has a free
will and a loud enough mouth when she wants it to be.  She took off and somehow
we'll find her, but that doesn't mean she's going to want to come back."
    Gazing
up at Max, Amanda felt her heart fill up with sudden anger.  "And why wouldn't she want to come back?"
    "Clare
has the answer to that.  I don't."
    She was
already shaking her head.  "That's not true, Max.  We all have the
answer.  You and I split and created a separation that hurt everyone.  Clare
became pregnant because of it.  She had Shara to prove a point.  Even when
Shara's dad skipped town and was never heard from again, Clare took very little
assistance from us because she wants distance between us.  Distance is what
caused this problem.  If we'd been here, really been here, to support
her in raising Shara, maybe this never would have happened."  She knew
there was accusation in her tone and recrimination in her eyes, but she
couldn't help it.
    "Don't
get side-tracked into the past again, Amanda.  You live in that shop and you
spend too much time there.  Moving forward is the only way to go, and we will
move forward with this.  The detective's doing his part unofficially and we're
going to do ours.  When more time goes by, he'll make this an official
investigation."
    Max
went over to Shara's computer and booted it up.  "He's not going to be
interested in this until he gets his preliminary questions asked and interviews
kids at the school.  In the meantime, I'm going to see what I can find
out."
    "On
her computer?"
    "Kids
live on these things now, along with their phones.  I wish Clare would have let
Shara have one because maybe then we could trace her.  Since she doesn't have
one, I'll see what her computer files can tell us. "
    If Max
didn't have something to do, he was lost.  He couldn't sit still.  He couldn't
just be.  That had been a big problem between them—not insurmountable until
Lynnie had been taken.  Then Max was out in his car, driving road after road,
or at the police station, or talking to search parties, or having flyers
printed, or finding money for a reward.
    "Clare,"
he called in that determined, authoritarian voice that Amanda knew turned Clare
off.
    But
their daughter came running in.  "Did you find something?"
    "Not
yet, but I will.  I need your help getting into the computer.  What's Shara's
password?"
    "I
don't know."
    "What
do you mean you don't know?"
    "When
I handed down the desktop to Shara, I let her choose