One Final Breath

by Lynn H. Blackburn

  Paisley reached into her bag and pulled out an iPad Pro and a large file folder. She placed the iPad on the table and handed the file folder to Anissa. “First, this is everything that was sent to me about your case. This outer file is mine, but the one inside is the folder it was in when it was sent to me. Obviously, my fingerprints are all over it. Probably the mail clerk’s as well. But I haven’t shown it to anyone, so anything else you find should be a clue worth following up on.”

  “Thank you,” Anissa murmured. “Somehow this seems unimportant at the moment.”

  Paisley gave her a wan smile. “I don’t think you should ignore it, Investigator Bell. Your life may depend on you finding out what’s going on. But I do appreciate the sentiment. Liz’s situation is truly heart-wrenching.”

  She tapped a few buttons on her iPad and turned it so first Anissa, then Gabe, could see it. “This is Liz’s mom. Her name is Velma Brown.” The woman smiling back at him in the photo didn’t look like a criminal. But then, not everyone who was guilty of kidnapping did.

  Paisley swiped the screen and the image changed. “She was married to a guy named Bernie Brown.”

  Bernie looked like he was capable of anything. He had a predatory look that Gabe had come to recognize over the years.

  Paisley continued. “They divorced ten years ago when Liz was six. This was during the time when Liz had gone into kidney failure and was on the waiting list for a kidney. Dialysis three times a week, in and out of hospitals. It was a bad time.”

  Anissa pointed to the tablet. “How do you know all this?”

  Paisley shrugged. “It’s my job. I know you hate what I do, but I investigate people too. Although I’m not constrained by the same legal issues you are, and I don’t have to be sure my information can stand up in any court other than the court of public opinion.” She took back the tablet and swiped and tapped for a few seconds. When she turned it back around, it was a YouTube video. “I found this. I’ll send you the link if you want. It’s a video that a church in Columbia made. The church Liz and Velma attend. It was made five years ago, and in it Velma talks about how the church was there for them during that difficult time when Liz was getting her transplant. From this, I was able to do some searching and find the divorce decree, and create a bit of a timeline.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Gabe couldn’t decide if Paisley was brilliant or demented.

  “At first I was just trying to help,” she said. “Liz told me her mother was on a mission trip in China and that no one had been able to reach her. I thought I might be able to use some of my media contacts to help hunt her down. But then I found her in a rehab hospital in South Carolina. She’s recovering from surgery. It’s bad. Her adoptive father split years ago and I can’t find him, or any other relatives. I told the nurses this morning and asked them what would happen if no one comes to get Liz. They said she’ll be put in foster care. Or a group home or something.”

  “How much time does Velma have?” Anissa grabbed another tissue and handed it to Paisley.

  “I don’t know. The only way I know any of this is that I took a chance and called the house—they still have a home phone, if you can believe it—and the person who answered told me where she was. I think it was someone from the church who was cleaning or something. It sounded like a bunch of people were there. And obviously I can’t ask Liz. I mean, I’ve been trying. I’ve learned a lot. I know she was adopted because she mentioned it when she was telling me about her kidney transplant, about how she didn’t have any family history so she had no way to know if there was someone out there who would’ve been a good match.”

  Gabe hoped Paisley hadn’t noticed the way Anissa stiffened when she’d mentioned adoption. So many things about this were falling into place.

  He was starting to believe it.

  Liz Brown was Jillian Davidson.

  14

  Anissa’s mind was spinning in a million directions. She kept her hands tucked under the table so Paisley wouldn’t see how much she was trembling.

  “But why isn’t Velma letting Liz know what’s going on?” Gabe steepled his fingers, which were not shaking at all. “Wouldn’t she want Liz to be with her?”

  Paisley threw her hands out. “I know, right? That’s what I would want. I keep thinking there’s some piece of this puzzle that I’m missing that would help me make sense of it.”

  There was a missing piece all right, but there was a zero percent chance of Anissa sharing it with Paisley.

  “I’m sorry.” Paisley muttered something to herself that Anissa didn’t catch. “I know you have enough on your plates. I’m going to keep digging. I have a friend at a station in Columbia who’s agreed to try to find out more about what’s going on, but I’m not sure if it will happen soon enough for Liz. They can send her back to camp when she’s discharged, but given the issues they are having with the water there, I’m not at all sure that it’s a good idea and—”

  “Paisley.” Gabe held up a hand. “We get it. And we asked. Remember? We’re concerned about Liz. And the same friend who is going to take a look at that file on Anissa is an absolute whiz at this kind of stuff. We’ll ask her to see what she can uncover about the Browns.”

  “Thank you.” Paisley rubbed circles on her temples. “Between Brooke and Liz . . . I’m not cut out to be the mother of teenagers.”

  They all stood and slid the chairs back underneath the table. “How is Brooke?” Anissa asked.

  As much as she wanted to figure out this situation with Liz/Jillian, she didn’t want to lose sight of the hurting soul down the hall.

  Paisley twisted the handles of her bag. “Physically? Fine. No permanent damage. Which is great, of course. But emotionally? Mentally? I don’t know. I can’t tell if she’s okay—or moving toward okay—or if she’s humoring me and planning something worse when we get home. I can’t keep her under lock and key without getting arrested.”

  Gabe acted like he was considering her comment. “I don’t know. We might let you slide under the circumstances.”

  His remark cut through the tension—he was so good at knowing what to say and when to say it—and they all chuckled.

  “Seriously, though, we’re praying for her.” Gabe held the door open for them. “Is she going back to swim practice soon?”

  “She says she wants to go tomorrow. Which, of course, is ridiculous. Her coach says to get her back in the water ASAP. But I’m afraid she’ll bolt.”

  Anissa debated about what to say. She wanted to offer to help. But if someone was targeting her, then having a kid around could be disastrous. She didn’t want to risk being responsible for another death.

  Paisley lowered her voice. “I’ve already talked to the doctor. He says no swim practice until next week. She doesn’t know that yet, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention it.”

  Whew. Maybe by Monday she could offer to swim with Brooke.

  She just needed to figure out who had stabbed Gabe, what the deal was with Liz, and who had shot Jeremy . . . so, Monday might be a bit of a stretch. Lord, we need some help and a lot of it.

  They followed Paisley to Brooke’s room. The door was open and the girls were laughing. Brooke’s laughter gave her hope. Liz’s laughter broke her heart. That sweet girl’s world was already disintegrating. She just didn’t know it yet. When the dust cleared, would she be able to laugh again? Jesus, please let it be.

  “Have y’all ever seen this movie?” Brooke pointed to the screen. “It’s fabulous. How did I not know these movies existed?”

  Gabe stroked his chin and studied the screen. “You mean to tell me you’ve never seen the original Parent Trap? This is a classic.”

  As Gabe continued to chat with the girls, Anissa scanned the room. The trash can by the door was almost full. Sitting right on top—a water bottle. Was it the same one Liz had been playing with before? She couldn’t be sure. Worst-case scenario, she could have the forensics team come to this room and brush for prints. The chair Liz was in
probably had a few good sets on the arms. For that matter, they could brush Liz’s room.

  But—

  A nagging worry shot down that idea. If Liz was Jillian, she had no idea. She hadn’t lived a life of fear. It was clear she knew about her adoption and had lived a full life. No one had been keeping her in a cage. Her parents had sent her to school. Even sent her to camp alone. Those weren’t the actions of people who had kidnapped a child.

  But if her parents had nothing to do with her kidnapping, the person or persons responsible might be keeping tabs on them. It was a long shot. More likely the kidnapper had pocketed whatever money they got for Jillian and never looked back. Still . . . Anissa wasn’t in the mood to take any chances—or disrupt this young girl’s life—if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. If they could get that water bottle, or something with her prints on it, they would be able to know by the end of the day if Liz was Jillian.

  Then they could go from there.

  The Davidsons would want to see Liz immediately. After thirteen years of waiting, every second of delay would be excruciating for them. They might hate Anissa when they found out she’d suspected Jillian was alive and hadn’t told them, but she could live with that far easier than she could live with herself if she brought them hope of a reunion that was never to be.

  Or if her investigating resulted in Liz’s death before her birth family had a chance to know her.

  One of the nurses paused by the door. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said. “But these two ladies promised a certain young gentleman down the hall a rematch and he’s ready to play.”

  Liz and Brooke crowed with delight. “Oh, he is, is he?” Liz hopped to her feet. “He’s going down.”

  Brooke slid off the bed, a wide grin on her face. “He’ll be sorry. Come on, Pais . . . you can be our objective witness and report the facts of our victory.” She tugged on Paisley’s hand as she moved out the door. “Do you want to come watch?”

  Liz spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “I’m sure Joey would love to meet a real, live policeman and policewoman. He’s eight. His mom and dad have to work, so he’s here alone most of the day. We’ve been trying to keep him company.”

  Gabe held out his arm to Liz. “Lead the way, my lady.”

  “Are you coming?” Liz asked Anissa.

  “I’ll be right behind you. I just need to check on something.” Anissa waved her phone at the departing group. As soon as they were out of sight, she grabbed a few gloves from the boxes on the wall. She opened one up, used the other to pick up the water bottle, and slid it into the opening. Then put the other glove over the top. She paused to unwind the string that kept the thick file folder Paisley had given her closed. She lifted the flap and slid the glove-shrouded water bottle onto the top edge of the files. Then she wrapped the cover over it and laced the string again. If anyone had been paying attention, they would notice that the expandable file folder had grown quite a bit. But if she kept it tucked under her arm, maybe it wouldn’t be quite so obvious. She studied her reflection in the mirror. The water bottle couldn’t be seen.

  Now, to get Gabe released, get the bottle to Forensics, and figure out once and for all the truth about Liz Brown.

  At 4:00 p.m., Gabe shifted his position in the passenger seat of Ryan’s car. Anissa was in the back. Ryan was driving. Leigh had insisted that Gabe come stay with her and Ryan, and she hadn’t had to twist his arm to get him to agree.

  Gabe closed his eyes as Anissa filled Ryan in on the day’s events. Sabrina was already doing everything she could to find out the real story about Velma and Liz Brown. Adam had come by the hospital around one and had taken the water bottle to Forensics, but there’d been no call yet. Dante had promised a quick turnaround even though he had no idea why he was checking the bottle for prints.

  Ryan listened, commented, and grunted in all the right places, but something was off. Gabe couldn’t get a read on it, but something was wrong. At one point he caught Ryan’s eye and gave him a “what’s going on?” kind of look, to which Ryan responded with a quick shake of his head and a glance over his shoulder. Gabe interpreted that to mean that it had something to do with Anissa.

  Ryan wasn’t one to hold back unless he had good reason, so Gabe tried to be patient.

  He trusted Ryan. Trusted his friendship and his instincts. But if he didn’t offer up some information soon, Gabe was going to get it out of him one way or another. He knew what Ryan had planned for Leigh’s birthday. He could threaten to let it slip—by accident, of course.

  They arrived at the Weston-Parker home around four thirty and there was no chance to talk for the next thirty minutes. Leigh was back in nurse mode, fussing that Gabe didn’t want to wear the sling the hospital had given him and asking him what pharmacy filled his antibiotic and blood thinner prescriptions and then calling Adam to pick them up. All of this from behind the kitchen island where she was dicing and slicing the makings for a ginormous salad bar.

  Ryan gave her a quick peck on the temple. “Why don’t you have Anissa fill you in about what’s going on and I’ll get Gabe to rest on the dock for a few minutes?”

  “The dock? It’s ninety-five degrees. That’s not restful.”

  Anissa slid onto a barstool and snagged a slice of red bell pepper. “I have to agree with Leigh on this one. It’s a sauna out there. Now, when you guys get that nice little covered area built . . .”

  Ryan groaned. “Not you too.”

  Anissa winked at Leigh and they both laughed.

  Gabe didn’t necessarily disagree with Leigh and Anissa, but Ryan must be up to something and he was more than willing to play along. “Leigh, I’ve been cooped up in a hospital—a hospital”—he infused the word with angst and disgust—“for days.” Only a wee bit of exaggeration there. “I need fresh air. I need water. I need—”

  “Oh, hush.” Leigh waved a chef’s knife in his direction. “Go. Look at the water. But don’t you dare get in that boat and don’t stay out so long you get heatstroke.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Gabe gave Leigh a small salute and then sent a quick nod in Anissa’s direction. Anissa cut her eyes between him and Ryan. She was totally on to them. But she was playing along too.

  Interesting.

  Gabe followed Ryan outside. Ryan didn’t speak until they were all the way on the dock. The lake was smooth. It would be a great afternoon for skiing.

  Not that Leigh or Anissa would ever tolerate that.

  Gabe fixed his gaze on a point across the lake. “What’s going on?”

  Ryan walked around the dock to look as though he was inspecting it. “Anissa’s car had been bugged. Two bugs, in fact. And there’s a good chance whoever planted them knows we have them.”

  “Why are you telling me this and not her?”

  Ryan snorted. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Dude. We all know.”

  “Know what?”

  “She stayed with you—in a hospital—for two days. Anissa can barely stand to be in a hospital for half an hour, much less two days. I don’t know how long this has been going on—”

  “It hasn’t.”

  “You mean to tell me that you two aren’t a couple? ’Cause you’re sure acting like one.”

  “I . . .” What were they? They were friends. More than friends. Friends who flirted? Friends who were attracted to each other but didn’t think they stood a chance of finding happiness together so they avoided it?

  Ryan smirked. “Yes?”

  “I don’t know what we are and that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

  Ryan cocked his head to one side. “Can I give you a little advice?”

  “If it’s about romance—”

  “It is. Well, about love, really.”

  “Then, no.”

  Ryan ignored him. “Anissa is tough and strong and smart and different from a lot of women. But she’s also just like all the rest of us. She wants to be loved.
She wants people she can trust. She wants to laugh. She wants to be respected. And she probably wants you to quit fiddling around and make a move.”

  “Anissa’s not exactly a fast mover.”

  “I’ll concede your point,” Ryan said. “But I would also argue that if you keep up this pace, you’re going to be giving Campbell a run for his money in the slow-to-action department.”

  It had taken Adam two years to tell Sabrina how he felt.

  “It’s worked out okay for him. He got the girl.” Gabe laughed at his own remark.

  “Can you be serious for two seconds, man?” Ryan raked his hands through his hair. “This is no joke. You need to either make a move or back off. And I mean way off. It’s not fair to her, you, or any of the rest of us. And given that someone has it out for her enough to bug her car and then attempt to stab her, you can’t mess around. You need to either man up and be there for her or come up with a way to get some distance.”

  Gabe leaned against one of the poles supporting the upper level of the dock. Ryan wasn’t wrong. But distance? From Anissa? When he was already starting to have some anxiety about being away from her now and she was just in the house?

  Being around her nonstop for two days hadn’t made him want space. It had made him never want to be in any space without her again. He’d never been more willing to give up his own . . . everything. He hadn’t taken that knife for her on purpose, but he would have.

  And he would do it again.

  But this wasn’t a conversation he wanted or needed to have with Ryan. “What’s the deal with the bug?”

  “Bugs,” Ryan corrected him.

  “Okay. Bugs. What does it matter?”

  “It matters because they appear to have been placed at two different times. One was recent. Probably Sunday. The other older. Dante’s speculating, but he thinks the first bug was placed around the time the air was let out of her tires last week.”

  “None of this makes sense. And I’m still not sure why we’re having this conversation without Anissa.”