She had just started to drift off again when she heard a soft knock at her door and turned to see Ling Lee.
“Hunter and Gracie are here,” her mother said, taking in Veronica’s sleepy eyes and somber expression. “And I’m going to put on a pot of coffee. Might help you wake up.”
“Okay, Ma, I’ll be right down.”
The dejected tone in her voice caused her mother to look back.
“I thought for sure those two would be able to lift your spirits,” Ling said. “But you still look like you’ve lost your best friend.”
“I’m sorry,” Veronica said, standing up and turning to her mother. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I can’t help feeling like I’m somehow responsible for all the terrible things my father did. I keep thinking about the women he killed, and about Skylar.”
Walking back into the room, Ling took Veronica’s hand.
“None of that is your fault, Ronnie. And Skylar is getting the best care available over at Hope House,” she insisted. “I just wish you would go see Dr. Horn, too. She could help you…deal with things.”
“I’ll think about it,” Veronica said, trying to smile.
She knew her mother had been through a lot, too. And moping around the house would just make things worse.
Bending to scoop Winston off the foot of her bed, she carried the big tabby cat down the stairs with her.
The sight of Hunter standing in the hall with a hopeful expression on his handsome face lifted her mood, as did the white Lab sitting patiently next to him.
Dropping Winston to the ground, she watched the big cat disappear into the front room, then turned to Hunter.
“You look tired,” he said, pulling her against him. “Are you still having trouble sleeping?”
She nodded, and let herself melt into his arms, not wanting to talk about the reason she couldn’t sleep. Talking about it made it hard to forget, and everyone wanted to do nothing else.
She couldn’t leave the house without someone asking her about her abduction and her narrow escape. One reporter had even asked Veronica if she considered her father a serial killer or a spree killer.
“I’m fine,” she finally said, looking down at Gracie. “And I’m glad you both are here.”
She was just about to offer Hunter a drink, when a loud knock at the door made them both look around.
“Oh, I was going to tell you,” Hunter said. “Deputy Santino’s in town and he wants to speak with you.”
Panic blossomed in Veronica’s chest as she thought of the last time she’d seen the U.S. Marshal, and wondered why he would need to see her now.
Could he be coming to tell me my father isn’t really dead. Was Locke’s death in the forest just another one of his tricks?
Her throat tightened as she opened the door, and she could barely bring herself to speak when she saw Santino standing on the doorstep.
“Deputy Santino. Come in.”
She stepped back to let the deputy inside, then froze as she saw the thin girl standing behind him.
Skylar’s long blonde hair shone in the sunlight, and her face was painfully pale as she looked at Veronica with wide, frightened eyes.
“Skylar?”
Taking the girl’s small hand, Veronica led her into the house, worried by her fragile appearance.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, turning to Santino.
Ling appeared in the kitchen doorway, her eyes widening as she saw Skylar in the hall. She rushed forward and took Skylar’s other hand, and together Ling and Veronica led her to the sofa in the living room.
“There’s been a development in the case,” Santino said, clearing his throat. “I’ve already explained the situation to Skylar, and now we’d like to discuss it with you.”
He looked at the sofa and raised his eyebrows.
“You may want to sit down.”
Sinking onto the sofa next to Skylar, Veronica reached out for the girl’s hand, feeling it tremble slightly under her own as Santino settled onto an armchair across from them.
“Donovan Locke’s autopsy has revealed important information that I believe will be of interest to you both.”
The deputy’s words sent a shiver of apprehension through Veronica, and she squeezed Skylar’s hand tighter, preparing herself for more bad news.
“Donovan Locke is Skylar’s biological father.”
Ling Lee gasped at Santino’s words, but Veronica remained still, her mind reeling with the implications.
“We’re still trying to determine who her mother was. We’ve found multiple remains on the ranch in the Bitterroot Valley, but we haven’t managed to link any of them to Skylar yet.”
Shifting on the sofa, Skylar turned to face Veronica.
“Deputy Santino told me that the Professor…I mean Donovan Locke, is…was your father, too.”
Veronica nodded, hearing the confusion and pain in Skylar’s voice.
“That’s right,” Veronica whispered, holding back tears. “So, that makes us sisters, doesn’t it?”
Skylar glanced at Veronica; her green eyes were hopeful.
“I…I was hoping…well, I don’t have any family, and…”
“You have me, now,” Veronica corrected. “You have a sister.”
Looking up, Veronica met her mother’s eyes, and smiled.
“I have a sister.”
Ling sank onto the sofa next to Skylar and put a hand on her arm.
“And you have a family here…with us,” Ling said. “If you want.”
Santino cleared his throat and stood, clearly relieved that his mission had been completed.
“I can give Skylar a ride back to Hope House once you’ve had a chance to talk,” he offered, but Veronica shook her head.
“I’ll take her back when she’s ready to go.”
Veronica stood and looked at Santino, sensing this might be the last time they saw each other, and the last time she would get a chance to thank him in person.
“When I left the ranch, I felt like something was wrong. Now I know what that was.” She looked down at Skylar and smiled. “I’d left my sister behind, but now you’ve brought her home to me.”
When Santino walked out to the Chevy a few minutes later, Veronica pulled Skylar with her to stand on the porch, and Ling followed behind them.
Feeling Hunter step up next to her, Veronica leaned her head against his strong shoulder, smiling when she saw Gracie come out to say goodbye as well.
And as the Chevy drove out of sight, Veronica thought of the report she’d been writing upstairs only an hour before. She’d wanted to tell her own version of her own story, but she didn’t know then it would have such a happy ending.
If you enjoyed this book, try the Mercy Harbor Thriller Series
By Melinda Woodhall
Read The River Girls, Book One Now
Acknowledgements
I GREW-UP READING NANCY DREW MYSTERIES and often tried to lose myself in the make-believe world between those wonderful covers when the real world was too much to face without a little help.
Now that I’m all grown up with five children of my own, I find myself turning again to the pages within a story to escape the reality of this new world we are living in, if only for a while. But this time, I find respite by writing the mystery instead of reading it.
Determined to finish this third book in the Veronica Lee Thriller series on schedule, I relied on my wonderful husband, Giles, and my five amazing children, Michael, Joey, Linda, Owen, and Juliet, who make me proud everyday with their kindness and compassion.
I’m also incredibly lucky to be blessed with an extended family I can always count on, including Melissa Romero, Leopoldo Romero, Melanie Arvin Kutz, David Woodhall, and Tessa Woodhall.
Reading books helped me get through the difficult days after my mother’s death, and now writing my own books helps me feel close to her all these years later. I’m grateful to always have her with me in memory whenever I write.
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About the Author
Melinda Woodhall is the author of the new Veronica Lee Thriller series, as well as the page-turning Mercy Harbor Thriller series. In addition to writing romantic thrillers and police procedurals, Melinda also writes women’s contemporary fiction as M.M. Arvin.
When she’s not writing, Melinda can be found reading, gardening, chauffeuring her children around town and updating her vegetarian lifestyle website.
Melinda is a native Floridian, and the proud mother of five children. She lives with her family in Orlando.
Visit Melinda’s website at www.melindawoodhall.com
Other Books by Melinda Woodhall
Her Last Summer
Her Final Fall
The River Girls
Girl Eight
Catch the Girl
Girls Who Lie
Her Winter of Darkness Page 28