“Where are we going?” Rachel asked, looking at his car warily.
“I need to show you something,” he said.
She wondered momentarily if she should get in. Jeremy was acting strangely—almost deflated by the name she’d remembered. She’d never trusted Jeremy when she was a child, and Avery definitely didn’t trust him. Should she trust him now?
Jeremy unrolled the passenger window a crack. “Are you coming? I think you’re going to be interested in what I have to show you.”
Rachel opened the door and got inside. She simply had to trust him. He hadn’t given her any reason not to trust him this past week. The entire police station knew she was with him. And he’d been sending an officer to guard her at the hotel every night. It seemed silly to believe he wanted to harm her.
“Where are we going?” Rachel asked as he pulled the car away from the station.
“Across town. You’ll see,” he said.
He looked tired. Weary. Like he was ready to give up.
“This whole thing is one God-damned mess,” Jeremy said, shaking his head. “I have the press calling me every five minutes for information about what the coroner has learned. I have the coroner telling me that there is no new information because we still have nothing to test against the dead girl’s DNA. Your mother is insisting that Keith be let out of prison. And we still have no answers or leads.”
“What do you mean we have no answers or leads? I just gave you a name,” Rachel said.
“You’ll see,” he said again.
Rachel’s phone rang, and she pulled it out of her back pocket. Avery was calling. “Hi, Avery. Are you back?”
“Where are you?” Avery asked, sounding panicked. “Are you still at the police station?”
“No. I’m in the car with Jeremy,” she said. “Is something wrong?”
“Crap. You need to get as far away from Jeremy as possible. Quick! Don’t go anywhere with him. I’m still at least thirty-minutes away, but I’ll meet you at your hotel as soon as I get to town. Please. Just get away from him.”
“Avery,” Rachel said as calmly as possible. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later. Just don’t go anywhere with Jeremy,” Avery said.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later,” Rachel said lightly as if they’d just had a normal conversation. She wondered what Avery had learned about Jeremy. She looked out the window to note where they were. They were driving in a nice neighborhood with big houses, green lawns, and tall trees. Jeremy pulled into the driveway of a newer-looking house and put the car in park.
“Where are we?” Rachel asked, unsnapping her seatbelt in case she had to escape quickly.
“I want you to meet someone,” Jeremy said. He got out, and she did too. Just as they drew close to the front door, a tall, slender woman with long, dark hair stepped outside the door and started yelling at Jeremy.
“Get out! You know the rules. One hundred yards. You can’t come within a hundred yards of me or the kids without my permission.”
Both Jeremy and Rachel stopped in their tracks. Jeremy waved his hand dismissively through the air. “Yeah, I know. I know. But I brought someone here to see you.” He turned to Rachel. “This is my ex-wife, Luna Hernandez.”
“What?” Rachel’s eyes widened. Had she heard right?
“Yep. She’s your age, and she knew you. Go ahead. You can talk to her and find out for yourself.” He walked back to the car and leaned against it, his arms crossed.
Dazed, Rachel walked up to the covered porch. “Luna? Is that really you?”
Luna’s hands flew up to cup her mouth. “Oh, my God! I saw you on the news. It really is you. You’re Rachel Parnell.” She stepped over and hugged Rachel as if they were old friends. “Come in. Come in,” Luna said after releasing her.
Rachel followed Luna inside. The house was beautiful. The entryway fanned out to the staircase on the left, a hallway beside that, a large living room directly in front, and the kitchen/family room to the right. Luna led her to the kitchen.
“Can I get you something to drink? Water? Soda?” Luna asked, still looking at her as if she was staring at a ghost.
Rachel shook her head. She was still trying to get her bearings. Luna was alive. She was Jeremy’s ex-wife. None of it was adding up in her head.
“Please, sit down,” Luna said, leading her to the sofa in the family room. “Sorry about the mess. Teenaged girls never pick up after themselves.”
Rachel moved a video game control out of her way to sit down. As she glanced around, she noticed there were sneakers tossed in a corner, a sweater lying on the back of the sofa, and bottles of nail polish on the coffee table—typical teenage items.
“We have two girls. Sixteen and fourteen,” Luna said, looking uneasy as she spoke. “I guess I didn’t take your advice very well all those years ago.”
Rachel’s brows shot up. “Advice?”
Luna nodded. “Remember the day we met? You invited me to join you at the table. Your brother and his friend, Jeremy,” she rolled her eyes, “came over and gave you a hard time. Afterward, you warned me to stay away from them.”
“I remember,” Rachel said, stunned that Luna remembered all that. “My brother was so cruel back then. I didn’t want him to hurt you.”
“Well, I should have listened,” Luna said. “But years later, when Jeremy came back to town to work on the police force, he seemed like a completely different guy. I ended up marrying him, and we had two kids. But he wasn’t as nice as I’d thought. Anyway, it ended up in a terrible divorce with a restraining order against him.”
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said, sympathetically. “Was he abusive?”
She shook her head. “No, no. Nothing like that. I mean, he and I had some bad fights, but his kind of abuse was mental. Emotional. The guy needs to learn to leave his work at the office, but he carried it with him all the time. It makes him crazy, and then he acts crazy. But he pays the mortgage on my house, and he makes sure the kids have everything they need. He’s good that way. We just don’t get along. Anyway, you’re not here to listen to my problems.”
Rachel leaned in closer to Luna. She looked so young and pretty. She wore leggings, sneakers, and a long, black sweatshirt and looked no more than twenty-five. It was hard to believe they were the same age. “I don’t mind listening. I’m sorry things ended up that way for you.”
“Well. That’s the way things go.” She shrugged. “I’m so happy to have a chance to see you. I’ve never forgotten that day. When I heard later that you’d been killed, I cried and cried. I’d been in the park that day—the day the little girl was killed. It gave me chills for years just knowing that I’d been there.”
“You were there?” Rachel perked up. “Did you see Keith there, too?”
She shook her head. “No. I was there for a short time, then went home. My aunt and uncle were visiting, so I went home to see my cousin.” Luna stopped talking, dropping her eyes.
Rachel sensed there was more. “And?”
Luna’s eyes flew up to Rachel. “And? Oh, nothing. That’s all I knew of that day. I never saw you in the park.” Her leg started to jiggle nervously.
“Oh.” Rachel was relieved that Luna was alive, but now she was confused again about who the dead girl was. “Luna? I’m here because I thought the little girl who’d been killed was you.”
“Me?” Luna looked shocked. “Why?”
Rachel pulled the small envelope out of her purse and opened it. She slid the bracelet out into her palm. “Do you remember making these bracelets with me that day at the park?”
Luna’s brown eyes went wide. “Where did you get that?”
“It belonged to the girl who died,” Rachel said gently. “I had one, and I knew you had one with the same colors. I think this bracelet is the reason my father identified the girl as me. He’d noticed it the night before the murder.”
Tears welled up in the other woman’s eyes. “Oh, my God,” she said in a hoarse whispe
r. “I wasn’t wearing the bracelet that day.”
“But I tied it on your wrist,” Rachel said. “What happened to it?”
Luna looked straight into Rachel’s eyes as tears fell down her cheeks. “You called it a friendship bracelet. So I gave it to my favorite person in the world. My cousin, Leticia.”
Rachel’s heart clenched. “And where is Leticia now?”
Luna shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. She disappeared the day you were found dead.”
Chapter Seventeen
Rachel gasped as Luna’s words hit her. “Leticia disappeared from where?”
“Here. This town. That very day.” Luna’s tears were falling faster, and she dropped her head in her hands, sobbing.
Rachel looked around, found a box of tissues, and brought them to her. She sat beside Luna and rubbed her back, her heart breaking for her. This was a twist that Rachel hadn’t expected. Once Luna had calmed down a little, Rachel asked, “Why wasn’t she ever reported as missing?”
Luna blew her nose and wiped her eyes. “Her parents, my father’s brother and his wife, were migrant workers. They were working illegally in this country. They couldn’t bring attention to themselves or the many other family members working here.”
This broke Rachel’s heart. How horrible it must have been to have their daughter missing and feel they couldn’t say anything. “What did they do?”
“When they heard about the little girl who’d been murdered, they fell to pieces. But then the girl was identified as you, so my aunt and uncle thought they might still find Leticia. The word went out through the migrant community, and they all searched for her, with no luck.”
“Was she the same age as we were?” Rachel asked. She hated having to ask Luna so many questions, but it was necessary. If Leticia was the girl who’d been killed, they needed to know.
Luna nodded. “She and I were the same age. That day I went to the park looking for you, and apparently, Leticia went there looking for me. I’m the reason she was in the park alone that day.” Her tears flowed again.
Rachel wrapped her arm around Luna and let her cry. It was such a heart-wrenching situation. “Are your uncle or aunt still around the area?” Rachel finally asked.
“No,” Luna said. “They left long ago. They never found any trace of Leticia, and now I know why. They moved back to Mexico, and my uncle died years ago. My aunt died last year. Leticia had a younger brother, but we didn’t stay in touch. I don’t know where he is.”
“Oh, Luna. I’m so, so sorry. Are your parents still here?”
“My mother is. She still lives in the small house we rented all those years ago. My parents bought it. My father died two years ago.”
Rachel sighed. It was all so sad. “Would you be willing to submit your DNA to see if there’s a family match?”
Luna nodded. “Of course.”
“I’ll have Jeremy set it up. We’ll make sure he isn’t there when you do it, though.”
“Thank you,” Luna said.
Rachel placed the bracelet back into the envelope and slipped it in her purse. She stayed a while longer with Luna until she’d calmed down.
Luna walked her to the door, and the two women hugged. “Hey?” Luna said, nodding toward Jeremy still standing by the car. “Watch out for him. He’s got a temper like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
“I will,” Rachel said. “It seems like everyone is warning me about Jeremy. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Luna nodded, and Rachel walked out into the sunshine, back to Jeremy’s car. As she drew near, her phone buzzed. Avery had left a text message.
“I’ll be in town in a few minutes. I’ll see you at the hotel,” he’d written.
She shoved the phone back into her pocket.
“Well? That took a long time,” Jeremy said. “You must have had a lot to talk about.”
Rachel got into the car, and Jeremy drove off. “Can you drop me at the hotel?” she asked.
“Sure. So, what happened in there?”
She turned and studied Jeremy a moment. The thought that maybe, just maybe, he’d been the killer and not Keith had occurred to her more than once. But why? What would it have benefited him? But then, did a killer need a reason?
“What?” Jeremy asked gruffly.
“Oh. Nothing.” Rachel turned away.
“She told you, didn’t she? Why there’s a restraining order against me so I can’t even see my own children without permission. Well, don’t judge me too harshly. After all, there are always two sides to every story.”
She nodded. “True enough.” Rachel turned to Jeremy again. “We think we’ve figured out who the murdered girl is.”
“Who?” They were stopped at a red light, and he gave her his full attention.
“Luna’s cousin, Leticia Hernandez. She disappeared the same day as the murder. And she was wearing the bracelet Luna had made. The one that was the same as mine.”
Jeremy looked like he was pondering this as the light turned green, and he drove on. “They were the same age?”
“Yes. Same age, build, and hair color.”
“Same as you,” he said.
“Yes.”
Jeremy shook his head. “They never reported it. I suppose her parents were here illegally, and they didn’t dare.”
“Right again,” Rachel said.
He sighed. “Makes sense.”
“Will you set it up so Luna can have her DNA tested and compared to the dead girl’s? I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a match.”
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll have her go to the clinic today, and they can do it,” Jeremy said. He pulled up to the side door of the hotel just as his phone rang. Looking at it, he grimaced. “What?” Jeremy bellowed into the phone.
Rachel watched him as he listened impatiently to the caller. “Just hang tight. I’ll be at the office in a minute.” He clicked off the phone. “Stupid Archie,” he mumbled. Looking up at Rachel again, he asked, “Is Avery nearby?”
“He’s on his way here right now,” she told him.
“Good. I’ll send an officer over, too, just in case. Once news of this new lead gets out, the press will get aggressive. Do you want me to walk you up to your room?”
Rachel watched him carefully. “What are you afraid will happen?” she asked.
His brows rose. “You’re my responsibility until this is all over. Nothing can happen to you.”
“Do you know anyone who’d want to hurt me?”
Jeremy let out a breath as if he’d been holding it in a long time. “No. But better safe than sorry. After all, someone wanted you dead thirty-five years ago.”
Chills ran up Rachel’s spine. Had they wanted her dead? Or had they just picked a random girl to kill? Apparently, Jeremy thought it was the former. “I’ll be fine. Thanks.” She stepped out of the car and used her key card to open the side door. Once she was inside, Jeremy must have thought she was safe because he slowly drove away.
Rachel went through the next door and walked down the long hallway toward the elevator. She was deep in thought about all that had transpired. She was also eager to tell Avery everything she’d learned this morning and was looking forward to hearing what he’d found out.
Glancing up, she saw a bulky man walking straight toward her. She didn’t recognize him at first, but as he drew nearer, she realized who it was, and the hair on the back of her neck rose. Rachel turned and ran, but she wasn’t fast enough. The man grabbed her from behind and covered her face with a rag. Rachel struggled as he clamped the cloth tighter over her mouth and nostrils. The smell was strong, but Rachel continued to fight despite the tight grip he had on her. Finally, everything went dark.
***
The first thing Rachel was aware of as she came out of her stupor was the sound of splashing water. The smell of wet earth assailed her nostrils, and her head ached. Rachel tried to move and felt the hard rocks beneath her. As she attempted to sit up, she realized her hands were caught behind her. Opening h
er eyes, Rachel focused on a tree, then the sky beyond. That’s when it hit her that she was lying on the ground, somewhere near water.
The park! Panic crept over her. She must be on the river trail in the park.
Again, she struggled to move, but she couldn’t get her hands free to give her leverage. Her foggy brain slowly realized that her hands were tied. A man snickered, and she turned her head in his direction. Her focus cleared, and she looked up into the smug face of Archie Talbott.
“You’re not going to get away this time,” he said, then laughed. He held a large rock in one hand and a pistol in the other. “This time, when I bash your head in, I’ll know for sure it’s you.”
Rachel's heart pounded, and she cringed at the glee in his voice. Archie was insane. She could see it in his beady eyes and the look on his face. “Why?” she asked, her voice sounding more like a screech. “Why would you want to kill me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, looking at her like she was the crazy one. “I screwed up the first time. When I followed Keith and the little girl into the woods that day, I thought the girl was you. She looked just like you. I figured Keith was going to scare you or hurt you in some way. He had no idea I was following him. But when he just looked at you, then kept going, I got angry. So, I walked up to the little girl and grabbed her. She put up a fight, that one, scratching like an alley cat. But I threw her down, and her head hit a boulder, and it knocked her out. Or killed her. I have no idea which.” He shrugged like it didn’t matter how the little girl had died. “When I got a good look at her face, I realized it wasn’t you, and it pissed me off. The whole point was to get Keith in trouble. I was so angry, I picked up a rock and bashed her head in, hitting her over and over.” His eyes glowed with pleasure at the memory of it. “I knew then that Keith would be blamed even though it wasn’t his little sister. And he was.”
Fear gripped Rachel, and she wriggled to get free. That’s when she realized her ankles were tied together too. And it wasn’t just rope; he’d used zip-ties.
The Truth About Rachel Page 15