When A Man Loves A Woman(9)

“First, I need to ask if this is kept confidential.” His face tightened up and he held his fists bunched up by his sides.

“Of course it is. If you’re asking if I’ll repeat our conversation to Sarah or Blue or anyone for that matter, the answer is absolutely not. As a social worker I deal in private matters every single day. Confidentiality is crucial.”

They locked gazes. Something about the intensity emanating from the depths of his gray eyes made her want to look away. She inhaled a breath. Why was she being so silly? She was a professional woman who was adept at dealing with all types of situations. Surely this was no different.

“Why don’t you take a seat,” she offered.

Mac took a seat in the cherry wood hard-backed chair across from her desk. It was amazing, she thought, that such a large man could even fit into such a modest sized chair. He was all arms and legs and broad shoulders.

She took a quick look at her watch. “My next appointment won’t be here for a half hour. Shoot.”

“I’m looking for my sister,” he blurted out.

Sister? Mac had a sister?

Delilah tried not to show her surprise. “A sister? Oh. I didn’t know. Sarah never mentioned you having a sibling.” She ran her hand through her hair.

Mac leaned forward in his chair. His fingers were steepled in front of him. “I’ll give you the short version. Twenty years ago I was taken out of an abusive home along with my younger sister. Her name is Callie. Because I had sustained injuries at the hands of my step-father the police took me to the hospital. I stayed there for two days, then I was taken to a foster care agency. I never saw Callie again. There was never any indication of where she was sent or with whom. Matter of fact, all records pertaining to Callie were extinguished, from what I can gather. Everyone spent years telling me quite convincingly that there was no trace of her.” He let out a shudder. “Matter of fact, my adoptive parents were told there was no sister. At some point I gave up on the idea and put Callie out of my mind. It was the only way I could stay sane.”

Delilah took a breath. She felt as if she’d been holding her breath ever since Mac began his story. And what a story it was. A sister who had disappeared without a trace? And now, all these years later he wanted to be reunited with her.

“So what’s changed if you don’t mind my asking? Why now?” she asked.

“I’ve spent decades pushing Callie to the back of my mind because I was so scared of being viewed as crazy. Back then I was so mixed up I started to wonder if she had been real.” He let out a harsh laugh. “But now, as an adult, I know she was real. She existed. I have genuine memories of the two of us together. The last day we were together is engrained in my memory.” His voice got soft. “And there’s a piece of me that won’t rest until I can find her. I was in Boston a few weeks ago looking for the woman who was in charge of my case for the foster care agency. Mrs. Worther. They worked hand in hand with social services. She retired a few years ago with no active address or phone number where I can find her. I’m using the services of a PI to try and locate Mrs. Worther, but until I can find something tangible about Callie there’s not even a thread of evidence they can follow.”

“So you want me to check the social service records? I’m only privy to Massachusetts records. Was this your state of residence?”

“Yes, we were living in Western Massachusetts. A town called Farmington.”

“I can do a check for you Mac, but I’m not sure if the records from twenty years ago were digitized. There was a big scandal within social services a few years back related to all the files that were purged or missing. They may be sitting in a dusty warehouse somewhere.”

Mac scratched his jaw. He didn’t look too happy at the moment, which she completely understood. He was looking for a needle in a haystack.

“What was your birth name?”

“Monahan. You should look under Callie Monahan. Or Caledonia Monahan.”

“Caledonia? That’s an unusual name. Which is a good thing. It narrows the search possibilities.” She nodded at Mac.

Mac smiled. “She never liked it. Which is why I always called her Callie.”

“And your parents?”

“My Mom…is deceased. Her name was Shirley. Shirley Monahan. I never knew my birth father. But my stepfather’s name was Frank Ripozzo.”

She was writing all his information down on a sheet of paper. “Can he be tracked down perhaps to shed some light on what might have happened to your sister?”

Mac’s jaw began to tremble. “You’d have to go to the cemetery to track him down. Twenty years ago he took my mother’s life and then his own.”