by Barb Han
Finn O’Connor had died without ever knowing what happened to his daughter. Their mother would not suffer the same fate. In fact, she was about to see for herself.
“What’s happening?” His very concerned mother looked around the room, a moment of panic darkening her eyes. “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re fine. Never been better.” Cash stepped forward. As the oldest son, he normally spoke on behalf of the family. He glanced at each of his brothers, waiting for the okay to continue. When he seemed satisfied that he got what he was looking for, he continued, “You already know Dad was trying to find Caroline when...” Cash’s voice caught on the last word and he ducked his chin to his chest, no doubt to cover the emotion threatening to pull them all under. He cleared his throat and then continued, “I think we’re all clear on what happened to Dad as a result of him renewing the search for our sister.”
A moment of silence, of respect, passed before Cash continued, “But his efforts to find Caroline weren’t in vain and we understand why he chose to pick up the search when he did. The diagnosis meant he wouldn’t be around forever. Granted, he should have had more time. We wanted more time with him. But we understand why he picked the timing he did to resume the search for her. And we’ve all learned more than a few important lessons because of his example. No one is guaranteed time on this earth. Every day is a gift that deserves to be embraced.”
“Did you? Find out what happened to Caroline?” Mother asked, her back ramrod straight now.
Cash nodded.
“And?” their mother asked.
“We think you’ll be pleased with what we learned.” Cash moved to the doorway and waved in their guests as their mother sat perfectly still. A pin drop could be heard from miles around for how quiet everyone had become. “And we believe you should see it for yourself.”
A very pregnant Caroline stepped into view. She stopped at the threshold and her mouth nearly dropped to the floor when her gaze locked onto their mother—the mother she never knew despite being a mirror image. It was one of the many things Riggs had first noticed when he’d met his sister for the first time. It was striking just how much she took after their mother.
Mother seemed to pick her jaw up off the floor. She blinked a couple of times like she couldn’t trust her eyes. And then the tears slid down her cheeks as she pushed to standing, each of her sons at the ready in case she needed a hand up. She didn’t.
“Caroline?” she asked but it was more statement than question.
Caroline nodded even though she didn’t call herself by that name anymore. She’d gone by the name Andrea for as long as she could remember. “I go by Andrea now.”
Arms out, Mother practically bolted around the coffee table before bringing her only girl into a hug. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as their mother stroked her daughter’s hair.
“It’s been so long,” Mother said quietly. “I was beginning to think I’d never see you again. That I’d never know what happened to my baby girl.”
Andrea was crying now, too. Sniffles filled the air. No tears of sadness. Just sweet release and then joy.
Mother pulled back and then took Andrea by the hand. “Can you come sit?”
“I’d like that actually.” Andrea wiped away her own tears with her free hand.
“Would one of you boys be kind enough to make us some tea?” Mother looked at Andrea before smiling at her pregnant belly. “Or whatever you and the baby would like to drink.”
“Tea is good. Decaf if you have any.” She practically beamed.
“I’ve got it,” Cash said. He was standing closest to the door. Colton volunteered to help and the two disappeared a second later.
“What? How? I...” Mother covered her laugh. “I don’t even know where to start.”
Andrea held their mother’s hand. “I can go back as far as I remember. But I’m afraid I don’t remember this or anyone from here.”
“Of course, you don’t.” If Mother was disappointed, she didn’t show it. “You were a baby when you...” She seemed like she couldn’t bear to say the words.
“I had a good childhood,” Andrea said as though she realized that would be important to any mother. In fact, she rubbed her belly with her free hand and Riggs wondered if the move was subconscious on her part. “I’m sure it was nothing like this. I grew up in Santa Fe and we never moved. I had two parents who are still married. We grew apart when I went off to college in Houston. I’d always been drawn to Texas and now I know why they always looked at each other strangely when I brought it up. I always wanted to come here for vacation, but they refused.” She shrugged. “I never understood why and, like all teenagers, became rebellious at a certain point.”
Andrea paused for a minute and took in the room, the faces.
“I grew up an only child, but it never felt right to me. You know?” she asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.
No one in the room might understand, but every head nodded. Because being an O’Connor was in the blood. Ranching was in the blood. And each brother seemed to agree something would feel off if they’d been plucked out of this life.
“Going to Houston changed everything for me. It was a perfect fit, but it was the closest I’d ever been to feeling like I belonged somewhere,” she continued.
Mother’s smile was a mile wide as she hung on every word. She turned serious when she said, “A woman by the name of Ms. Hubert moved into the area about a year before you were taken from your crib.”
Andrea sat there looking stunned. “It’s going to take a minute for all this to set in. It must’ve been horrific for you.”
Mother nodded as Andrea rubbed her belly again, and a look of horror overtook her face.
“How far along are you?” Mother asked, as though she realized Andrea needed a distraction from the gravity of the situation.
“Seven months.” She sniffed away a few tears that seemed to be building. “Sorry. I’m just so emotional these days.”
“It’s understandable,” Mother said without missing a beat. A kind of peace had come over her. She settled back into her seat, and her face glowed. “You don’t ever have to apologize for feeling overwhelmed. This has to be a lot for you. I’m sorry we didn’t find you sooner.”
“Like I said, my childhood was good. I had a lot of friends. I did well enough in school to get a scholarship for college, which was good because my parents said that if I went to Texas, I’d have to figure out a way to pay for it myself.” She exhaled and her shoulders slumped forward. “I think they were just scared I’d run into one of you guys and they’d be caught red-handed.”
“It sounds like they loved you very much,” Mother said.
Andrea nodded. “They weren’t perfect by any means, but I never doubted they loved me. Not for one day. My mother became overprotective and it felt like I was being smothered. I think that’s why I wouldn’t consider any of the schools in New Mexico or Arizona. Too close to home.”
“Do you still have communication with them?” Mother asked.
“Not really. Not since I refused to come home,” she admitted.
Garrett stepped forward. “According to the investigation, her parents had no idea of the circumstances. They were high-risk for adoption because of their age and the fact Mr. Landis had a record. He spent time in a federal prison for a white-collar crime in the accounting firm where he worked. Apparently, he and one of his coworkers decided to skim money from the company accounts by padding expense reports that came in from the sales teams. The two of them got caught and he served five years.”
“So they knew they were doing something illegal when they adopted me?” Andrea asked.
“They knew the adoption was shady but there’s no evidence to suggest they knew you’d been kidnapped,” Garrett said.
“Oh.” Andrea sounded defeated. “You think you know people for your entire li
fe and then, bam, you get hit with something like this out of the blue.”
“The important thing is that they loved and cared for you, Ca—”
Mother caught herself. She couldn’t finish and it seemed like she couldn’t bring herself to call her daughter by another name.
“I guess,” Andrea said before catching their mother’s gaze. “But I can’t imagine what you must have gone through as a mother. I mean, I haven’t even met this little angel yet and I already wake up in a cold sweat at the thought anything could happen to her.”
Mother sucked in a burst of air.
“A girl?” she asked.
“Yes.” Andrea beamed.
Love was written all over Mother’s features. “We have another little girl in the family now. Anya. She’ll be a great older cousin. And now we have Missy.” Mother’s gaze shifted to Garrett. He smiled and nodded. He and his fiancée, Brianna, were a newly minted foster family. Missy had been separated from her parents at the age of four and brought into a kidnapping ring. She’d been returned when she couldn’t “adjust” to the new family. When Missy was taken from her family, she’d been told her parents had gone to heaven. If that happened to be true, and no one believed it was, then she would live her life with Garrett and Brianna. But Garrett wouldn’t rest until he had answers, because he knew firsthand how important it was for a child to be reunited with his or her parents if at all possible.
“But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I?” Mother asked. She straightened her back and continued, “You’re a grown adult now. I have no idea if we fit into your life and I wouldn’t judge you for a minute if you decided to go back to Houston and forget you ever knew us. You can’t know what it means to me for you to be here, right now. And as much as I’d love for you to stay, you have a life that we’re not part of in Houston.”
Andrea waved her hand in the air like she was stopping traffic. “Right before I found out about the baby, that I was pregnant with her, my husband was killed in the line of duty. He’d been working deep nights and made what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop when it all went south. To make a long, sad story short, he was shot at point-blank range. I’ve honestly been wandering around ever since, not really certain what my next move was going to be. I used to work at the arboretum. I was always drawn to the outside, even when I was a kid.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess now I know why.”
“Why don’t you move in here for the rest of your pregnancy?” Mother asked, her voice brimming with hope. “You’d have plenty of people to look after you until you gave birth and Houston isn’t so far away.”
“Are you sure about that?” Andrea studied their mother. “Because I’m tempted to take you up on the offer, but I really don’t want to put you out or anything.”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” Their mother was steadfast. Little did Andrea know their mother had been planning, hoping for this day since her daughter was taken from her crib where she peacefully slept. “In fact...”
Mother held her index finger in the air, indicating she’d be right back. Her face lit up like Christmas morning and the skip in her step didn’t go unnoticed.
Andrea looked up at each of Riggs’s brothers as Cash and Colton entered the room.
“What did we miss?” Cash handed a steaming cup of tea to Andrea while Colton placed the other one on the coffee table for their mother.
“Mom took off to get a gift for Andrea.” Riggs winked at his brothers as Andrea stared at them. The wrinkle in her forehead said she was clearly confused by what was going on.
“While your...our...mother is out of the room, I’d like to ask you six if you think it’s a good idea for me...us...to stay here until she’s born.” She caressed the bump.
Cash made eye contact with each brother, including Riggs. Each gave a slight nod.
“I think I can speak for everyone when I say welcome to the family,” Cash said. “You won’t find a better bunch of people and we always have each other’s back.”
A tear slid down Andrea’s face. She quickly wiped it away. Chin up, she smiled. “I’m looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you.”
“We’re a good bunch, but I wouldn’t get too excited about getting to know each one of us personally. At least, not a few of us.” Riggs elbowed Garrett.
“You definitely don’t want to get to know this guy any better. Arm’s length is good,” Garrett shot back, jabbing Riggs in the side.
They both burst out laughing and the room followed suit, breaking some of the tension. Andrea laughed, too, and it was one of the best sounds. Their sister was home. Riggs let that thought sink in, which he couldn’t do without thinking what a shame it was for their father to have missed this moment. If it wasn’t for his investigative work, she might still be lost to them. The work had come at a heavy price and Riggs would miss his father for the rest of his days. Seeing the look on Mother’s face...
It was exactly what his father would have wanted.
Mother bebopped into the room, her right hand fisted. She perched on the edge of the sofa next to Andrea. “I’ve been waiting a long time to give you this.”
She opened her hand to reveal a key.
“You have your own house here on the property, Ca—” Mother’s cheeks flamed. “Calling you Andrea is going to take some getting used to.” She sat up a little taller. “But, you know, maybe it’s time to move on and accept that Caroline is gone. Andrea is her own person and you’re right here. And you’re just as much part of this family as any one of us.”
Andrea took the offering, the wrinkle on her forehead deepening. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Mother had a home built and decorated for each one of us. We get the key when we turn eighteen,” Riggs explained.
“And do all of you live here on the property at your homes?” she asked.
“For the most part, yes,” Garrett interjected. “Some of us are just now moving back home. A couple of us have always lived here. Point being, we’ve all made the decision to come home and take our rightful places running the family business. If you love the outdoors as much as you say, there’s no better place to work and live than KBR and we’d love to have you here.”
More of those tears streamed down their sister’s face.
“I’d like that very much,” she said.
“Welcome home, Andrea.” Mother wrapped her daughter in an embrace. The brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a circle around the pair of them. Each placed a hand on either their mother or Andrea’s arms. There were wide smiles and overflowing hearts all around.
“It’s good to finally be in a place where I feel like I belong,” Andrea said.
And she did. KBR was home.
* * *
Look for more books from
USA TODAY bestselling author Barb Han in 2022!
And if you missed the previous titles in
An O’Connor Family Mystery series, look for:
Texas Kidnapping
Texas Target
Texas Law
Texas Baby Conspiracy
Texas Stalker
You’ll find them wherever
Harlequin Intrigue books are sold!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Mountainside Murder by Nicole Helm.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BOOK FROM
Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.
Dive into action-packed stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Solve the crime and deliver justice at all costs.
6 NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE EVERY MONTH!
Mountainside Murder
by Nicole Helm
Chapter One
Sabrina Killian was finally free. The cast she’d been in for six weeks was off, and though she’d been ordered to take it easy, she had no plans
to do so.
Not when there was finally an assignment to be accomplished.
Sabrina walked through the sprawling house that acted as North Star Group’s headquarters. She knew Shay, the head of the group, and Elsie, lead on IT, had been working overtime to trace the dangerous weapons involved in their last successful mission. She expected this meeting to mean they’d made some progress.
She met Holden in the hallway to the conference room.
“You know it’ll be me next. Shay’s not sending you out on a mission when you’re still banged up,” Holden said, obnoxiously as always. It didn’t matter that Holden was the reason she was here, and that she owed him...possibly her life, and surely her soul. She still liked to bicker with him.
After all, it was a bar fight that had led him to invite her to join North Star, instead of letting her wallow her failed life away on bar fights and bad elements. She’d helped bring down the gang she’d been considering joining up with. Because of Holden Parker.
She still gave him crap about his unwillingness to hit a girl, even when she could take it.
And boy, could Sabrina take it. She’d been this close to being one of the first female navy SEALs when a freak injury had ended her military career.
It might have ended her life if she hadn’t happened to find fault with Holden Parker in a seedy bar in the middle of South Dakota. These days, she loved him like the big brother she’d never had, and she would never, ever admit that to him.
“We’ll see,” she muttered with a scowl.
“Hey, remember when I saved your butt a few weeks ago?” He slung his arm around her shoulder companionably.
She shrugged off the arm before giving him a fake saccharine sweet smile. “Hey, remember when I kicked your butt a few years ago? Besides, if you’d given me a little more time, I could have taken those guys on my own. Fractured arm and all.” And she would have if Holden hadn’t swept in trying to be a superhero.