Samira's POV

"Wait, what?" I ask completely stunned by what our waitress just said.

"She's my mother." She says again as if I didn't hear her the first time.

"Eden is your mother?" I ask to clarify just one last time.

"Yes. Although she doesn't go by Eden. She goes by her middle name Scarlett. No one calls her Eden. I am surprised you know her real name. Why are you looking for her exactly?" She asks curiously.

Time to tell our little edited story to Eden's daughter I guess.

"Well she used to be very close friends with this other lady in the picture. She is his mom." I say as I point to Jared.

"She really needs to talk to her because she has something that belongs to your mother and she wanted to make sure she gives it back to her in person. She also wants to catch up. Is there a way you can take us to her?" I ask hopefully.

"Umm, I don't know. I mean you are complete strangers to me and I am not sure how I feel about taking you to my mother's house." She says her voice laced with hesitance.

"Well just to prove you can trust us, I am a police officer." Jared says as he shows her his badge and work ID.

"Please, we just want to talk to her briefly. It won't take much time. You can take us to her and we will prove to you we mean no harm." Jared says laying on the charm.

Good looking asshole. She smiles at him. Of course it worked.

"Well ok. My shift is getting ready to end. You can follow me to her place." She finally give in.

"Wonderful." I say. Then we wait for her to get off work.

We follow her up the road to Eden AKA

Scarlett's house. We did find out that her daughter's name is Charlotte. She is close to our age.

My thoughts are interrupted when Jared asks "Do you think she will have any helpful information for us? Do you think she will actually want to help us or just turn us away?"

I sit there silent for a moment and then respond. "I am not talking to you right now. You were blatantly flirting with Charlotte back there at the restaurant right in front of me." I pout.

Jared starts laughing. Ass.

"Is someone jealous?" He asks me in a mocking tone.

"I don't care what you do but you don't have to be so bold as to do it right in front of me." I respond.

"Well you don't have anything to worry about because she isn't my mate. You are and you are the sexiest woman in the world to me." He says trying to butter me up.

When I ignore him, he reaches over and starts to rub my thigh and then leans in for a quick peck. "I like it when you are possessive of me. It's a major turn on." He says huskily.

Damn mate bond and my hormones are making me cave.

Suddenly we are stopped and pulling into the driveway of a nice brick home. We get out and meet Charlotte at the front door of her mother's home. We walk inside following behind her as Charlotte yells for Eden.

"Mom....mom where are you?" She calls.

"I'm in the kitchen!" We hear her yell from the other room.

We quickly make our way to the kitchen and come into the room to see Eden with her back towards us as she cooks away at the stove. "Mom, I have some friends of mine I want you to meet. This is Jared and Samira. They actually know an old friend of yours and wanted to talk to you." She says as she introduces us.

"Oh really?! Hello, I'm Scarlett. Nice to meet you." She says as she sticks her hand out to shake our hands.

"Hi, I am Samira and this is Jared. We believe you knew Jared's mother, Karina when you guys were younger." I explain.

Her face falls a bit at the mention of Karina and her eyes widen. "I'm sorry but you are mistaken. I don't know anyone by that name and I think you should leave." She says firmly.

Shit.

This is not how I wanted this to go. Nor did Jared. I start to feel panicked. What are we going to do? We need her help.

"Charlotte, please escort them out of here." She says to her daughter.

I am speechless. I can't get the words out because I feel my throat swell as I choke back tears. I notice her look at me and I see some emotion in her eyes. Is that guilt? Does she feel sorry for me? What is it? Charlotte turns and exits the kitchen, and Jared follows behind her. He clearly is speechless as well. We don't even know where to begin to try to explain ourselves and she seems very upset. The last thing we want to do is get the cops called on us. That would look really bad for Jared.

Before I can follow them and exit, Scarlett grabs my arm and spins me around.

"Let my daughter leave and you guys drive around the block and come back." She whispers to me.

I nod in understanding and follow them outside to the porch.

"I am really sorry about that guys." Charlotte explains.

"My mom has had a very emotional year with the passing of my father. It has really messed her up. She has extreme mood swings and sometimes it's just really hard being around her. There are times when we go several days without talking to each other. She likes her solitude I guess. Anyway, I am sorry I couldn't be of more help to you." She finishes.

"Oh no, you have been more than helpful! Thank you so much for being so kind and trusting us. We appreciate it." I respond.

"You're welcome she says. Enjoy the rest of your visit." She says before getting into her car.

We follow suit and we both pull off together. Once I see her car is out of site, I tell Jared the plan. He gives me a strange look but does as I say. We circle around the block and end up back in the driveway a few minutes later. Scarlett is waiting for us on the porch. It's the moment of truth. Will she be helpful and give us the answers we are looking for? Or will she turn us away?