Mirror, Mirror on Her Wall (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 2)

by Becki Willis

  “Don’t worry, it’s not going to cost you a dime. I’ve gotten a scholarship and applied for financial aid.”

  “How? When did you do all this?” her mother asked sharply.

  “I’ve been working on it for months, not that you noticed. The school counselor helped me.” Kenzie returned to her packing. Sadly enough, her entire world fit into two mis-matched suitcases, one cardboard box, and a worn duffle bag.

  “When will you leave?”

  “I called for a cab to take me to the bus station. It should be here in an hour.”

  “You weren’t going to tell us good-bye?” The only indication of emotion was the high-pitched trill in her mother’s voice.

  “I was never allowed to say good-bye in the past,” the girl reminded her bitterly. “I didn’t see any need in starting it now.”

  Her mother made no comment, gave no facial response. She simply watched the girl pack. Kenzie wasn’t even surprised when her mother slipped quietly out the door.

  She was surprised, however, when her mother returned.

  “I have something for you,” she said, holding out a manila envelope.

  “What-What is it?” the girl asked warily.

  “Money. There’s five thousand dollars in there. It should help you make a fresh start.”

  Kenzie stared at the envelope, clearly in shock. Her mother had never offered her more than twenty dollars at a time. “I-I don’t understand.”

  She gave a nonchalant shrug. “We were planning to leave next month anyway. You take this. We can wait another month or two.” Her demeanor changed abruptly as she handed the girl another envelope, this one larger and heavier. The words ‘Warranties, etc.,’ was scrawled across its crumbled face. “Do not open this,” she said emphatically. “Keep this somewhere safe. Never lose this. But never open it.”

  “What-What is it?” The girl took the envelope hesitantly, as if touching it might be dangerous. The look on her mother’s face told her that it was.

  “It’s life insurance.”

  “I don’t understand…”

  “You aren’t suppose to. For your own safety, listen to what I am telling you.” Her mother’s voice was urgent. “Keep this envelope safe, never let anyone know you have it, and never open it.”

  “But why-”

  Her mother cut off her questions. “You’ll know when the time comes.” She stepped back, and for the first time a look of uncertainty, a look of vulnerability, crossed her lined face. “I always did what I thought was best for my family. Try to remember that.”

  “I don’t understand,” the girl repeated, her whisper thick with threatening tears.

  Squaring her shoulders once again, the older woman’s face slipped back into its mask of indifference. “It would be best if you were gone when your father returns.” She moved stiffly to the door. “Take care of yourself. Make a good life for yourself.”

  Kenzie watched as her mother walked stoically out of her life. No goodbyes, no hugs, no sentiment whatsoever.

  It had been that way her entire life.

  Kenzie physically shook herself from the memory. In her experience, nothing good ever came from remembering the past.

  She picked up the envelope, intending to stuff it back inside the pouch, tucking it and her memories away where they belonged. The weight of the envelope teased her, making her wonder what might be inside. Her mother called it “life insurance”, but it felt too bulky to be a simple policy. And she had been so mysterious about it, so adamant that Kenzie never open it.

  Did eight years constitute never?

  Ridiculing herself for feeling so nervous, almost to the point of feeling guilty, Kenzie carried the envelope to the bed and plopped down on the mattress. She had no reason to feel guilty. It wasn’t as if she was opening someone else’s mail; the envelope belonged to her. And she had done what her mother asked. For eight years, she had kept it safe, kept it hidden, kept it unopened. But she owed nothing to her mother, and certainly not loyalty.

  Curiosity controlled her fingers as they slipped beneath the clasp and flicked it open. A simple sweep of the flap and the envelope gaped open, ready to reveal its secrets.

  Still, something held Kenzie back. Instinct told her there was a reason her mother had been so mysterious about the envelope. There was something dangerous inside.

  Drawing a deep breath of courage, Kenzie tilted the envelope so that its contents poured out onto the bed. She mentally cataloged the items with a sweeping glance: a stack of papers, an undeveloped roll of film, and an unsealed white envelope.

  With trembling hands, Kenzie picked up the papers. The first several pages were nothing but neat columns of numbers, dates and money amounts. Apprehension held her breath captive in her chest as she stared at the figures. She instinctively knew these numbers were tied to the mafia, most likely proof of transactions.

  Her gaze flew to the windows, making certain the draperies were closed, then darted to the door. She knew it wasn’t as if the mafia would suddenly appear out of thin air because she opened the envelope, but she could not stop the flood of relief washing over her as her eyes settled on the deadbolt, securely fastened across her door.

  Her hands were trembling as she leafed through more papers. One page had a list of jumbled letters, spaced out as if they were names, but none of the words made any sense. Another sheet of paper, typed on Modern Power letterhead and dated 1991, offered a list of companies. One name in particular, NorthWind Energy, jumped out at Kenzie. These were probably the dummy corporations her father had created to scam the government out of millions of dollars. Several more papers, fastened together with a paper clip, proved to be a legal contract. Kenzie scanned the document briefly, enough to know it was some sort of agreement between NorthWind and the U.S. Department of Energy. The last sheet of paper listed a dozen or more cities, each with a single name and a number written beside it.

  Something about the last list disturbed Kenzie, but the feeling was too vague to define. She tapped the sheaf of papers, shuffling them into a neat stack as she placed them atop the manila envelope. Her hands were still unsteady as she picked up the smaller envelope. It was standard business issue, its innocent white color slightly darkened with age, but instinct told her there was nothing standard about its contents.

  Suddenly restless, Kenzie got up from the bed and paced over to the couch. She held the envelope in her hand, tapping it nervously against her other palm. There were three words across the front of the envelope, written in an unfamiliar flowing script. The words were even more foreign. My Darling Child. Her mother had never called her darling.

  If not her, whom was the letter meant for? Makenna? That seemed highly doubtful, since their mother abandoned her at a church.

  Kenzie paced over to the windows and peeked out from the curtain, looking for any signs of trouble. The well-lit parking lot was half-filled with cars, all of them locked up for the night. In the distance she could see a highway, traffic still flowing even at this late hour, but no cars roamed the narrow roads behind the hotel. There was no sign of life in the parking lot below, no movement at all. Except … was that a shift in shadows along the darkness’ edge? With a sharp intake of breath, Kenzie dropped the curtain back in place, just as the shrill cry of an incoming call broke the silence of the room. The sound was so loud and unexpected, she jerked away from the window instinctively.

  She answered without thinking to look at the caller I.D.. “H-Hello?” she asked breathlessly. Even she could hear the rattle of nerves in her voice.

  “Kenzie?” There was a cautious note in the deep baritone.

  Tears pricked her eyes. Relief washed over her as she closed her stinging lids and drank in the comfort of that sound. She was never so glad to hear Travis’ voice as she was now. “Travis,” she breathed.

  “Kenzie, are you alright? You sound strange. What’s wrong?” he asked in alarm.

  “I’m –” To her horror, she began to cry.

  “Kenzie, wher
e are you? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m not hurt. I’m in Colorado,” she managed to say.

  She heard his sigh of relief. “Is someone there with you? Has someone been following you?”

  “No, no, nothing like that.” She did not think so, at least. Travis had followed her for weeks without her knowing. And that shadow outside…

  “You haven’t answered my calls.”

  Kenzie was still too shaken to take offense at the barely hidden accusation. “I’m sorry. I was working all day yesterday and had the phone in my bag. I guess I had it on mute today.”

  “Where were you today?”

  Bending to pick up the envelope she had dropped when she jumped, she answered distractedly, “Craven took me sight-seeing.” She was still confused by the words on the front, My Darling Child.

  “Who is Craven?” he asked in a sharp voice.

  Again, the ominous sound was lost upon her dazed senses. “Craven Shaw, Senator Lawrence’s Chief of Staff.”

  “I’ve been worried sick about you, worried you’re in danger, and you’ve been out gallivantin’ around with some man?” Travis practically growled the words, spitting out the ‘some man’.

  Pulling her eyes from the perplexing envelope, Kenzie tried to follow the conversation. “What? We weren’t gallivanting, he was showing me around.” As his words penetrated her fogged brain, she bristled. “Wait a minute. What exactly are you implying?”

  “Do you have any idea how worried your sister was about you? How concerned the Rangers have been? Raymond Foto was murdered in his cell yesterday morning.”

  “Yes, I heard.”

  “You could have been followed.”

  “Craven would never let anything happen to me,” she said with confidence.

  She heard his sharp intake of breath. His voice was stiff as he said, “I was calling to make sure you were safe. It appears that you are, so I’ll –”

  “Please don’t hang up,” she whispered quickly, her voice thick with fresh tears.

  Travis hesitated. She could hear the frown in his words. “Is something else wrong, Kenzie?”

  There were so many things wrong, she would not know where to begin.

  “You can talk to me, you know,” he said, his voice less gruff. “I’ll help you if you have a problem.” When she remained silent, he asked a difficult question. “Is he there with you now?”

  His voice was oddly raw. Kenzie realized he was still talking about Craven. She shook her head, only to realize he could not see her. “No.”

  “Where is he?”

  Had she been thinking straight, she would have realized his pre-occupation with Craven was a sign of jealousy. In her current state of mind, she found his line of questioning irritating. “How should I know? I told him goodbye and he left. This isn’t about Craven.”

  She had told him what he needed to hear. Travis’ voice softened even more as he coaxed her, “So tell me what’s wrong.”

  Again, she remained silent.

  “How can I help you, darlin’, if you don’t tell me what the problem is?”

  Kenzie sniffed. “I… it’s not- it’s not something I can talk about over the phone.” What if the mafia had bugged her phone?

  “Can you tell me about it when you get home?”

  “May-Maybe.” She heard him sigh again in frustration. Afraid he might hang up on her, she said quickly, “Just talk to me, Travis.”

  “About what?”

  “Anything. I just want to hear your voice.”

  He gave an awkward laugh. “That’s a first,” he mumbled.

  Kenzie was beyond being embarrassed by her admission. “Tell me about yourself. I know very little about you.”

  “Not much to tell. Grew up in East Texas, went to Texas A&M, became a State Trooper. Ten years later I became a Ranger.”

  “Where in East Texas?”

  “Longview.”

  “Does your family still live there?”

  “Don’t have much family.”

  “Why did you become a Ranger?”

  “Wanted to be one since I was a kid.”

  “Were you in the Corp of Cadets at A&M?”

  “Yep.”

  She could imagine him in his Corp uniform, all spit and polish. She would bet his knee-high senior boots made him look even more handsome and distinguished. Even sexier.

  His answers were short, but not sharp. Without the edge, he sounded almost bashful, something Kenzie would have never considered before. She had always assumed he was just rude.

  Her tears dried up and she was smiling at this softer, more vulnerable glimpse of the man behind the star. “Come on, give me something, Ranger,” she coaxed. “You’re not making this conversation very easy.”

  He was quiet for a moment, before offering, “I like horses.”

  “Really? So do I.” Finally, something in common! “Did you have any growing up?”

  “There was a stable at the orphanage. That’s where I learned to ride.”

  Kenzie’s heart curled in her chest. He had been an orphan. In many ways, so had she. Now that she had him talking, she did not want to scare him off by pressing for details. “Do you have a horse now?” she asked.

  “Several. I have a small horse ranch outside of LaGrange.”

  “I’d love to see it someday,” she said softly.

  “Maybe we could go riding when you get back.”

  “I’d like that.”

  For the next hour they simply talked, something they had never done before. Travis slowly shared little pieces of himself, and Kenzie talked a little about her past, something she rarely did. When he was not hiding behind his badge, she decided Travis was not nearly as unyielding as she feared. Without her flippant attitude, he discovered Kenzie was not as shallow as he originally thought.

  When a warning beep broke into their conversation, Travis sighed and said reluctantly, “My phone’s about to die.”

  “I guess we have been draining the battery. Mine is probably about out, too.”

  “Are you better now?”

  “Definitely. Thank you, Travis,” she said softly.

  “Anytime, darlin’.”

  Kenzie laughed, the sound happy and unrestrained. “Do you realize we have actually carried on a conversation – a very loooong conversation – without a single argument?”

  “That’s not true,” he contradicted her immediately. “We argued about baseball and about who the lead singer was for the band Clementine.”

  Kenzie laughed again. “Okay, you’re right,” she conceded.

  “Say that again, I didn’t hear you.”

  “I said you’re right, we did argue.”

  “Let me find the record button on my phone and you can say that one more time.”

  “Not on your life, buster!” She giggled, feeling ridiculously light-hearted at his teasing.

  The sound slowly floated down between them, settling into prolonged silence. Neither was ready to end the call.

  “You’ll be alright now?” he asked, his tone warm and caressing.

  “I think so.”

  “Okay, then I guess I’d better go. You’ll call me if anything happens? If you see anyone who looks suspicious, if anything happens that doesn’t feel right, you’ll call me, no matter what time it is? Promise me.”

  Kenzie huffed out a resigned breath. The Texas Ranger was back. “Yes, Travis, I promise.”

  “Don’t use that tone with me,” he chided, but there was no venom in his words.

  “Don’t tell me what to do,” she shot back, the smile evident in her voice.

  This time, it was Travis who chuckled. “I know what it is we’ve been doing wrong all this time.”

  “What’s that?”

  “All this time we’ve been arguing, we’ve been missing the best part.”

  “Which is?”

  His words were low and wicked. “Making up.” The breath catching in her throat made a crazy little sound, causing him to chuckle once more. �
��Sweet dreams, darlin’.”

  “Good night, Travis. Thank you for keeping me company tonight.”

  “My pleasure. Good night, pretty lady.”

  Floating through the room on the echo of his mellow voice, Kenzie decided to call it a night. She would sleep now, thanks to Travis.

  Tomorrow would be soon enough to read what was in the letter.

  Chapter Eight

  Dear Charlie,

  If I know you, you are probably studying the rocks you love so much. The red ones are your favorites. It seems since Creation, you have been fascinated with those rocks. You liked to stack them high, pretending they were a ship. Do you remember the time my key was missing and you had it hidden on your “ship”? I started looking right away, and there it was, ten stacks from the top, buried halfway. Luckily it was a duplicate, so if I hadn’t found it not all was lost. You and those rocks!

  If I don’t get to join you, it’s not because I don’t want to. Please know that. But things don’t always work out as originally planned. If I’m not there, please know that I will think of you every single day and miss you Two times as much!

  I hope you get a chance to visit your Aunt Ester Brook. Remember how you always loved to go to church with her? You especially liked to hear her play the organ. And remember how you would pump her to tell you another Story? Clark was always right beside you. Be sure and look up our good friends the Hechenbecks and the Wielers while you are there. Remember to sit and visit with them. Your favorite game with Anna and Truman was to lay on your back right under their feet and look up at them. That was always you, searching for answers to life’s mysteries in the strangest of places.

  Never lose that desire to find the truth, Charlie. Always dream, always imagine. Always search. The answers are there, waiting for you to discover them. Use your head and think about what I am saying and why I am encouraging you. Never be afraid to explore the possibilities of life.

  Go out and save the world, my child! You will always have my heart.

  Your loving mother.

  Kenzie read the letter three times before she sat it down. A deep line furrowed her brow. What on earth did it mean? Not a single word of it made any sense! And who on earth was Charlie? Did she have a brother she didn’t know about?