Justice

by Debra Webb

  The memory of her discussion with David Gracelyn joined the rest of the worries whirling around in her head. If Rainy was unhappy with Marshall would she have bothered to pay attention to what he’ d been up to recently?

  That was something Kayla would simply never know.

  She thought of Christine Evans and Nurse Betsy Stone, both women she had known for years. Respected figures at Athena Academy. Both with secrets. One hanging on to life by a thread, one nowhere to be found.

  Her gaze settled on her daughter once more. Though her entire family was quite modern, they still kept close to their hearts many Navajo traditions, such as enjoying the simpler things and the love of family. Other than her misstep that last year of school at Athena, attendance there had made a tremendous impact on her life. A very good impact. She was stronger and was a better person for her time there.

  But Rainy was dead.

  Then and there Kayla made the decision that had been weighing so heavily on her heart. She would send her daughter to Athena Academy— but only if she solved this old evil that still loomed over the school like a dark cloud.

  Finding that truth was more than a matter of her job, more, even, than a matter of the promise… it was her quest. She must succeed in this quest to ensure her daughter’ s future.

  For the first time in a long time Kayla felt at peace with what lay before her.

  The doorbell rang just then, and a whole new layer of tension and trepidation wrapped around her.

  Mike was here.

  Jazz was about to spend her first evening with her father.

  Jazz opened the door and Mike towered in the threshold. He wore his Air Force uniform, for Jazz’ s benefit, Kayla suspected. He wanted to impress his daughter.

  “ For you.” He held out a large bouquet of lovely cut flowers in Kayla’ s direction.

  Uncertain what to say, she accepted the sweet-scented peace offering.

  “ And for you.” He pulled a smaller, similar bouquet from behind his back and offered it to Jazz. “ Pretty flowers for a pretty lady.”

  So it began.

  Mike laid on the charm and Jazz soaked it up like a sponge. Dinner arrived a few minutes later and they ate. Mike told an amazing assortment of military stories and Jazz loved every moment of it.

  Kayla tried hard not to resent how much her daughter appeared to enjoy her father’ s company, but she just couldn’ t help herself. It was so unfair. All this time she’ d managed without him, and now he was here, as big as life and stealing the show. She felt like an actress who’ d won the role of a lifetime only to have it jerked out from under her at the last moment by a devious understudy.

  But he was here. He was Jazz’ s father. To pray that he would go away would be both unfair and unkind on a basic level. She couldn’ t do that to her daughter.

  Jazz was a bright child. As jealous as it made Kayla to watch her revel in her father’ s attention, Jazz knew who had been there for her all these years.

  Suddenly Kayla realized what really bothered her about Mike’ s presence. She’ d gotten over him long ago. She really wasn’ t afraid of him, not really. What she was afraid of was being second-best in her daughter’ s eyes.

  Jazz looked toward her at that moment, as if Kayla had somehow telegraphed that last thought. She smiled widely, appreciatively.

  She loved her mother. She appreciated Kayla’ s tolerance of the situation. It was all there in those big hazel eyes.

  Kayla didn’ t have to worry about being second-best to Mike Bridges.

  By ten Kayla had gotten pretty comfortable with Mike’ s presence. Her tension had softened and she decided she could tolerate an occasional visit. Thinking beyond that was more than she could deal with, so she didn’ t.

  When Mike had said good-night to Jazz, Kayla walked him to his shiny red SUV.

  “ So you’ re heading for Nevada tomorrow?” She’ d heard him tell Jazz that he had to be back on the base this weekend, but she needed to confirm it.

  “ That’ s right. I’ ll be in touch with you about Christmas.”

  Kayla tamped down the irritation that wanted to surface. “ Just keep in mind that Christmas day is spent with my family.”

  He nodded. “ I’ ll work around it.” He opened the driver’ s side door of his vehicle. “ You’ ve got my number.”

  Then he was gone.

  Kayla stood there in the darkness and watched his taillights fade in the distance.

  Jazz had told him about the church play next Sunday, the day after Christmas. He’ d likely show up for that if he could get the leave time.

  Again she tried hard not to resent his participation, but it wasn’ t easy by any stretch of the imagination.

  A sound whispered across her auditory senses.

  She turned slowly and stared into the inky blackness of her backyard. The thick cluster of trees blocked out any light from the star-filled night.

  Wishing she hadn’ t given in to her daughter’ s request that she not wear her gun at dinner, Kayla backed into the shadows at the side of the driveway. Slowly, noiselessly, she maneuvered her way toward the rear of the house.

  The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood at full attention and goose bumps skittered across her skin like tiny pearls spilling across the floor.

  For months she’ d been seized by this overwhelming sensation of being watched. She’ d even considered that Mike might have someone watching her, trying to gather evidence. But he’ d been here tonight. Why would he have had someone keeping an eye on her tonight? Then she’ d wondered if it was Hadden, but that didn’ t appear likely at this point.

  Another sound raked across her senses. Closer. Maybe half a dozen yards from the corner of the house.

  The idea that Christine Evans had been shot in her own home just last night didn’ t deter Kayla from moving in that direction. She didn’ t like being stalked, for any reason. If this was some ambitious private investigator Mike had hired, he was about to find out what it was like to two-step with a real cop.

  If it was Christine’ s shooter, well, since she was unarmed Kayla would have to improvise.

  A thud on the other side of the privacy fence that separated Kayla’ s yard from the neighbor’ s behind her had her racing in that direction.

  She scaled the dog-eared wood fence in two seconds flat. The neighboring yard was empty but the gate swung back and forth on its hinges on the street side of the property. Kayla headed in that direction but took a good look first left then right before bursting through the gate. She was unarmed after all.

  Nothing.

  Whoever had been in her yard was gone now.

  A car engine started somewhere in the distance. Brake lights flickered briefly as the vehicle zoomed through an intersection.

  Black. Two doors. She couldn’ t make out the license plate. Just like the cemetery.

  Kayla skirted her neighbor’ s yard rather than barreling back through it. Back in her house she found Jazz engrossed in her favorite computer game.

  “ I don’ t have to go to bed now, do I?”

  The plea in her eyes won any battle Kayla might have hoped to launch before she uttered the first protest.

  What the heck? It was Christmas vacation.

  She hadn’ t completely forgotten what it was like to be a kid.

  “ One more hour,” Kayla qualified.

  “ Thanks!” Jazz gave her a big hug. She looked up at her mom then. “ And thanks for not freaking out about… Dad.”

  Dad. God, that would take some getting used to.

  “ I’ m a highly trained officer of the law,” Kayla informed her, hoping to conceal her real feelings with humor, “ I don’ t freak out.”

  Jazz gave her one of those yeah-right looks. “ I gotta get back to my game.”

  Kayla propped her shoulder against the bedroom door frame and watched her daughter kick some cyber butt. She wondered if Jazz would want to go into law enforcement like her mom. Or maybe the legal side of things. Or even fore
nsics. There was investigative reporting, the military or even private investigations.

  All Athena graduates had their choice of futures. Her daughter would have that too.

  Kayla would not fail her.

  She had a promise to keep, to Rainy as well as her daughter.

  Chapter 9

  M onday morning brought a call from Rebecca Claussen.

  The backup files for Athena were in. The download had completed at 9:30, just half an hour ago.

  Kayla stared through the glass wall of Christine Evans’ s room in ICU. Christine lay in the bed with half a dozen lines snaking out from her toward the machines that monitored her fragile hold on life. She remained in stable condition. The doctor had made his rounds and insisted that her condition looked quite good, the prognosis more favorable with each passing hour.

  But she wasn’ t out of the woods yet.

  Things could still go either way.

  At Kayla’ s prompting the sheriff had elicited the help of Youngtown’ s police chief. Between the sheriff’ s department and Youngtown’ s finest, a guard stood posted outside Christine’ s door 24/7.

  Comfortable with Christine’ s care and security, Kayla headed for Athena Academy. She wanted to get into those files as quickly as possible.

  The weekend had turned out pretty well considering.

  Dinner with Mike had gone better than she’ d anticipated. Jazz’ s grown-up attitude continued to amaze Kayla. She had to keep reminding herself that her daughter was only eleven… okay, she’ d be twelve in a few weeks. But still, that was so damn young. How had she gotten so smart in such a short time?

  She’ d been cordial to her father, attentive. She hadn’ t overreacted or withdrawn. The whole concept amazed Kayla. She wasn’ t sure what she’ d expected but it wasn’ t that. She had worried that Mike’ s transition into their lives would be disruptive, problematic. The ease with which he waltzed into the situation felt almost surreal.

  Her grandmother had always said that when something appeared too good to be true it usually was. Trepidation trickled through Kayla. She hoped, for Jazz’ s sake, that her grandmother’ s wisdom wouldn’ t prove accurate this time.

  Sunday dinner with her folks had gone smoothly as well. Mary had taken it upon herself to inform the family about Mike since Kayla had been tied up with the investigation into Christine’ s shooting. Thank God for big sisters.

  Kayla’ s mother and father actually considered Mike’ s involvement in Jazz’ s life to be a pleasant surprise. Wow. Kayla still had trouble swallowing the overwhelming acceptance. Maybe she was the only one who’ d had trouble coming to terms with this new twist. But then, her folks didn’ t know everything. She hadn’ t told them about Mike’ s recent troubles with the Air Force. Maybe she should have.

  And then what?

  Made this tougher than it was already?

  No. It was best to move forward, not look back.

  One thing was certain: for her Mike Bridges was still on probation. She wouldn’ t be letting down her guard any time soon.

  Kayla parked in the admin parking area and headed straight for the files room. Rebecca had insisted that she make herself at home there. She’ d also promised to have her secretary continue the search for Betsy Stone. Kayla had contacted every single relative and reference listed in Betsy’ s file. No one had heard from her in years. Apparently she didn’ t consider family a priority.

  Jim was running a formal background search on Betsy, but so far he hadn’ t turned up anything Kayla didn’ t already know. Thankfully, Kayla could focus solely on this case since the shooting. That was the only good thing to come out of it. Another deputy was taking her regular shifts.

  Kayla had mentally tossed around a number of scenarios over the weekend. Her investigation of egg harvesting had revealed two things consistently. Those involved in the process were either desperate to have a child of their own, or were hoping to find the closest thing to a perfect egg donor as possible. The point was to select a donor with preferred human characteristics. Physically and mentally superior.

  Rainy had been strong, healthy as the proverbial horse. No defects. She had come from a family with the same traits on both sides, in other words good stock. She possessed the other desired qualities as well. Extremely intelligent with no mental instabilities. All of which came in a beautiful package. From what Kayla had ascertained about Thomas King, the suspected sperm donor, the same could be said for him.

  Considering the extreme— and illegal— measures that had been taken to select the perfect specimens, it only made sense that the resulting offspring would be provided with all the best life had to offer in order to follow through with the intended theory.

  Kayla entered the main files center at Athena Academy and sat down before the computer screen. The job that lay before her couldn’ t be called simple. The number of files she would have to review was daunting. But she knew with complete certainty that the task would be worth the effort.

  In the past few months Kayla had focused on searching for any sort of inconsistency in the files. Anything that stood out. But now she had another approach— looking for a student who resembled Rainy.

  A child created with Rainy’ s fertilized egg might have been sent to the finest schools on the planet. And if that child was a girl, that would no doubt have been Athena Academy. Kayla mentally kicked herself for not thinking of this earlier. Maybe she had. Perhaps she’ d been looking for that connection from the beginning without actually spelling it out to herself.

  It was a long shot. She couldn’ t be sure… it was only speculation. The child, the baby girl Cleo Patra had given birth to, might not be Rainy’ s. But Kayla had to try. It was the best idea she had right now.

  The whole concept made sense. Those involved would consider the step pure genius. Create the perfect child, then send her to the perfect school— the same one her mother had attended. What better way to gauge results?

  To narrow down her search criteria she selected students who would have attended Athena between twelve and eighteen years after Rainy’ s eggs were mined. That dropped the number of candidates to a more reasonable level, just under four hundred.

  Kayla thought about the information Tory Patton had provided on Thomas King, then limited the criteria further by selecting only those students with either blue eyes, like Rainy’ s, or green, like Thomas King’ s. Though she knew it was possible for the offspring to have inherited an ancestor’ s eye color other than that of a parent, it was the next logical step to her way of thinking.

  With the number of names reduced to around one hundred, she then threw in a third eliminating criteria, hair color. Rainy’ d had chestnut-colored hair while Thomas King had blond. The list of names thinned to well under one hundred.

  It was possible she had already disqualified Rainy’ s child with her rudimentary criteria, but it was all she had to work with at the moment.

  Since she already suspected that surrogate mothers would have borne Rainy’ s babies, the offspring could have been adopted.

  For attendance at Athena Academy, thorough background investigations were conducted on all potential students. Adoption information would be listed even if a parent didn’ t want it to be.

  Unfortunately not a single student under the current criteria base had been listed as adopted. Damn.

  Kayla grumbled in frustration. She needed more.

  But there was no more, leaving her no alternative except to review each one of those files in-depth.

  No problem. Christine’ s shooting was certainly related to Rainy’ s murder, making both a part of Kayla’ s ongoing case. Jazz was with her aunt Mary. Kayla had all day.

  Since the files were listed in alphabetical order, that’ s how she began. Each file included a picture, which she scanned, looking for a hint of Rainy in every face. She reviewed every single word regarding each student, then verified all pertinent personal data such as address, number of siblings, occupation of parents. Every damned detail
. It was the only way.

  And even then she might be looking at the wrong candidates.

  A needle in a haystack.

  But for now, it was the only direction in which she had to go. Anything was better than nothing.

  She wouldn’ t give up.

  O.

  O’ Shaughnessy, Dawn.

  Kayla stared at the image of the young, blond-haired woman with the gold-green eyes.

  Her heart thundered, forcing the blood to roar in her ears.

  It was incredible. The facial structure… cheekbones, mouth, even the straight slant of her nose was all Rainy.

  “ Jesus Christ.”

  The hair and eyes were exact replicas of Thomas King.

  The age was perfect.

  Kayla had used Athena resources as well as law enforcement ones to verify her suspicions. The parents listed for Dawn O’ Shaughnessy had never existed. The street address was false, the mailing address was a post office box that had changed hands a dozen times in the intervening years. The social security numbers for all three amounted to identity theft of the deceased.

  Her hunch— shot in the dark, really— had paid off. Dawn O’ Shaughnessy not only had the right looks, her background was as trumped-up as Santa Claus’ s, no offense to the upcoming holiday.

  Damn, that reminded her, she had a couple of gifts she still had to pick up.

  Kayla scrubbed at her forehead.

  Last-minute shopping would have to wait. Right now she had to find this Dawn.

  DNA testing would easily confirm that she was Rainy’ s child. Permission to conduct such testing was another matter altogether. She could only hope the girl would be as determined to learn the truth as Kayla was.

  Her next step was to call the Cassandras and pass on the news. Before she reached for the phone she e-mailed Alex a copy of the file. Alex’ s FBI contacts could be useful in finding the girl.

  As usual, Darcy, Sam, Tory and Josie were unreachable. Kayla left messages for all four. Hearing Alex’ s voice went a long way in soothing Kayla’ s frazzled nerves.