But he had never, not for a single day, stopped wondering.
And now, the living, breathing legacy of Caroline Hayes was standing directly behind him, clutching his vest, terrified out of her mind.
Mason slowly turned his body, his immense frame squaring off with the man by the door. The grief in his eyes rapidly crystallized into something incredibly violent.
"You have about ten seconds to explain why you were following this kid."
Darren held his ground, though he sensibly lowered his voice. "I wasn't following her."
"You walked in here looking for her."
"Because she ran away from me."
"You were taking me to the car!" Lily shrieked, pointing an accusing finger.
"I was trying to keep you alive!" Darren fired back.
The diner fell dead quiet again. Cal shifted his weight, closing the distance to the stranger. "That’s a dangerous choice of words."
Darren locked eyes with Mason, refusing to back down. "Ask her where her mother is."
Mason turned his head slightly. "Lily?"
The anger drained from the little girl's face, instantly replaced by fresh, welling tears. "I don't know."
"When did you last see her?"
"This morning. At a motel."
Darren opened his mouth to interrupt. "Lily—"
Mason didn't look at him. He just raised one thick, scarred finger. Darren snapped his mouth shut.
"Mom woke me up before the sun came up," Lily sniffled, wiping her nose on her torn sleeve. "She told me to get dressed fast."
"What happened?" Mason asked softly.
"She was scared."
"Did she say why?"
Lily nodded her head, her wet hair clinging to her neck. "She said someone found us."
Mason heard the faint, telltale creak of Cal’s leather boots shifting. A silent preparation for war. "Who found you?"
"She didn't say. But she put me in Darren's truck."
Every heavily tattooed arm in the room seemed to tense simultaneously. The collective gaze of the brotherhood burned holes into Darren.
Mason’s voice grew impossibly hard, a low rumble of thunder. "Your mother gave you to him?"
Lily hesitated, glancing at the man in the doorway. "Yes."
Darren let out a long, shuddering breath of relief.
"But then," Lily continued, her voice hitching, "Mom whispered something when he wasn't looking."