20
EAST
“I emailed you,” Jed said the second I answered his call. It was early and I hadn’t gone to campus yet. I’d had a shower and was drinking my coffee, but this was more of a wakeup than caffeine.
I went into my home office and opened my laptop. “What’s in there?” I asked, dropping into my chair and waiting for the screen to turn on.
“Ella Taynor, twenty-two, born in Missoula. Mom’s listed as Eleanor Taynor. No father. Mom was called by social services several times before they ultimately took Ella away. Mom died two years later. Overdose. Ella stayed in foster care until she was eighteen.”
“That’s it?” I asked, entering my password.
“She was in eight foster care homes. It took time to look at all of the families. None of them are going to win any awards, but they provided stabl
