by Debra Webb
Jill was still reluctant to grasp that part. Murder was an act gentle people like her sister didn’t commit. Until all the pieces of the puzzle were in place and she could see the motive, Jill would continue to deny what she couldn’t rationalize in her own mind. Another common reaction.
The elevator doors slid open and Paul followed Jill into the main corridor on the fourth floor of Paradise General. They hoped to catch Kate in the least medicated state. The night’s meds would have hopefully worn off to a large degree and the morning dose wasn’t scheduled until nine.
“Good morning, Dr. Phillips,” Nurse Bennett beamed from behind the nurse’s station. “It’s nice to see you back.”
Obviously the chief hadn’t spoken to everyone in town. “Nurse Bennett,” Paul acknowledged. Nice wasn’t a word he would use to describe being back here. What little sleep he’d gotten last night had been riddled with voices and images. He’d finally admitted defeat and drowned the voices with the fifth of bourbon he’d stashed in his bag.
His head was clear enough this morning. Clear enough to know he had to tread damned carefully where Jill was concerned. If she’d looked back just once before leaving his room last night, he wouldn’t have been able to let her go.
That couldn’t happen again. Those kinds of emotions threatened his control. And complete control was the only way he’d get through this.
“How is she this morning?” Jill asked.
“Still sleeping last time I checked.” The nurse skirted the station. “We’ll go see if she’s awake. It’s past time she had her breakfast.”
Bennett led the way, unlocking doors as she went, smiling at Paul every chance she got. Jill followed without making any more small talk. Paul wondered if she’d gotten any sleep herself. She still looked exhausted. Dark circles underscored those blue eyes, enhancing the paleness of her fair skin. She’d dressed more comfortably today with navy slacks, a matching sleeveless pullover and practical flats. He would have been happier if the outfit hadn’t fit so nicely to those subtle curves of hers.
That’s right, dumbass, go ahead and play with the fire.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Bennett offered before leaving the room.
Jill stood at her sister’s bedside, staring down at her sleeping form, torturing her bottom lip with her teeth.
Paul moved to the foot of the bed. The discoloration on Kate’s face was fading into that ugly yellow and purple. The external wounds would heal long before the internal ones.
Those might never heal, for Kate or for Jill.
This was the first time he’d seen the sisters together. Even with the bruises, the resemblance between the two was startling. Perfect mirror images.
Without warning or preamble, Kate’s eyes opened and she looked straight at Paul. “You’re back.”
Paul blinked, looked from Kate to Jill. Her hand went to her throat as her startled gaze flicked to his. For a second there he’d thought maybe he was the only one who’d seen and heard that one.
“Kate, how are you feeling this morning?” Jill took her sister’s hand in hers and cradled it lovingly.
Kate looked at Jill with more curiosity than recognition. “I’m fine. How are you?”
New color bloomed on Jill’s pale skin. The color of hope. Kate hadn’t spoken a word, except in Paul’s head, since the police discovered her and her husband’s body. This could be the start of a major breakthrough. And some answers.
Jill sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair. “I’m fine now.” The emotion in her voice almost undid him. “Do you know who I am?” The words quaked with renewed optimism and its underlying anxiety.
“No,” Kate said. She spoke in a monotone, her words mechanical. “Would you help me?”
The hair on the back of Paul’s neck stood at attention, his heart rate accelerated. He moved closer, watching Kate’s expressionless face for even the subtlest change.
“Of course, I’ll help you,” Jill said softly. “Tell me what you need.”
The expression, the monotone never changed. It was eerie to watch. Like a robot. Paul couldn’t shake the idea. Not real... not quite human. Like Jill said last night… Stepford Wives.
He listened intently, his profiler’s instincts on point.
“I first saw him in Lynchburg. At Hattie’s,” Kate rambled on with no inflection in her tone. “That’s when it began.”
And just like that, she was gone.
Her jaw fell slack and distance replaced the gleam in her eyes. She lay in the bed, her gaze glued to the ceiling as if some fascinating movie that only she could see was showing there. Complete withdrawal.
“Kate, what do you mean you saw him?” Jill gently shook her sister’s shoulder.
Paul didn’t stop her. She needed to see for herself that her sister had drifted back to Oz. He wondered again about her medications. He’d noted the kind and dosage the first time he visited. If he were the physician assigned to the case, he’d drop the meds completely and see what happened. Something was keeping her in this state of limbo.
Save us.
The words struck like a bullet to the brain. He watched Kate a moment or two longer and then he knew what he had to do. Whatever she’d seen in Lynchburg they needed to see it too. She’d even given them the place to begin.
“Let’s go.”
Jill looked startled by his voice. Tears had left a salty path down her cheeks. “I don’t understand what she meant.” She shook her head. “Maybe it didn’t mean anything.” She stared at her sister. “How can I help her if I don’t understand?”
Paul gently prodded Jill from her sister’s side and pressed the buzzer for the nurse. “Let’s go. We’ll talk about this on the way.”
Reluctantly, she allowed him to steer her to the door. She kept looking back, hoping her sister would speak again. But that wasn’t going to happen.
~*~
As Phillips drove away from the hospital Jill sat in the Land Rover, depressed and heartsick. Was her sister never going to be well again? She squeezed her eyes shut and banished images of little Cody. She’d called the chief’s secretary and asked if there was any news. Even Lucy had given Jill the cold shoulder, informing her in a brisk, exceptionally unfriendly tone that the chief would call Claire Ellington if he had news. Though she and Lucy had never been anything other than acquaintances, the accusation in her tone was hard to take.
Jill gritted her teeth and silently cursed the tears that would not abate. Dammit. She was sick to death of crying. She wanted to do something. To find some answers.
“How do we get to Lynchburg?”
The question startled her. Her head came up and she stared at Paul. “What?”
His dark gaze rested heavily on hers. “I want to go to Lynchburg. That’s where it started. At Hattie’s.”
Jill slowly let out the air she’d held in her lungs. As an attorney she knew that a good investigator followed up on every possible lead, no matter how seemingly insignificant. But this went far beyond insignificance. This was a wild goose chase without the goose.
“But we don’t know what she saw or even if her statement is anything more than her imagination talking. Shouldn’t we just stop all this and focus on finding my nephew?” There had to be a way to help somehow! Her heart squeezed with worry. She’d come here to help and no one was cooperating. Her own mother was off in some freaked out zone Jill couldn’t reach. What the hell did she do now?
Her new partner said nothing.
Why should he? Jill dropped her head against the seat and groaned. His point was valid. Doing anything was better than doing nothing and this lead was the only one they had. She needed to calm down and think rationally.
Besides, wasn’t she supposed to trust Paul’s instincts now that they were working together? Hadn’t she made that decision at some point last night?
“You’re right,” he said patiently, another unexpected facet to the enigma of Paul Phillips. “We don’t know what it means or if it’l
l lead us to your nephew, but it’s worth a look.”
The man was right. It wasn’t like she was getting anywhere here.
“We have to dissect the pieces of your sister’s life to find the truth.”
She turned to study him. He was on to something. She could feel the ionic change in the air around him.
“Each piece, no matter how small, means something,” he went on, “bridges one part to another. Like a puzzle or a map.” He flashed her a smile. “We’re going to follow the map and see where it takes us.”
A new surge of anticipation had her daring to hope. “It’s a small town about two hours from here. Less if we hurry.”
This one was no different than the cases she worked all the time—except for the emotion. Emotion had kept her so focused on the big picture that she forgot the bigger picture was nothing more than hundreds of smaller pieces.
It was almost always the smallest, most unexpected piece or detail that closed the case.
~*~
One hour and forty-nine minutes after pulling out of the hospital parking lot they rolled into downtown Lynchburg.
Hardly more than a speed zone on a long, lonely stretch of highway, Lynchburg was nestled in a valley amid lush green hills. The small town consisted of a few shops, a post office, grocery store, and not much else. The people were friendly and the main source of employment was the Jack Daniels Distillery. Jill had been here more than a few times growing up.
“Where would you like to start?” She’d wrestled with conflicting emotions for the first half of the drive. Finally, she’d landed on cautiously optimistic. Seemed safe enough.
Maybe that was her mother’s problem and she too had found the only place that didn’t hurt. Denial. Pretend the problem didn’t exist and it went away.
Jill feared this one was not going to just go away. If they didn’t find Cody soon—she couldn’t think about that. Perhaps that was her boundary before reaching the denial stage. Everyone had a limit.
Phillips braked at an intersection. “We’ll park and take a stroll. Hattie’s is our destination.”
Her sister’s words echoed as Jill climbed out of the SUV and fell into step with Phillips. What could she have seen in this little out of the way town? Well, actually, the question was who. She’d said, she saw him. That’s when it began. What began? Better yet, saw who?
A dozen possibilities filtered through Jill’s mind. Had she seen Karl with another woman? Had she met another man here? Cullen Marks’ suggestion that the DA would try and insinuate an affair scenario on Kate’s part zoomed into the midst of Jill’s muddled thoughts. She dismissed that idea. Kate simply wasn’t the kind of woman who dabbled in affairs. But, as a defense attorney, Jill knew that overlooking that possibility, however unlikely, was a risk she shouldn’t take. Somehow she had to set aside her emotions and find some answers.
Beside her, Phillips remained silent. Quietly absorbing all that he saw and heard, she imagined. There was a stillness about him that made her want to peel back the layers concealing his whole story. Power emanated from him so subtly, that you really had to pay attention to feel it. His strength was like a sleeping lion, peaceful and nonthreatening, but instilling urgency and fear with a single low growl when disturbed. Two days ago she had him pegged for a conman. But she realized now the go-to-hell persona was just that, a façade to keep the world at a safe distance. What kind of demons drove a man so well educated and skilled to withdraw so completely? What made her yearn so to trust him? To know him…better?
More importantly, what made her want to know all those intimate details?
“You keep looking at me that way and I’m bound to get the wrong idea.”
That deep voice startled her back to attention. She’d been staring and he’d caught her.
“Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About whether or not you can trust me?” He stopped, faced her and looked directly into her eyes.
She blinked, forced all emotion from her expression. “In a sense,” she hedged. Telling him that she wanted to know him better might not be a brilliant move.
His gaze fell to her mouth. Heat rushed through her veins.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, his voice quiet and low. “Trust me on this.” He cranked up the intensity in that dark gaze. “You don’t want to go there.”
The heat that had surged through her, now pooled in her cheeks. “Is mind reading a part of your vast repertoire as well?”
“It doesn’t take a mind reader to see what you think you want.”
Resisting the urge to retreat, she managed to stand her ground. “Fine,” she confessed, the single word shakier than she would have liked. “I’m human. I feel,” she dragged in a ragged breath, “alone in all this and you’re the only one…standing here with me.” She cleared her throat, refusing to feel as foolish as she sounded. “Forgive me for committing such a grievous error.” She glared at him, forcing steel into her voice and fire into her eyes. “I suppose the idea hasn’t even crossed your mind?”
Why the hell were they having this conversation?
“Do you want the truth or do you want me to tell you a pretty little lie?”
“The truth.” Her answer startled him. Clearly he’d expected her to drop it the moment his darker side surfaced. But she’d be damned if she would. “I’ve never cared much for lies.”
“I’ve thought about it. But then, I have a reputation for bad decisions.” He turned and started forward once more, leaving her to follow. “Anything else you want to know?” he called back to her.
Fury snapping along her nerve endings, Jill trailed after him, reminding herself to breathe. “I think that covers it.”
~*~
Four hours later, with lunch behind them, Jill wasn’t the only one losing patience with this lead. Paul’s instincts couldn’t have failed him this badly. The impression that they would find something here had been strong, still was. But, so far, the effort was a bust.
As an attorney, Jill needed tangible evidence to keep her motivated. She worked on instinct, to a degree, just as Paul did. But he looked for that intangible, almost imperceptible something that made his instincts sit up and take notice. Like when Kate had spoken directly to him. You’re back. She recognized his presence although they had not spoken on his previous visit, they hadn’t even made eye contact, except for his little flash of insight. Still, the connection was there. Kate instinctively knew he was there to help. Those instincts had propelled a sense of urgency and another piece of the puzzle had bobbed to the surface of the lake of nothingness that was her existence just now.
There was something or someone in Lynchburg relevant to the case.
Hattie’s had turned out to be a simple craft shop that specialized in unique toys for children. Chances were, Kate had shopped there. The owner didn’t remember her and had no idea when she’d last been in her shop. She didn’t accept checks or credit cards, cash only.
Dead end.
They’d flashed both Kate’s and Cody’s pictures around the small town. No hits.
“Oh, my God,” Jill breathed. She froze next to him. “It’s Cody.”
Paul tensed. A too familiar sense of uneasiness erupted inside him. “Where?”
She pointed across the supermarket parking lot. “There! With that woman. The blue van. It’s him! It’s my nephew.”
The next few minutes were a blur of activity. The young woman forgot her groceries, leaving them to defrost in the cart, and snatched up the child when Jill reached for him, calling him Cody. If the child wasn’t Cody Manning, he could have been his identical twin. Silky blond hair and blue eyes. Paul had seen recent pictures of Jill’s nephew. This child was either him or an exact double.
“Lady, I don’t know who you are, but you’re crazy,” the young woman cried, fear in her voice. “This is my son.”
The child whined and clung to the woman.
Paul’s tension escalated. This was wrong.
Jill
reached for the boy again, drawn by the sound of his distress.
The woman jerked away. “I’m gonna call the cops if you don’t leave us alone.”
Paul reached in the side pocket of Jill’s bag and produced her cell phone since he didn’t carry one himself. Hadn’t bothered with one since he’d stopped carrying a gun five years ago. Who needed a gun or a cell phone when they didn’t get involved? Well, he was involved now. He punched in nine-one-one. “That’s a good idea. We’ll let the police sort this out.”
Jill and the other woman watched in a kind of shocked horror as he made the call, neither speaking, both looking like cornered animals. The internal nudge that this was way, way wrong somehow came again. He couldn’t shake the feeling.
No one moved or spoke until the police arrived. Then everyone started talking at once.
Officer Dunn, Paul noted the name tag above his shirt pocket, held up a hand. “One at a time.”
The woman, being the local, got first chance at telling her side of the story. “They’re crazy! Ellis, you know me and my boy. Tell’em they’ve made a mistake.”
Officer Dunn, Ellis, looked from the woman, who had identified herself as Sarah Long, to Jill and then to Paul. “I don’t know what you two’ve been smoking, but this is her son. Any other questions?”
“I’m telling you,” Jill pressed, fury blazing in her eyes, “he is my nephew. I can prove it. I have pictures.” She jerked her bag around and fished for the photograph she carried.
Officer Dunn shook his head. “Lady, I sympathize with whatever’s going on with your nephew. But I know the Longs, this is their boy.”
“See.” Jill produced the photograph of Cody.
Paul wanted to drag her away from here. To save her from this pain and to make her heart see what her brain likely already knew.
This child was not her nephew. The resemblance was uncanny, no question. He had a theory or two about how that happened, either way the situation warranted further investigation.